November 15, 2019

Law Firm Marketing Tips for 2020 (Part 1)

With the new year just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about your marketing strategy for 2020. If you are working at a boutique law firm, you know that it can be difficult to attract new clients. Offering excellent service is not enough when competing with Big Law. You need to invest time and effort into getting your firm’s name out there. Here are 5 law firm marketing tips for 2020 to help you do that:

Understand your strategy and goals

You need to define your goals and strategy before deciding where to focus your marketing time and resources. Think of this as the cornerstone for all of the marketing efforts in which your firm participates. The rest of the tips in this article cannot be effectively applied if you do not have a clearly defined marketing strategy.

To begin building your marketing strategy, run a SWOT analysis of your firm to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Commit to what sets your firm apart from your competitors and be honest about your areas of improvement. This knowledge will help you better understand your target market, and you can use that information to build a detailed marketing plan. Once you have identified your strategic approach, you can set measurable marketing goals for the year.

Embrace Social Media

Now more than ever, having a strong social media presence can be a catalyst for your firm’s success. Staying active on social media – especially Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn – will help your firm reach potential new clients. Be strategic in your use of these social media platforms. While posting the same content on all of your social media channels is warranted at times, there are also situations where you can benefit more from diversifying your content on each platform.

For example, video content is best suited to Facebook and Instagram, while short updates about your firm are most appropriate for LinkedIn and Twitter. There is not just one formula that all law firms should follow, so refer to your marketing strategy and goals when evaluating social media content diversification.

Update your Website

Your firm’s website is your chance to make a strong first impression on potential clients. Whether it is a complete redesign, including inbound marketing with HubSpot, or just placing more of a focus on updating your news section, having a great ADA compliant website is critical for your firm. It can be utilized as a platform to highlight the success of your staff in recent cases they worked on, provide in-depth information about your attorneys, and highlight your expertise in specific practice areas.

Think of your website as an incredibly flexible marketing platform. It is vital to drive as much traffic to it as you can. Equally important, offering a better user experience will make it more likely for your website visitors to explore your site for longer and to return at a later time. To facilitate this goal, you should ensure that your website is intuitive for users and SEO friendly.

Create Original Content

To keep people engaged and coming back to your website or social media pages, you need something to show them. All the content that you post does not need to be original, but creating original content is a great way to set yourself apart from the competition. The most impactful content you can create should tie back to your strategy.

If your competitive advantage is a focus on a niche practice area, create content to reflect that. Whether it is a blog post providing details about new laws pertaining to that practice area or a social media post announcing an esteemed attorney joining your firm, always think about content that resonates with your target audience.

Create a Call to Action

After you capture a potential client’s attention, you need to make the most of it. Including a call to action along with the content you are posting can be beneficial in a variety of ways. The type of call to action that will be most effective for your firm depends on your marketing goals.

Are you hoping to increase awareness of your brand name? Create shareable content and include links to share on social media. Want people to submit a contact form on your website? Clarify how you can help the reader and add a hyperlink. Creating various calls to action can help you achieve your marketing goals.

Utilizing these five tips in 2020 will help grow the reputation of your firm and attract more clients. If you are looking to improve your marketing efforts and need some help doing so, feel free to get in touch with us.