So, how does online marketing help lawyers? Is there any need for lawyers to have a budget for digital marketing? Here’s what you should know.
In 2019, digital marketing spending in the United States of America surpassed traditional marketing spending for the first time. Now, why is this statistic interesting? It’s obvious that more businesses are starting to see the benefits of online marketing.
Lawyers must implement an effective online marketing strategy to help build a solid online reputation, visibility, and generate leads. It does not matter whether you are a new or existing law firm.
Here, we will discuss how digital marketing helps attorneys run successful businesses. Being successful means an increase in traffic, ranking, leads, online reputation, and authority.
Why Should Lawyers Consider Online Marketing?
If you need more reasons to start taking the online marketing campaign for your law firm seriously, you’re in the right place.
Most lawyers don’t think digital marketing is for law firms. They still have this belief that word-of-mouth and attorney referrals are most effective.
No one is saying word-of-mouth or attorney referrals are no longer yielding results. They are. But hear this: there has been a shift in marketing in recent years. It is not the way it used to be.
Combining online marketing with traditional marketing can yield the best result. You won’t be missing out on any growth opportunity.
The number of people searching the internet for information, products, and services has increased over the years. And the increase in mobile device users worldwide is fueling this growth.
Mobile devices are portable and a breeze to move around. People also spend over 70% of the time they spend online on their mobile devices. This means most of your visits will come from mobile searches.
How legal consumers find legal representation is changing. Individuals can hire any lawyer they encounter online after reading several positive reviews about the attorney. That is the benefit of online marketing.
So, if you haven’t been marketing your law firm online, you have missed an excellent opportunity to grow your business. You can have a robust online presence and generate more leads via digital marketing.
How Does Online Marketing Help Lawyers?
How are attorneys benefiting from online marketing? Or are they even profiting from it?
The quality of services rendered determines if a law firm can benefit from online marketing. There should be a robust digital marketing plan and proper execution. If you need help with SEO, you can talk to the Law Firm SEO Expert Agency.
Quickly, let’s discuss how law firms or lawyers benefit from online marketing.
1: Online marketing helps lawyers to establish a solid online presence:
Did you know most law firms don’t struggle to find clients? They have worked hard to establish a robust online presence. They appear in search engine result pages and are popular on social media platforms and local search results.
You can establish such a robust online presence with online marketing. Just ensure you create an effective digital marketing plan and execute it flawlessly. Hire an expert law firm SEO agency to help out. But if you can handle your online marketing projects yourself, you can proceed.
Establishing a solid online presence is vital in today’s digital environment. And you can achieve this by creating a viable online marketing plan. It could reach a point where your law firm’s name would be on the lips of many legal consumers who constantly search for legal representation online.
2: Online marketing helps lawyers build social proof for their business:
Social proof is another form of conformity. When people are unsure of the right brand, services or products, they may look for recommendations or reviews about each brand.
Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that states that when individuals are uncertain about their choices, they turn their attention to others for behavioral guidance.
People do this a lot. You also might have done it. An example of social proof is when a person purchases a product or service because of the reviews they encountered. Since they haven’t tested the product themselves and want to avoid making a wrong decision, they may rely on the experiences of others who claim to have tried it.
You can build social proof for your law firms via online marketing. It could be customer reviews, client testimonials, awards, or recognitions. It could be a recommendation from a satisfied client others would see that would convince them that you’re the real deal.
Here is an example of social proof:
Let’s assume an individual, Mr. A, is looking for a personal injury attorney. He needs the best personal injury lawyer because of the contentious nature of such cases.
Mr. A entered the search term on Google: personal injury lawyer [city] and stumbled upon several law firms. He is uncertain about the ideal law firm to choose. Luckily, he finds reviews and testimonials of one of the law firms more appealing.
Mr. A decided to trust the law firm because of the reviews or testimonials he came across on the firm’s website or business directory.
You can see the example of social proof and how it made the law firm secure a client. Many more would come through this process.
You can’t blame people for relying on reviews, testimonials or making all the necessary inquiries before hiring a law firm. Everybody wants value for their money. Besides, they will use their hard-earned money to fund the case, so winning is crucial.
In today’s business environment where trust is hard to gain, social proof can be the difference maker for your law firm. It helps clients to make quick decisions.
A Handy Tip: Reviews are one of the ways you can build social proof. These include reviews on your website and business directories where you listed your business.
Google My Business (GMB) is an example of a business director. You can build your business profile on Google My Business for free. In addition, GMB allows clients to review businesses.
You can ask clients to give you honest reviews. Ask them to review your services on your Google My Business profile or other directories where you listed your business.
3: Online marketing makes it easier for potential clients to find you:
One of the digital marketing strategies you should endeavor to execute is listing your business on online business directories. An excellent example of a business directory is Google My Business.
In addition to providing the opportunity for clients to review the quality of legal services received from lawyers, GMB allows businesses to include their contact details. You can add your name, phone number, address, and other details to help prospects locate and contact you.
Many people search for legal services on Google and other search engines. However, it will interest you to know that many individuals search for local businesses in directories.
So, online marketing makes it easier for potential clients to find and contact you. It puts your business in front of potential clients.
A Handy Tip: List your law firm on reputable business directories. Additionally, ensure all your contact information are the same or accurate online.
When you relocate to a new address, ensure you change the address on all your business profiles. This will ensure clients get the correct information. Additionally, Google frowns at firms who provide different or incorrect information on their business profiles.
4: Online marketing can help lawyers generate more leads:
Businesses use digital marketing to generate more leads and increase revenue. Law firms that sign more cases will eventually generate more revenue.
How does online marketing help lawyers get more clients? It could be through SEO or paid ads. However, lawyers who understand SEO and paid ads would embrace search engine optimization.
Why should lawyers consider SEO?
Firstly, search engine optimization is cost-effective. It might be more expensive initially but cheaper in the long term compared to paid ads. Furthermore, it’s easier to sustain SEO projects than paid ads.
The benefit of SEO is that it brings qualified leads to your website. When a person enters a search term like criminal defense lawyer [your city], there is a great chance they want to hire one or are just seeking legal information.
Online marketing puts your business in front of potential clients. It helps you acquire clients you probably wouldn’t have had.
The latest report shows that 5.07 billion people use the internet daily. And some of those people could be your potential clients.
Conclusion
How does online marketing help lawyers? You can see the explanation we gave above. Online marketing can help lawyers to establish a solid online presence. It can help lawyers to build social proof and make them easier for potential clients to find.
You can use digital marketing to grow your new or existing business. It can help you get more clients and generate more revenue.
Julhas Alam is a seasoned SEO strategist and the leading voice behind the insightful articles at LawFirmSEOExpert.com. With a rich background in digital marketing and a specialized focus on the legal sector, Julhas combines industry expertise with a deep understanding of SEO to deliver actionable insights and strategies tailored for law firms. Holding a passion for data-driven results and cutting-edge SEO techniques, Julhas has been instrumental in boosting online visibility and client acquisition for numerous law practices. When not dissecting search engine algorithms or exploring the latest digital marketing trends, Julhas enjoys reading success stories of other businesses, adding a personal touch to their professional acumen.