Attorneys are increasingly turning to social media as a way to communicate with their prospective clients. But, as an attorney, growing your presence on social media can be tricky, especially if you are just starting your pages. Here are some tips on how you can make minimal changes to your social media platforms, and quickly receive an increased number of followers.
1. Be Consistent in Your Content
Your content is what your law firm will largely be known for on social media. Therefore, you want to maintain a clean and consistent image. Content should always be relevant to the type of legal services you provide. For example, you may feature new blog posts you have written, post relevant articles about cases in your area or briefly comment on largely publicized cases in your field of practice. Law firms may even choose to share news and events pertaining to the firm.
Once you find content that is appropriate for your firm, regularly post similar concepts on a rotating basis. This way, your followers know exactly what to expect on your social media pages, and others will begin to follow your pages as a reference for current events. You should also include a mix of updates on law and local news to keep your feed up-to-date with current information. Continue reading “5 Quick Tips to Grow Your Followers on Social Media”
The fourth financial quarter and the holiday season are approaching. How can your firm capitalize on the holiday rush? Start planning your holiday marketing efforts now! Use your firm’s social media sites, online marketing, and public relations efforts to build a comprehensive holiday marketing plan.
Social Media Marketing
As each holiday season comes and goes, we are becoming more engulfed in our social media accounts. Therefore, it is beneficial to use social media as a way to directly influence your client base. First, grab their attention by adding fun and festive elements to your usual marketing strategies.
The holiday season means that consumers want a good value for their dollar. By offering a promotion on social media sites (whether it is “Take 10% off your consultation” or “$50 off services provided”), you are giving existing and prospective clients alike a reason to visit your firm. Even visitors who were not previously considering your goods or services may be enticed to do so. Continue reading “Start Planning Your Holiday Marketing”
Marketing is essential for the growth of any law firm. Even if your attorneys have impeccable reputations, without sufficient exposure, potential clients may never be aware of what your firm has to offer. Unfortunately, many small firms and solo practitioners do not have a large budget to spend on comprehensive marketing campaigns. Costly forms of marketing can be very effective in attracting new clients, but if the budget isn’t there, law firms can take advantage of alternative methods. Fortunately, there are many ways to attract new clients without breaking the bank. Even basic tools, such as a website, can help inform prospective clients about your practice areas and can convince them to request a consultation. Here are some more tips on where you should be spending your money when dealing with a tight marketing budget.
Recently, the popularity of Internet-based advertising has increased dramatically among lawyers. One of the most widely used methods of Internet-based advertising is through email. Email marketing offers law firms a cheap, easy way to directly target past clients, prospective clients and potential referral sources. Meanwhile, there has been a decline in direct mail advertising, a more traditional system of sending tangible advertisements to your target audience. Despite the lower costs associated with email advertising, does it bring in a higher return on your investment? Overall which is better: direct mail or email advertising?
Advantages to email advertising: For starters, emails can link back to your website, social media pages, recent verdicts and settlements, and much more. Also, emails are sent immediately. Advertisers do not need to wait for the pieces to be printed, shipped, stamped and delivered. Lastly, the main advantage to email advertising is very basic: it is cheap. As long as a firm is connected to the Internet, sending an email comes at almost no cost. Direct mail incurs costs such as printing and postage, which can add up quickly if a firm is trying to reach a large number of businesses or households.
Downsides to email advertising: While emails can be an effective way to reach a target market, what happens if a firm doesn’t have a large email database? Organically building a list of email addresses is a difficult process that can take months to sufficiently complete. This can be avoided by using agencies that offer lists of addresses, but all of this comes at a price. Also, a large number of emails are never seen by its audience. Email advertisements are often viewed as junk mail and automatically end up in spam boxes or are deleted before they are read.
The main advantage of direct mail: You are ensured the audience will see the advertisement. Even if they immediately discard the mailer, they will still briefly look at it, giving your firm increased exposure. This also presents the opportunity to change one’s opinion with catchy designs and content. Someone may delete an e-newsletter before it loads, but an eye-popping postcard in the mail can often lead to new clients. Also, certain demographics of people, such as senior citizens or low-income households, are more likely to respond to direct mail than emails.
The Direct Marketing Association found in a 2012 study that letter-sized direct mail has a response rate of 3.4% from a house list and a 1.28% rate from the general public. Email, on the other hand, only has a response rate of .12% and .03%, respectively. These rates can be even higher with a well-segmented list. Direct mail can still have a high return on investment and reach a wider audience.
In the end, the method that works best depends on the law firm, the practice area(s) advertised, and the resources available. Even if direct mail may benefit a firm, if it does not have the resources immediately available to make the investment, then emails may be the way to go. Often, a combination of both methods can be the best system for a law firm.
