Change the way you market. Shift from traditional to inbound marketing.
Attorneys love advertising. Just look at any billboard or turn on the TV. Billboards and commercials are pricey. But how well do they really work? Is it time to do something different? We’ve got some ideas on law firm inbound marketing strategies to share.
If you can derive real ROI from advertising spend then read no further. If you’re thinking about a change, consider what inbound marketing, conversion-centered design and content marketing can do for your firm.
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing turns traditional marketing on its head. Instead of blasting a message to the masses, inbound marketing uses techniques to get prospects attracted to you. Legal inbound marketing would include original content and a content marketing plan, search engine optimization (SEO) and landing pages. Landing pages are a one-page website that exists purely to generate leads. The page provides an offer. It could be an eBook or consultation request. The user completes the form by providing contact information. Then you have the information, and they have the offer.
What are the best law firm inbound marketing strategies?
When people need an attorney, it’s usually not for a good reason. And most people may already have a negative feeling about lawyers (sorry, you just aren’t likable). So how do you get a prospective client to like and trust you?
You can win trust by providing users with content to answer their questions. A content plan that targets the specific reasons someone may need an attorney could be much more valuable than your billboard.
Here’s why. When we need something now, we ask Google. Users, for the most part, trust the results that Google provides. A user may type into Google many different scenarios related to legal issues. Google understands their intent is to answer a question. If your content answers this question, you’re more likely to rank higher in organic results.
Law firms find success with inbound marketing
Hubspot shared a case study of a law firm that cut paid advertising and increased its leads by 186 percent by adopting inbound strategies. The firm moved away from traditional formats and started creating a content marketing strategy that generated interest and in turn new clients.
By using content marketing to develop a strategy around certain content types, users and prospects are more likely to find you, read your content, stay on your website and ultimately convert.
Inbound can work for your law firm
Whether you are a boutique or international law firm, inbound marketing can work for you. It starts with relevant content targeted to your ideal client. The content can’t be about how amazing your firm is; rather it needs to focus on answering questions or providing tips to help those in need of legal advice.
Of course, the blogs would never be considered legal advice (as all attorneys may worry about this if producing content), but they must sound human. The general public doesn’t understand legalese, and they will be immediately turned off by it.
One additional part of the inbound engine is design. Landing pages should follow conversion-centered design best practices. This allows for the most optimized pages and a better chance of conversions.
Here are three ways to introduce inbound into your firm:
- Start a blog; if you already have one then create a strategy for it to include topics, frequency, tone and promotion.
- Create conversion-centric landing pages to use in paid ads and organic search. Don’t distract your prospect with 10 different actions. Offer them a piece of content that is relevant then follow up with a friendly email, but don’t push.
- Get active on social media. Post your content here. Engage with thought leaders, prospects and clients. Depending on your specialty, you may find success on a number of different platforms. Let the platform dictate the content. For example, on LinkedIn write posts that may help businesses who need legal services; on FaceBook, post an infographic on data related to divorces, as this may be the platform that users would be looking for individual legal advice.
