Lawyer Online Marketing: The Ultimate Guide for Attorneys

lawyer online marketing

As of July 2020, the number of lawyers in the U.S had raised to 1.33 million. That shows how competitive and challenging the law profession is in this day and age. It takes you the right strategies to stand out, win clients, and grow your practice; luckily, lawyer online marketing is quite promising and the best way to go.

Lawyer online marketing through Google ads, social media marketing, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, and other proven ways boost your brand credibility, extend your legal prospects, and convert your leads to active clients. That positions you as a professional and scales your practice.

Are you confused about where to start? In this ultimate guide for attorney online marketing, we let you know the statistical truth of digital marketing for lawyers, the detailed significance you enjoy from online marketing, how to execute lawyer online marketing correctly, and everything in between.

But first, do you know what attorney online marketing is? Let's start from there!

mac laptop with law symbol on screen

What Is Lawyer Online marketing?

Online marketing isn't so new among many people. It dates back to the new millennium's start when marketers first popularized it as digital marketing. Online marketing, also referred to as internet marketing, is now a subject of digital marketing. It's one of those fancy buzzwords marketers can't forget to mention in every conversation.

Attorney or lawyer online marketing is the act of utilizing the internet through web-based platforms and well-thought techniques to get the message about your legal practice, brand, and services to people across the web.

Simply, it's anything you decide to do on the internet to get prospects' attention and, if everything goes well, achieve your intended goals.

The Truth About Online marketing and Attorneys Growth

With 62% of legal prospects seeking lawyers from their close circle friends, we can't disagree that many excellent lawyers and law firms get multiple clients from recommendations and referrals. However, ignoring online marketing for lawyers gives your competitors a big chance to outshine you.

Attorney online marketing plays a significant role in your growth and future success. We understand that you've come across multiple statistics to support digital marketing, and it's now the new normal. We don't wish to bombard you with much more data, but let's be honest; digital marketing for lawyers is the real deal.

Here's how things look in 2020:

38% of legal prospects depend on the internet to settle on a particular attorney (Source: NatLawReview)

55% of solo practitioners own a legal website (Source: American Bar Association)

65% of legal professionals spend most of their marketing budget on online campaigns (Source: Martindale)

74% of prospects browse a lawyer's website to initiate an action (Source: NatLawReview)

96% of legal prospects seeking legal advice commence their search at the search engines (Source: NatLawReview)

70% of law firms see value in digital marketing, especially in enhancing brand awareness and thought leadership (Source: Digital Marketing Playbook)

Such data reveals why the number of freelance and self-employed attorneys is on the rise.  More so, we're beginning to see a change in the narrative even in law firms; they're now highly depending on digital marketing to achieve their marketing goals and stand out in the marketplace.

law firm marketing looking to accelerate

Why Online Marketing for Lawyers and Attorneys?

47% of law firms and 17 percent of solo lawyers have a budget for their online marketing endeavors. That's a clear indication that lawyers are into internet marketing. But just like other businesses out there, you don't have to venture into online marketing blindly.

Here's what you need to do to kick start your online lawyer marketing campaigns:

Establish a brand: Remember you're not just growing your legal client base but also creating a reliable, trustworthy, and professional brand people will associate you with. Showcase your values based on your goals, and let prospects notice you with ease.

Identify your Market: Your marketing efforts are not complete without optimizing your market research. So, where do you begin? Based on your values, spot the right market, and engage multiple entities through interviews to know what they need.

Know the Right Channels: Once you know your market, take your time to decide on the specific channel to reach your prospects. When starting, don't focus on one channel; test multiple options, and settle on what favors your efforts.

Have a Campaign Plan: A comprehensive online campaign plan will accommodate everything you need to do during the entire process, from setting goals, target audience, the expertise required, and platforms to leverage.

Now, here's the point.

