June 9, 2023

You May Want to Revisit Your Law Firm’s Marketing Strategy

Marketing is a significant facet of a law firm’s business plan, as leveraging it can lead to immense profit growth. Many firms make the mistake of sticking to the status quo, failing to account for new ways to reach prospective clients. This summer, consider “cleaning” your business plan to uncover what works best for your firm and what changes can be implemented.

Outdated

The biggest mistake in law firm marketing strategies is not growing with and adjusting to societal changes. This is especially an issue in longstanding firms with more senior partners.

There is nothing wrong with sticking to historically successful methods like press releases or legal directories. However, so much has shifted in recent years with new marketing channels constantly emerging. If you continue to place stress on outdated marketing methods without considering alternative strategies, you may be losing out on potential growth.

This could mean switching from word of mouth to investing in law firm SEO tactics. Or, maybe it means updating your Google My Business profile to abide by new search engine algorithms. Marketing efforts should be up to date with the current climate.

Consider the last time you took a deep dive into your marketing strategy. If it has been longer than a year or two, it may be time to revisit the discussion.

Implementing New Technology

Artificial intelligence is one example of why law firm marketing strategies should keep up to date with the latest technological innovations. Many companies have turned to ChatGPT and other automated systems for quick marketing tasks, such as:

• drafting social media captions
• researching customer profiles
• handling initial client onboarding
• identifying local SEO keywords

Though human interaction and personability are vital in marketing, AI can help with some tedious administrative tasks. This is just one example of many technologies and programs that could help law firms maximize their marketing tactics. Others include email marketing software, social media scheduling platforms, and similar technologies that can streamline day-to-day processes.

A New York public relations firm can help identify new processes for a streamlined marketing plan. Our team of marketing professionals is up to date with the industry’s best practices, allowing us to implement new technology that yields results.

Increase Digital Presence

Similarly, social media is a critical tool that often falls through the cracks in a law firm’s marketing strategy. From LinkedIn to Facebook, social media is a tool that many potential clients use to find the right legal representation. It is of the utmost importance to create and maintain a presence across all platforms where your target audience is active.

A legal entertainment firm may want to be on trendier platforms such as Instagram and Twitter to reach Hollywood professionals. Meanwhile, a personal injury law firm may stick to Facebook groups.

All industries will benefit from monitoring social media analytics and regularly adjusting their digital marketing strategies accordingly.

Bigger Budget

Just because your budget has worked in the past does not mean there is no room for changes. Marketing budgets should be adjusted at least every year to reflect the business’ overall goals. This means if your firm was seeing little success with a $10,000 budget, it may be time to increase it.

A firm that has been constantly increasing its budget with no results may find that the issue is not funding. Instead, this may indicate that attention should be paid to where the funds are allocated, or how the campaigns are targeted.

By analyzing the budgets and subsequent results of each campaign, your firm will be able to adapt accordingly. Law firm marketing plans should be continuously monitored to identify where funds are best allocated.

Successful Results

A successful marketing result should not be one-and-done. This means firms should continue to learn from their results and alter their strategy ongoingly. For example, if speaking engagements or Google Ads directly contribute to new clients then they should not be ignored.

Following this sentiment, organic marketing should always be evaluated even when it is unintentional. For example, if your company’s Google reviews have increased, you may want to use this as an opportunity to launch a review campaign.

All marketing efforts can be used as case studies, allowing companies to learn from their successes and shortcomings.

Major Events

While routine updates are preferred, major events should also trigger changes in a firm’s approach. This can be internal such as:

• firm restructuring
• added/forgone practice areas
• location changes

These events can also be external such as a rise in discrimination suits or the passing of a major immigration legislation. Essentially, if the routine of your practice is affected, it is time to revisit your law firm marketing strategy to maximize reach of potential clients.

Hire a New York Public Relations Firm

Marketing can be a lot to manage, especially considering the other priorities a law firm must attend to daily. If your firm’s marketing and public relations plan has been an afterthought, you should consider hiring a marketing strategy company. Working with an external team specializing in integrated marketing and public relations will allow you to achieve more accurate and successful hits.

Horowitz Agency has over 15 years of experience in representing law firms nationwide across all industries. Our bi-coastal team handles event planning, business strategy, social media marketing, SEO, and all other aspects of PR and marketing.

We are recognized as a leading marketing and PR company, and understand what it takes to create an integrated strategy with quantifiable results. Contact us today to discuss how your law firm marketing strategy can be improved.