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Search engine optimization and organic search traffic are essential to companies that want a thriving business online. But what about businesses that sell services? Law firms use strategic methods to market their business offline, including:
- Referrals
- Business receptions
- Brochures
There’s a lot of potential for a law firm to market itself offline, and a lot of these methods can be adapted online, too (we’ll see a few soon). Marketing a law firm online can take on many different marketing channels aside from SEO.
Strategies being implemented by some of the top law firms in the world include:
1. Follow-up Emails With Clients
Email marketing is an important marketing strategy for all online businesses, but law firms and professional services often fail to utilize email marketing properly. Email is more than just sending out advertisements to past clients.
A strategy that’s being used by firms is follow-up emails.
The idea is simple: You follow up with a client that you’ve worked with, and you gather data at the same time. Your email may include:
- A questionnaire about your service and what could have been better
- Ask the client to review your service on Yelp, Avvo, etc.
- Ask the client to refer your service to a friend or family member
A firm may even offer an incentive for a referral. Referral marketing is a very powerful form of marketing that all service-based entities can employ online and offline.
PSM Marketing describes how they asked clients for Google reviews during their own campaign to increase their reviews from 4 to over 20.
It takes a few seconds to thank a client in a follow-up email and ask them for a favor in return.
2. Webinars
Webinars are a lot of work, and they’re also heavily reliant on marketing to be successful. Even back in 2009, webinars were very important for professional service providers. The key is that professional service providers can use webinars to:
- Attract new clients
- Engage current and past clients
There’s a lot that goes into effective marketing for a webinar. You must do a lot of little things right to market your webinar. You may promote your webinar via paid advertising or social media, but then you need to:
- Send reminder emails, ideally two weeks in advance, one week in advance and the day before. Some people even send reminders once the webinar begins.
- Send follow-up emails to viewers with a “thank you” and a link to a replay if they missed the webinar.
You’ll want to gain feedback from the webinar, too, so feel free to send a follow-up email and ask for some input on how the webinar went in the eyes of the viewer. You’ll be able to learn a lot from your follow-up mail that you can use in the future to better your next webinar.
The goal is to create a strong value proposition for your webinar, and this can be:
- Expert speakers – you or guests
- Trending topics in the industry
You know your firm and the legal field better than most people, so leverage your expertise to find success.
3. Actively Use Social Media
There’s a huge difference between having a social media account and using social media actively. Social media is huge, and it’s almost certain that someone from your target audience is on social media. The big three entities to target are:
But there are also lawyers utilizing Snapchat and Instagram with great success. You need to think outside the box, and a tweet that only mentions your services won’t work. A few of the tactics you can implement into your strategy today are:
- Twitter Chats: Form your own question and answer session via Twitter chats with clients in your area. These chats allow you to demonstrate your expertise and get your name out into the public’s view. They’re also underutilized by your peers, so you can take advantage of this opportunity.
- Facebook Live: If you’ve amassed a large Facebook following and don’t know how to nurture them, look no further than Facebook Live. This is much like a spontaneous webinar, and it allows you to be live right in front of your audience. Talk about a burning topic or answer questions in your Live video sessions.
- Groups: Online forums and groups, especially Facebook groups, can be utilized as an area of information and gathering for your audience. Groups can be updated with new information, you can share your blog posts, and you can also share videos and other vital information in your group, too.
There’s also potential to advertise on Facebook and Twitter to give an immediate boost to your brand’s marketing. A little work and effort can help you quickly use the Internet to propel your business into the view of your target audience.
Social media, webinars and email are just a few of the hundreds of methods law firms and all professional services are using right now to out-market their competition.
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