With the above ready and everything in place, you have no reason not to enjoy your internet marketing efforts. The advantages are overwhelming, and you'll be happy to see significant changes in your practice.

online marketing benefits open book

In a nutshell, here are the benefits of lawyer online marketing:

  • Enhances relations and engagement with clients
  • Adds new legal prospects to your list
  • Boosts the credibility of your legal practice
  • Increases traffic to your website
  • Helps you protect your referrals
  • Increases your referrals
  • Enhances your brand reputation

Major Actionable Online Marketing Approaches for Lawyers and Attorneys

Now that you know how to kick start the online marketing journey and the benefits that come along, you must be ready to get in action. But the central question now is: how should lawyers effectively market their services online?

Here's how to go about that.

Optimize Your Website

According to ABA 2020 Legal Technology Survey Report, more than 95% of law firms and only 59% of solo lawyers have a website. That is a clear indication that there are many lawyers out there yet to maximize their online potential. The percent of solos without a website has been on the rise; it was 38% in 2016.

Astonishing, right?

You've probably heard the classic mantra that says 'if you're not online, you don't exist.' Many will argue about it, but let's be frank. Every legal practitioner needs to invest in a website if they intend to reach a greater target audience and acquire new clients.

But it goes way beyond having a random website; you need a professional and well-optimized lawyer's website that stands out. There are many lawyers with websites, but the truth is, the websites don't work in favor of the prospects because they're not worth it. Such websites need updates or a complete makeover.

Which begs the question: how can lawyers optimize and update their websites for a more comprehensive and comfortable use, with the assurance of conversion? Let's dig further!

Work on Your Website Pages

Your about us page must summarize everything about you, from credentials to the mission statement, to create a lasting impression. Detail the service page comprehensively based on your practice area. Adding hypothetical situations and success stories is a game-changing move.

Again, have the awards page for accomplishment, testimonials for work assurance, a blog page to offer free legal tips, and a contact page with location, phone, email, and social media links. Contact forms, newsletter, and journal signups keep your prospects closer.

Embrace Mobile Optimization

Whether you need a mobile-friendly website is no longer a debatable subject in our current internet setting. Most people are on the go, and they expect to find legal solutions from their phones. Mobile marketing statistics show that businesses now live in a mobile world, and lawyers are no exception.

mobile optimization hand holds phone

Let's get a snippet from the numbers below:

Most internet users spend more than 5 hours daily on their phones (Source: Flurry).

70% of website traffic comes from mobile devices (Source: CIODive).

60% of mobile users have contacted businesses after initiating a mobile search (Source: Google).

9 in every 10 mobile users search for services online without being specific on the provider of choice (Source: Google).

69% of smartphone users go for mobile sites that address their concerns (Source: BrightEdge).

Leverage Live Chat

Some lawyers may view live chat options as a way of slicing their billable hours and giving free advice. Well, that's not the case. Only 7% of solo attorneys have a live chat on their website. Automation, especially the best live chats, ensures that you create some intimacy, turn an interested prospect into an active client and remain open to contact 24/7.

Embrace SEO for Lawyers

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves optimizing your pages and content to ensure that you appear top on search engines. After developing an excellent website, you need to have SEO plans to ensure your legal prospects find you with ease. The good thing is that lawyers now know the significance of having SEO as part of their online marketing strategy.

The benefits of SEO goes beyond enhancing your visibility and website traffic. SEO showcases you as a credible lawyer offering legal information and services that benefit the legal prospects in their respective area. That translates to more opportunities and increased ROI. According to HubSpot, 64% of marketers are already into SEO, and they love it.

But these benefits don't come easily. You need to have a strategy in place indicating what you'll have on board throughout the process. More so, what you want to achieve. Everything goes on smoothly if you have a tactical team versed with SEO to help you achieve your goals.

That said, here are vital things you have to note if you intend to have effective SEO in place:

Leverage Tools

semrush website

There are multiple tools to get you started with SEO. For instance, keyword research tools like SEMrush and Google Search Console come in handy to help you identify keywords relevant in your practice area and locality.

google analytics

Analytical tools like Google Analytics give you reports on how your SEO is progressing. It's vital to know how you're performing. That helps you to know whether you're visible and if the current tactics work for you. Even when the results are excellent, you still can achieve more. The possibilities are limitless.

