By Law firms have a reputation for being stuffy and old-fashioned. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get creative with their marketing. In fact, many law firms today are finding success with innovative strategies that help them stand out from the competition. Here are three things every law firm should know about law firm marketing.
Know your ideal client
To achieve success, you need to know your ideal client. This is a person who fits the profile of your ideal client and requires your services. If you don’t know who this person is, how can you market effectively?
The first step in finding this person is by knowing your target market. This could be a geographic area or type of business. You must narrow down the focus of what kind of clients you want so that when it comes time for marketing, it’s easier to define potential customers and make decisions about which strategies will be most effective with them.
Then comes audience identification – figuring out exactly who among these potential customers would most benefit from working with your law firm. Once again, being specific will give direction as well as help define budget limitations should any arise later on during the marketing process itself. Once these initial two steps have been completed successfully enough, then comes identifying what these people need, want, and desire out of their law firm experience.
Think about every facet of the customer journey
If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a car dealership’s sales pitch, you know how annoying it can be. The salesman is pushy, overly confident, and borderline obnoxious. He’s likely to assume your interest in purchasing a vehicle without bothering to ask what kind of car you’re looking for or how much money you’re willing to spend.
This type of behavior makes sense when you think about how these salespeople are trained—they’ve learned that if they try hard enough, they’ll eventually find some way to make a sale happen. This approach doesn’t work as well with law firms because their customers are looking for something specific: legal advice or representation in their case.
Don’t try to make all of your marketing decisions on your own
It’s important for law firms to have a marketing strategy before they start any work. Not only does this allow you to make smarter decisions about your marketing campaign, but it also helps you avoid getting overwhelmed by all the different platforms and channels available. To create a solid strategy you need to be clear on:
- Your target audience
- Your competitors (or “comparable”) in your area of practice
- The strengths of your firm (and its lawyers) compared with other firms in the space or industry as a whole.
Knowing all of this will help you decide where to focus most of your resources when executing the plan that follows from this analysis of strengths and weaknesses—and whether there are opportunities for growth beyond what has been previously achieved through traditional advertising methods alone.
Conclusion
These few ideas will help you get started on your law firm marketing. The key points are knowing your ideal client and having a deep understanding of their needs. You also need to have a solid grasp of what is going on in the industry so that you can stand out as an expert. In addition, it’s important to remember that every step of the customer journey (from discovery through conversion) counts when trying to attract new business.
