In today's market, law firms are fighting for every client. It used to be that one law firm would compete with another one in the same region, town, or neighborhood.
Today, with the popularity of and dependence upon the Internet, lawyers are seeing the competition levels increasing faster than ever. And, not only are they competing against other law firms; they are also competing against electronic research services. Lexis Nexis, LawHelp.org and legaladvice.com offer free or low-cost legal advice.
So how can your law firm compete against a free, readily accessible legal source? Simple: You play them at their own game.
Problems with relying on ambiguous, free online legal advice sites
With the ready access people have to legal electronic research services online, people are trying to do legal work on their own to save money. Any good attorney will tell you that doing this is a huge risk that can actually cost the person a significant amount of time and money if done wrong. But consumers either have no idea of the risk or think they can handle it. And when it’s free, well, it’s hard to pass that up. But “free” can cost you, especially if you receive incorrect or misleading legal advice and you wind up on the losing side of a lawsuit.
Internet marketing for law firms and attorneys
Internet marketing is essential for legal firms of all sizes today. With so many options available, consumers are becoming more discerning about how they handle legal matters. In addition, small law firms are competing against the big regional firms that broadcast their advertising everywhere. Add in electronic research services, and you can see why you need to take marketing seriously.
Marketing helps you:
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educate consumers
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engage potential clients with valuable, relevant information
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provide a value-added service for website visitors
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build trust with your target audience
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convert website visitors into potential clients
How can you even the playing field?
The answer is to educate and engage your target clients online. And you can educate people free of charge, too, just like these electronic research services. The difference between yours and theirs though is that you will be providing honest, educational, reliable counsel from a real, live lawyer. In time, people will begin to appreciate your knowledge and expertise, and your law firm’s website will become a go-to source for online legal advice.
People who are trying to do their own legal work will search for any related information. For example, someone may be researching how to get a work visa in the United States or how to contest a DWI/DUI charge. Someone may have been involved in a serious car accident or be in the midst of a real estate dispute. Each one of these problems can be answered in a blog!
Your law firm’s blogs will give researchers critical information they need. That begins the engagement process that will prepare them to contact your legal office for help. They will begin to think of you as an authority, a credible source they can trust.
When are you supposed to do all of this?
Now, we admit, most attorneys don't have the time to focus on marketing their law firm or practice. They certainly don't have time to blog routinely or to use social media daily to engage with potential clients. If you find yourself lacking the time to do internet marketing on your own, you can outsource the work. A good online marketing team will handle blogging, social media management, mobile optimization and building rich content for the website, but also work with your law firm and educate you along the way. They will help you determine and decipher your buyer insights/buyer personas, or your target clients. That alone can prove invaluable to your law firm.
If you want to exist online, there are many steps you need to take in order to compete. Providing good content is just one of them.
How is your law firm or practice reaching out to prospects, and how are you evening the playing field with your competition? Download our free internet marketing for law firms eBook and get ahead of your competition!