Think Locally

Whenever you embrace SEO, geo-targeting should be your priority. There is no point in marketing your legal services in Los Angeles when you're strictly in Dallas. Focusing on your locality with the right keywords helps attract the right audience; it's also a prime ranking factor. SEO Tribunal indicates that 97% of customers learn about their local providers online before visiting their premises.

seo keywords ranking content banner with girl looking

Choose the Right Keyword

We're emphasizing choosing the right lawyer's keyword for a reason. Many lawyers are into the value and volume the keyword attracts without considering critical things. It doesn't work like that. First, know who you're targeting and understand the demographics, keyword competition, and target audience search intents.

Enhance Leads with Conversion Rate Optimization

We've already talked about optimizing your website. The good thing is that there is more to do beyond optimizing the standard website pages on your website menu and ensuring it is mobile friendly.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CMO) strategies optimize your websites extensively to convert visitors into active leads. It's because you'll prompt each visitor to take action. With CMO, you get to acquire relevant contact details from the legal prospects, giving you a chance to win them easily.

The big question you're probably asking is: What are the lawyer CMO strategies to leverage?

cmo letters made of silver dices

We extensively look at some of these common strategies that will assure improved leads and increased revenue. They include:

Using Pop-Ups

It is without a doubt that many internet users don't like it when they browse, and pop ups keep appearing. Many associate them with bad intentions. Website popups raise conversion by 3%, and it's something worth considering.

Just implement the right popup based on the context and avoid mistakes that might negatively impact your attorney's website. Interactive, opt-in bars, click-activated, and exit-intent popups are the most common.

Have Strong CTAs

A call to action can be a text or image that encourages prospects to take action. It can be signing up, following, or calling to enjoy a particular legal service. Whether you intend to boost your email list or let prospects know about your offer, you must embrace a strong CTA.

Solid CTAs draw the right attention and interest, boosting your leads and client base. But creating the right CTA is not that simple, especially when it's your first time. Whether it's in your website, blog, or social media, aim to grab the attention, maintain the focus, and entice the potential legal clients to initiate an action to get the promised value.

Perfect the Landing Pages

Landing pages are the sales pages that will convince and win your prospects if you get it right. Are you still wondering why you're getting much traffic but no actual legal clients? Well, it has to do with your landing pages. Prioritize on perfecting your landing pages. The best way to do that is through optimization.

landing page and related words

Here's is how to go about that:

  • Have the Keywords in place, not just for website quality score but also attract specific action searches.
  • Convince your prospects to take action.
  • Let the visitors know what you do (specific services) and the value you bring onboard.

Note that you'll have to decide what Conversion Rate Optimization approach works for you and have an expert modify your websites to enjoy the CMO benefits. Whether it's on your lawyer's bio, blog, homepage, or service pages, you need to optimize rightly. Again, CMO strategies work best when you start generating a substantial amount of traffic.

Have a Well-Executed Google Ads Campaign

66% of Google searches result in a click. You won't miss a click or two to your website if you appear strategically on the Google search engine. Marketing your lawyer services organically will increase your chances of topping at the search engine. But to be honest, that's not enough. You require to embrace paid advertising.

That's where the PPC or pay-per-click advertising platform, Google paid search (Google ads) comes in, to position your brand at the right time and place, boosting your visibility and attracting prospects in need of urgent help. With Google AdWords, you pay once prospects click on your ads.

Imagine this, getting into online attorney paid marketing for the first time and only to realize that you'll require to pay at least $100 for every single click.

Think about that for a second.

Well, that can confuse you for some minutes, especially if you're still growing your brand. The reality is competition is fierce. Luckily, your spending is not in vain, and it is not yet time to abandon the game.

Google stats indicate that $1 spent on Google Ads generates around $2 in revenue. Sounds good now, right? Many marketers will echo these sentiments. But that doesn't happen when you're gambling with your campaign.

Here's the thing,

Google ads campaign requires you to understand what you're doing. It doesn't help if you spend money blindly without understanding the basics. You'll not achieve the quality leads generation you've been anticipating. Know what target prospects need and focus your Google ads campaigns towards addressing them.

That said, here are some of the best practices for a well-executed Google Ads Campaign.

