Marketing: Why It’s Important and How to Do It Well Right Now
By Next Level Pod on September 29th, 2021 in Uncategorized
In Mark’s digital marketing agency, his and his team’s suggestions to their clients are always based on data and industry research. They look hard into current marketing trends and make predictions based on them.
Today Mark is sharing some of the current marketing trends and what you can do to leverage those trends for your firm. He will also cover why we should be spending time, money, and effort on marketing in the first place.
Why Marketing?
Sometimes the benefits of marketing can be hard to see. When a rising tide lifts all boats, it can be hard to believe that your marketing is making any difference.
However, it’s when things get tough that you begin to see what marketing can really do for your business. Those who continue marketing in those hard times tend to grow much faster.
We recently witnessed this during the pandemic. Those that were still marketing during COVID and had built a good foundation prior to it were getting the overwhelming majority of the limited prospective clients. Though many firms had smaller budgets and had to get creative with their marketing, those that did it have seen the pay off in spades.
Trend 1: The Way People Find Your Law Firm is More Fragmented Than Ever
From Yellow Pages to Google searches to online directories like Thumbtack, Findlaw, or Expertise.com, there have been so many ways to get your business’ name out there over the years. Currently, marketing is fragmented through Google My Business, Facebook, review sites, and more.
As a result, we recommend that you use multiple marketing channels. Consider marketing through a variety of platforms such as website content, social media, video, email marketing, and paid ads.
The trick here is to not do something completely custom for every channel. Instead, try to create one core piece of content a couple of times a month that you can leverage across other channels. This is called repurposing content.
Trend 2: Consumers Want to Have Digital Service Options
McKinsey Company said, “Reimagining marketing in the next normal.”
The same is true in the legal industry. 56% of consumers would prefer videoconferencing with a lawyer over a phone call, 69% of consumers prefer working with a lawyer who can share documents electronically, and 65% of consumers prefer paying for legal services electronically.
A lot of firms added some of these digital services last year. However, the majority of those firms aren’t telling prospective new clients about these services on their websites. If you added a client portal, electronic signatures, Zoom meetings instead of in-person, or electronic payments/payments plans, brag about that on your home page.
Hone in on those digital services even further by saying something like, “Instead of driving downtown and paying for parking and trying to coordinate both you and your spouse’s schedule, our firm can handle a lot of your case over Zoom, giving you more flexibility of your location and schedule” or, “We know the extra headaches to send stacks of paper back and forth. That is why we have an online portal where we can easily share all of your documents in a secure and confidential location.”
These are all definite selling points and something that can really differentiate you from other firms.
Trend 3: Google is one of your biggest referral partners
Law firms rightfully spend a lot of time building and cultivating their referral partner networks. These networks can bring you a lot of business to be sure, especially in the early days of your business. However, studies have shown that when a consumer is looking for legal services, about half of them search for a lawyer on Google.
It doesn’t make sense to spend all of your time hoping to get a piece of the 50% of referrals while ignoring Google search. We have talked about how a good online presence for your name also helps protect your referrals. Additionally, Search Engine Optimization still works and drives a lot of new leads to law firms. Paid advertising on Google is another way to take advantage of this Google referral partner.
If you want to learn more about today’s marketing trends and how to apply them in your law firm, check out Episode 018: Marketing Trends You Should Be Leveraging Right Now.