
Due to the added challenge of more and more competition coming in, law firms may need to venture into marketing, too. Your firm needs to be more visible for people to consider hiring your services.
While expertise and reputation speak for themselves, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t strive to market your firm well and effectively by adapting the different types of advertising for law firms. This begins with getting a good grip on what you should and shouldn’t do with marketing to ensure your game plan will be right on track towards achieving your goals.
In this article, you’ll come across a guide with three do’s and don’ts of advertising your law firm.
The Do’s
To start with, these are the must-do marketing actions when advertising your law firm.
1. Do Stay In Touch
Staying in touch means keeping good communication with anyone who comes across your firm’s website or office and not just your clients. You can do that by being active in online communities, such as social media and online forums. This is one way to drive more clients in as they know you’re an existing and legitimate legal entity.
It doesn’t matter how you do it or how small your effort may be. Just keep in touch. Be it by social media through the comments section. Another way is through text messages or email newsletters. This can make you stay connected with your network and remind them that you can help them with their legal troubles.
2. Do Show That You’re Human
Yes, you’re marketing your law firm. But, behind that firm is a human team of lawyers and not simply a corporate entity. This is the reason why you have to show you’re human. By doing so, you can be more approachable to your potential clients. Showing a more human side to you and your team can ease out any potential clients’ worries that may arise simply from the notion of working with an attorney.
3. Do Build A Strong Brand
Law firms need to venture into branding too. This is a very effective way to make your firm stand out especially when there are so many other law firms in your local area. Branding involves creating your firm’s logo, name, and identity.
Many individuals are visual people. It’s easier for them to remember the existence of a particular law firm when they have a logo to remember. This fact forms significant bulk of the reason why branding is very important, to begin with.
The Don’ts
Now that you’re aware of what you must do when marketing your law firm, be mindful too, to stay away from these don’ts:
1. Don’t Do What Everyone Else Is Doing
One of the biggest mistakes some lawyers might make when marketing their law firm is to do something that’s been traditionally done by other lawyers within your niche. Just because everyone else is doing it, that doesn’t mean it may be the most effective. Perhaps like you, all those other lawyers have been so busy with their practice that keeping up-to-date with the latest marketing practices has been the last thing on their mind.
Remember that for law firms, audiences and clients are consistently evolving. Even when you’re operating in the same niche, clients’ needs may differ as well. For your firm’s marketing tactics to be effective, you need to put together a marketing strategy based on sound research.
2. Don’t Think Small
No matter how small your firm may be or how small your local area is, don’t think small. Rather, whenever you have a marketing campaign or strategy in place, think as big as you possibly can. Widen your reach. If you can market to a broader geographical area, then that’d be great too.
When you think big, you’re creating that positive branding image that you see your law firm growing. You’re not just focusing on where it is at the moment without the prospect of growth. Thinking big is also another facet of professionalism as it makes your current and would-be clients see that you’re serious about growing your law firm.
3. Don’t Use Any Legal Jargon
Most lawyers use legal jargon every day for work. They spent years studying and understanding them, after all. You can do this when you’re in court. However, using legalese for your marketing campaigns may do more harm than good.
Using legalese may make your advertising efforts incomprehensible to the general public. Remember you’re trying to reach out to clients who aren’t lawyers like you. They won’t understand what you’re trying to say when you use legal jargon.
With advertising, you have a few seconds to make an impact. You can do that by using words that are as simple and easy to understand as possible.
Conclusion
Branding through marketing is crucial for any business – law firms included. When clients approach your firm, this classifies them as qualified leads in search of legal services. But, it’s advertising that has gotten them to get to know about your existence in the first place. Without getting aggressive with your marketing efforts, that’s when you may start to lose possible qualified leads. To ensure your marketing efforts won’t go to waste, keep in mind the do’s and don’ts above.