Have Appropriate Keyword

Focus more on keyword research. Start with looking at keywords in your legal specialty, and consider what suits you based on the possibility of conversion and budget. Embrace long-tail search terms and be different. That's how you stand out. Geo-targeting here is vital. Ensure you target the right regions.

Bid With a strategy

With fierce competition, you'll be competing for keywords with your competitors. Every lawyer wants to rank at the top. Find profitable keywords and bid on them. Keywords that bring about the highest conversions. You'll enjoy more clicks without spending much, which brings a positive ROI.

ROI Wide with pie chart

Give Prospects a Reason to Click

Legal prospects initiate an online search because they need prompt assistance. Whether it's on winning custody, solving a real estate issue, or getting the job back, you need to prove your value. Let the prospects know about your achievements, years of expertise, cases won, pricing, and free consultations.

A strong call to action is also vital to compel your prospects to take action. Whether to call or click. Consider powerful action verbs and maintain brevity if you intend to win more clients. Keep the client engaged more with exceptional landing pages.

Embrace Extensions

Extensions provide relevant additional information that clients want to know, making it easy to click to get more. Again, ads with extensions occupy more space and create automatic attraction. Some of the common extensions include call extension, location extension, and site link extension.

Creating Google AdWords campaigns and monitoring every step to ensure the clicks bring about active clients is not a walk in the park. It requires expert analysis and correct details that converts. That's why you'll need an expert at this stage to avoid frustrations.

Get Google My Business for Lawyers Profile

Other than through paid ads and SEO, Google My Business gives lawyers a chance to wow their legal prospects and appear at the top of Google's local search when prospects search for local lawyers. You can't ignore this strategy if you're looking for a free tool that positions you at the top search results, making it easy to dominate in your locality.

google my business

Lawyers love the fact that Google displays a map to guide prospects on the local business's location. It's not just for lawyers, but all local businesses that have adopted Google My Business. With some prospects preferring to look at the features on the Google local 3 pack panel over reading the SERP descriptions, you can't assume the power of this online marketing feature for attorneys.

You can share multiple pieces of information about your practice and brand, creating instant credibility and professionalism. Some of the things people get to know about you include your name, the website link, location, direction, reviews, opening hours, address, contact details and media like photos.

Such details can benefit you in multiple ways. You can easily boost the traffic to your website, increase the call volume, and make it easy for locals to spot your office. In some instances, prospects will knock at your door when you least expect because they have all the necessary details to get to your office.

It sounds easy and doable, but before you set your GMB profile, there are best practices to follow to optimize Google My Business listing.

Here's what you do:

  • Add your business name, address and other relevant details correctly and in the right format.
  • Specify your service area and add the right ZIP codes to specify your location.
  • Be keen on the categories you pick. The primary and secondary categories show your relevance in the practice areas.
  • Add operating hours correctly and adjust when you make changes in your routine.
  • Only include your official website.
  • Include a relevant keyword in your business description for optimization.
  • Include your solo lawyer images and those of your office.
  • Seek reviews for positive credibility and ranking.

Once you complete your GMB profile, take a few minutes to create your Google+ profile. That gives you a chance to attract more local traffic, especially from mobile users. 50% of mobile users will seek a local service from a business they noticed when doing a local online search.

If You Can, Leverage Bing Ads and SEO for Lawyers

It's true to say that Google enjoys the monopoly of the search engine market and gives the widest reach. A good reason to recommend it anytime.  As of July 2020, Google enjoyed a global market share of 86%, quite far from Bing, which accounted for only 6%.

That small percentage tells you that people still use Bing; it's not dead as you might have heard opinions out there. But with such a huge difference in market share, would you invest in Bing SEO? What about Bing ads? Is this search engine still worth it?

The answer is yes, and no. It depends on your model of business and where you get most of your audience. Many lawyers leverage Google because that's what their clients use.  But, the truth is, it doesn't hurt to give Bing a try anyway. What if your competitors are already drawing traffic where you're yet to see an opportunity?

lawyers at work with search bar

Google dominates and is the best for lawyers. But there are still reasons to try Bing, if you can. For instance, there is less competition, it's cheap, and their algorithm can easily work in your favor. That means your Bing ads, Bing Places for Business, and Bing SEO will rank easily. But the main problem is the limited reach, which makes Google Ads, tough competitive and a little pricey, best for serious lawyers.