In either case, it is important to contact a marketing firm with a total understanding of the current attorney advertising rules in your state. PR4Lawyers prides itself on strict adherence to all advertising regulations and attorney rules of conduct. If you have any questions regarding advertising strategies, please contact PR4Lawyers at 866-PR4Lawyers or email: johnzaher@pr4lawyers.com.
With the exponential growth of social media, lawyers and their firms have begun to adapt to changes in online marketing and social networking to grow their brand and attract new clients. In 2012, the American Bar Association acknowledged the trend by dedicating an issue of its Law Practice Magazine to social media. A diversified and well-maintained social media strategy can lead to client referrals, better event publicity, increased interest in a law firm, and a stronger brand. Social media can also establish firms/partners as thought leaders in their fields. Although there are dozens of social media forums, the most relevant for the legal profession are blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Attorneys who conduct extensive research on their field often receive little recognition outside of legal circles. By editing this research for public consumption, via blogs, lawyers can build a solid reputation among social media enthusiasts, people who share their interests, and potential clients. Sharing self-written (or ghost-written) blog articles enables lawyers to establish credibility and become leading experts recognized by their peers and followers.
The New Year is upon us and many firms are making resolutions for 2014. Including a marketing resolution for your law firm can help it receive the recognition and attention that it deserves. Marketing allows the public to identify what your firm has to offer, increases brand awareness, name recognition, and referrals, thereby attracting more customers.
Below are six strategies to consider when creating your firm’s New Year’s resolutions:
The internet is now the main way for law firms to gain exposure. It’s an easy and fast way to get found, communicate with clients, and bring in new business. This is your first impression—make it count! When developing or maintaining a website, there are quite a few factors to consider since websites can easily help or harm a brand. What should the site include? How can I maximize the return on my investment? These are all questions that can be answered by considering a few important factors to gain traffic and build your reputation.
Domain Name
The domain name is the primary way to brand your site. This is what will be typed in the search bar to locate your site. Using a .com domain is best because of its popularity — many individuals believe that .net sites are less reputable.
You want your web address to be simple, but including a keyword can help SEO (ex. www.longislanddivorcelawyer.com). Something long and difficult to remember may result in loss of visitors to your site. We recommend using your firm’s name or a keyword-based description.
A strong e-newsletter is an essential component of any successful business’ marketing strategy. No matter what field of law you belong to, e-newsletters are a crucial form of communication between your firm and past and prospective clients. With the immense popularity and convenience of smart phones, iPads and other electronic devices, email marketing plays a critical role in maintaining contact with clients. Maintaining a consistent e-newsletter program will prove to be a very important marketing asset for your firm.
This article will explain the importance of e-newsletters in regards to lead generation, keeping in touch with your audience, content distribution, the importance of providing incentives and capturing contact information.
Anyone can create a blog but at the end of the day, the question is whether or not your blog is getting results and generating leads for your law firm. If the answer is no, you may be committing one of the following blogging sins. This article will provide an overview of five common mistakes businesses and law firms make when blogging, including not understanding their target audience, not providing any contact information, inconsistent updating, bad writing and not including multimedia.
1. Not Understanding Your Target Audience — One of the most common blogging mistakes is when a firm doesn’t understand the needs of its audience. The key to successful blogging is focusing every post on what your prospective clients would find most valuable or interesting. Readers are looking for information and news that can directly benefit them. Readers are also looking for personality, and blogs (whether ghost-written or written by the attorney) should be professional, but with a personal voice. Law firms should place an emphasis on creating interesting, helpful and engaging content rather than pure self-promotion.
Email marketing, such as newsletters and email blasts, is one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing tools for small to mid-sized businesses and law firms. It provides a good segue to convert leads into clients, and emails can be completely customized to strengthen your reputation. Here are six ways to maximize your email marketing success:
1. Experiment to Create a Schedule
In order to find out what days and times are best for your firm to send out emails, try out a few different schedules. Certain times of the year may be best depending on your field of law (Thanksgiving or other heavily-traveled days for a traffic law firm, for example), and holiday emails are appropriate from any firm. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are also said to be the best days of the week to send out emails. Use your personal experience to experiment and see what works best for you!
For more information about our services or to find out how we can help you attain your marketing goals, click here to email us, or call: Toll Free: 866-PR4LAWYERS .: Phone: 631-207-1057
Attorneys are increasingly turning to social media as a way to communicate with their prospective clients. But, as an attorney, growing your presence on social media can be tricky, especially if you are just starting your pages. Here are some tips on how you can make minimal changes to your social media platforms, and quickly receive an increased number of followers.