As you exploit various search engines, ensure you compliment your marketing strategy. Use what works for you. The reality on the ground is that Bing ads and SEO are still worth exploiting, but Google ads are better, by far.

Request Online Reviews to Maximize User Experience

At some point, legal clients, just like the random consumers searching for various services online, will hesitate about contacting a certain lawyer they find online, especially if it's their first encounter. It's because they want to have an assurance of the professional they engage.

Having online reviews is one of the best ways to answer your prospects' disturbing questions. But not just reviews, but reviews with positive ratings. More than 50% of customers prefer providers with reviews that exceed four stars. Only 11% are still stuck on overall 5-star ratings.

Source reviews from your past clients via private message for your Google My Business profile, website, and social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. These are some of the areas people will frequent to know about your services.

Potential clients are aggressively seeking reviews and not just depending on service descriptions you showcase out there. Since many don't remember to leave a review or the case's sensitive nature deters them, have the right strategy to accommodate all past clients. For instance, spot happy clients and send links through which they can publish reviews.

Online reviews persuade clients, and deciding on your favor becomes easy. That results in increased conversions. Online review statistics show that 73% of customers depend on reviews to make a purchase decision. Again, 79% of the prospect's trust reviews and takes them as if they are personal recommendations from close friends. If you want to score high in referral marketing online, focus more on online reviews and recommendations.

Perfect Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing is one of the best ways to attract new prospects, connect with them, build a long-lasting relationship, and in the long run, grow a reputable brand. Globally, email use is on the rise, and it's projected to grow to a user base of 4.48 billion by 2024.

Lawyers and law firms are part of this massive growth. In fact, lawyers have been into email marketing campaigns for quite some time now. The main problem is that most attorneys are yet to enjoy conversions and an increased client base. It happens due to a blind approach to email marketing.

envelope with paper planes flying out yellow background

Email campaigns offer a direct and personal message that addresses your services and other ongoings. Here, you get to witness real and measurable output, and that moves your campaign with expertise.

Ready to embrace an attorney email marketing strategy that works? Consider these proven tips.

  • Focus on a niche and deliver emails targeted directly to your potential clients.
  • Have a list of recipients from various sources, e.g., people browsing your site, contacts from social media platforms, previous clients, and so on.
  • You can't separate emails and good content. Whether you're sharing articles, videos, important notifications, or newsletters, engage your audience with trendy and informative quality content.
  • Go for automation. Settle on an email provider that will ease your work. It feels good to organize and send multiple customized emails to your subscribers with a simple click. Give MailChimp a try.

Get into Social Media and Use Paid Ads for Lawyers

In the 21st century, social media is not all about posting the after-party, gift, and adventure pictures. Nothing bad with that, but if you're an attorney, you can do more than that and still wow the 50% of the world population using social media. How about introducing your lawyer brand to those in your circle in a friendly, conversational, and educative way?

If you have not thought about that before, it's early time you enroll in the right social media platforms and have a strategy that helps you leverage the best practices. Many attorneys will ask: which social media assets or platforms suit lawyers? Well, it depends. Go where you'll find your target clients. It can be Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram.

When you create and cultivate your social media profiles of choice, you get to build a strong relationship with your followers and stand out as an authentic and trustworthy legal provider in your specialty who's approachable when a need arises.

But how do you build search relationships? Make sure you do this:

  • Share informative content for expertise exposure.
  • Be in the right place at the right time to attract your preferred target audience.
  • Maintain relevance to your audience.
  • Keep your following with up to date news.
  • Engage your followers.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) requires you to be creative and strategic. We understand that you can get overwhelmed and feel like quitting, but it's not the right time to do that. You don't want to be part of the 50% of small businesses that don't embrace social media.

pay adds screen with charts

A whopping 97% of marketers are in social media to grow their business and evidence a significant positive change; you're not an exception. Remember, it's not only about sales, but growing your legal brand, enhancing your traffic, letting people know about your business existence, and building loyal customers.

A greater part of your social media marketing will also involve paid social media ads for lawyers. Paid and organic social media campaigns work together to boost your marketing efforts, not against each other.

Here are the main social media platforms for lawyers and attorneys and how to use them for outreach and paid ads.

Facebook for Outreach and Paid Ads

With the busy paperwork, occupied schedule, and demanding court representations, some lawyers overlook Facebook marketing's importance. But the fact that more than 2.7 billion monthly users log in to Facebook, lawyers have no reason to quickly give up on this top and popular social network in this era.

We understand that you might have commenced the advertising journey and even created a page, but you've not seen results. We come across such cases daily. For instance, a page with very few likes, little or no comments, and no shares; well, that doesn't give you the outreach you want. That's where Facebook ads come in.

With over 60 million business pages on Facebook, only 2.5m pages embrace paid ads. That's a clear definition that service providers, including some attorneys, are yet to know the significance of paid ads. Facebook ads help you boost your brand awareness, promote your specialty, and target a specific audience.

Ignoring the relatively low cost per click, quick and user-friendly Facebook ads mean you're giving your competitor a chance to outshine you. But, at times, some lawyers fail to try out Facebook ads because they're yet to know what strategies will work for them.

facebook like adds

That said, here are Facebook ads best practices that assure results:

  • Know the Facebook ad format that works well for you. You can choose the photo, dynamic product, carousel, video, or slideshow ads.
  • What's your objective? Is it conversions, considerations, or awareness? Know what you want.
  • Whether single or carousel, have high-quality attorney images as bait to encourage people to scroll and take action. If you run multiple ads, have varying images.
  • Link your ads to well-optimized landing pages. Ensure these pages are desktop and mobile responsive.
  • Retarget your followers based on your website visits, social media posts, engagement, and video views. Analyze the retargeting data, and have your ads directed to your specific audience interested in your services.
  • Target legal prospects based on their geographic and demographic features.
  • Cap the frequency of impressions and days to ensure more new people keep noticing your ads.
  • Promote your blog through Facebook ads, and ensure the headline captures your prospect's attention.

LinkedIn for Outreach and Paid Ads

You're losing some clients if you're not marketing your services on LinkedIn. The continuously growing platform has heavily invested in perfecting its operation mode, allowing you to target particular legal prospects without breaking your bank. It's no longer about guesswork but a calculated approach to reach prospects on their feeds.

LinkedIn targets professionals. Data shows that in every two seconds, a professional is likely to join LinkedIn. There are over 690 million active users, and that's why marketers are leveraging the platform like never before.

Start with creating a LinkedIn account and include all the relevant details. Whether you already have an account or you're new, you can commence advertising anytime. Running a successful LinkedIn ads campaign assures enhanced awareness, new leads, and boost to your sales.

linkedin site

So, what do you do to enjoy great conversions? Here are the best practices for lawyer's paid LinkedIn campaigns.

  • Take your time to learn about the LinkedIn offers and the Campaign Manager to initiate your ad campaigns.
  • Have an objective. Do you want people to sign up on your webinars or leads to your website? Knowing that makes it easy to have the right ad content.
  • Choose your target audience based on your practice area and geographical location.
  • Settle for the right format. LinkedIn ad formats are either Texts, Sponsored InMail, or Sponsored Content.  Many lawyers prefer sponsored content. Rich media in your ads makes them stand out.
  • Perfect your campaign budget and schedule. Don't strain much here; start with what you have and increase your budget with time.
  • Monitor your lawyer's LinkedIn ads and track the metrics to know their performance.

If you stick to the best strategies and put yourself in the limelight, especially in professional groups, generating website visits, attracting video views, and having crazy engagements and conversions from LinkedIn should not worry you.

YouTube for Outreach and Paid Ads

YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. 83% of all consumers will choose it anytime to learn about a service or get answers to their questions. When coupled with over 2 billion monthly users, there are adequate reasons to invest in YouTube advertising.

The ads are perfect for brand visibility. YouTube ads showcase a powerful message about your brand. Based on the content you put out there, your audience gets to know your message and learn about your intentions. That creates a long-lasting impression and recognition, bringing about engagements and sales.

YouTube ads for lawyers are Google dependent. Since Google owns YouTube, your highly targeted video ads appear in the extensive Google Network. That is a significant advantage if you're looking for a greater reach. With more than 70% of YouTube watch time coming from mobile devices, you can't doubt the extensive reach.

The ads that you use depends on your preference. If you've been to YouTube, you've already seen the different YouTube ads that once clicked reveal the advertiser's content.

youtube adds website

Do you want short form, long-form, non-skippable or skippable ads?  These ads include:

  • Instream ads that run for five seconds with the option to skip.
  • Display ads that appear on the screen when watching (right side of the screen) or on the YouTube homepage.
  • In-Search ads that appear once you query your keyword on the YouTube search bar.

Creating lawyer YouTube ads is straightforward if you have a strategy. With your advertising content and Google ads account ready, go ahead, and choose your campaign. Name it, embrace your favorite ad format, set the budget, location, and advertising networks of choice.

Don't forget to optimize your content and have an impressive call to action. If you find it challenging, have a professional to help you.

Instagram for Outreach and Paid Ads

The glamorous and photo-oriented nature of Instagram makes lawyers skeptical to advertise on the platform. Instagram, now owned by Facebook, accommodates most of the millennial generation, and that sends a clear picture of why it is the way it is. As per U.S. Census Bureau, Millennials top the living generation in terms of numbers. If you're not targeting them, you're missing a big chunk of the United States' most active population.

Instagram has more than a billion active users, with numbers growing exponentially, without signs of slowing down anytime soon. When used appropriately, lawyers can attract a massive Instagram audience within their preferred demographics, and that's good for business.

Instagram audience values experts. Once you influence your audience with quality content, you'll have made a significant step. That explains why influential marketing is a big thing on Instagram.

If you plan to get your videos, webinars, blog posts, or e-books on the prospect's feed, it's early time you consider advertising through visual stories and paid ads.

instagram for business

Wondering how to market your attorney brand on Instagram? Here's what you need to do:

  • Shift to a business account and add the relevant details to pose like a professional.
  • Promote your content through low budget Instagram ads.
  • Target your exact audience and brand your ads to suit their specifications. More so, use hashtags to maximize your reach.
  • Go for quality images and short videos. Instagram is not all about many words.
  • Post consistently and maintain quality.

Twitter for Outreach and Paid Ads

Twitter enjoys a massive 330 million-plus active users each month, and if you're yet to maximize your potential on the platform, you're missing out on big things. Some lawyers fail to take Twitter seriously because they don't know the benefits that come along, or they are yet to learn how to maneuver the platform.

Twitter is perfect for client outreach, networking, and brand building. You're able to post your image, video, and text content, get a little personal in conversations and still maintain professionalism: all that brings significant growth to your brand.

Live video streams and Twitter posts with quality and relevant media (videos or images), followed with links (if any), drive crazy engagements. Data reveals that 92% of Twitter interactions occur through link clicks.

twitter adds

Importantly, take advantage of Twitter ads and let prospects find you in your inbox. The four types of Twitter paid ads for lawyers include automated ads, promoted trends, promoted accounts, or promoted tweets.

All you need is your practice Twitter account and Twitter advertising account. With that, initiate your campaign by setting your goals, creating ad groups, and choosing the ad placement. Be specific on the target audience and then launch your ads.

Create Compelling and Informative Content

Content is the nucleus of every lawyer's online marketing campaign. But don't create any content but constant and high-quality content. When we talk about content, we mean any form of video, audio, images, or writing you put on your website, social media, or other places.

40% of marketers value carefully curated and actionable content and will incorporate it into their marketing efforts. Such content guarantees loyalty and trust, authority, brand visibility, long-lasting relationship with prospects, recognition, and inbound leads. With a proper content marketing plan, you can achieve a lot.

With so much to offer, some lawyers still wonder why content marketing hasn't worked for them. Here's the thing: Be clear on your goals, narrow on the target audience, take your time to develop resourceful content, post regularly and measure the effectiveness to know where you need improvements – we'll get to that soon.

Content effectiveness highly depends on how you focus on different types of content. Whether it's on your newsletter, web content, blog, or infographics, you need to get it right.

Here are the ways to do it:

Use Blogging to Your Advantage

blue mouse cord with blog written with it

The legal field is changing tremendously. The best way to educate your prospects and inform them about the legal space's happenings is through informative and meaningful blogging. Have an SEO optimized blog to post detailed legal tips, FAQs, legal news, and much more. That positions you as a well versed professional lawyer. When blogging, note that long-form content generates more shares, traffic, and backlinks.

Focus More on Infographics

Creating premium legal content might be easy for you if you know the tricks, but getting readers to spend some time on your content attentively has never been easy. Whether statistical, editorial, or informational, law-based infographics capture the client's eye, boost their attention, and get the message across.

Utilize Video Marketing for Lawyers

80% of video marketers already agree that video boosts their ROI. That only happens if you know what you need to do. You must research extensively to know the right content to share. With your case studies, vlogs, interviews, or other educational videos, go ahead and invest in a professional team that will brand and optimize the videos.

Host Webinars and Podcasts

golden microphone for podcast on yellow background

Webinars, webcasts, and podcasts for lawyers that address prospects' concerns boost your brand's value, positioning you as the go-to attorney whenever a need comes up. You need to have the right content, have guest experts on board to boost your network, and know your target audience. Want to reach target prospects who prefer listening over reading no matter the distance? Invest in podcasts.

Use Content to Boost Your Link Building

If you can showcase your authority in your legal specialization, then you can enjoy quality backlinks. One way to get there is through content. Other lawyers and law firms will appreciate your work by linking to your blog whenever they reference a point if you create exceptional content that gives authentic legal solutions. Guest posting in authority sites will also offer backlinks.

Creating and optimizing your good content will generate excellent results, and you'll love it. But that is not enough. Distribute the content across various platforms to maximize your results. Share the content on your website, social media platforms that host your target clients, and relevant online publications to generate qualified leads.

Consider Online Networking

Networking for lawyers is no longer what it used to be. It's not about the number of people in the corporate world you have in your contacts list. With the Internet era, every lawyer needs people to have a purposeful and fruitful relationship with.

If you're a solo lawyer, start with discovering yourself and your practice areas. Be sure you can be of importance to those you network with, and they can depend on you for various proceeds.

But what do you do next to network entirely? Let's keep you learning!

Be part of online legal forums: join online forums on matters of law. Here, you get to interact with like-minded attorneys and potential clients. Beyond exchanging contacts, you get to build a friendship that can grow your referral base.

legal forum speech bubbles

Join legal communities online: Social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have many legal communities for budding and established lawyers. Sign in and follow these communities to learn and share with legal practitioners. You'll love how you'll boost your following and build a name for your brand.

Sponsor and host online events: People now appreciate the need for online events. Just look at how things are with unpredicted pandemics. Sponsor a local online event and enjoy valuable backlinks beyond your expectations.

Enroll in local Online Legal Directories

Yes, you read it right. Local legal directories are now online and attract a lot of prospects. Lawyers can evidence that legal-specific directories offer quality backlinks and keep their website engaged.

If you list your website in these directories, you can increase your website traffic and clients because many people browse directories to find the genuine attorney to contact.

Consider being part of these online legal directories.

  • Martindale.com
  • Nolo.com
  • Findlaw.com
  • Lawyers.com
  • SuperLawyers.com

martindale website attorneys directory

Answer Legal Questions Online

Legal prospects will turn online to seek answers even before contacting attorneys directly. If you have a detailed FAQs section on your website, it's an added advantage. But that's not all, create a profile in platforms like Avvo and Quora and participate in answering relevant questions. Prospects will see you as a knowledgeable attorney, and they'll link to your website.

In case journalists or members of society call you to answer a few questions online and clarify on a contentious issue, revert promptly. That gives you experience in interacting with people. More so, you're seen as a go-to attorney ready to save potential prospects.

Maximize Your Online Public Relations Efforts

Ignore the widespread belief that lawyers are no longer into public relations. The reality is technology has revolutionized public relations, and people now consume news online at their preferred places. If you're visible in these online publications, people see you as more credible.

Local magazines and newspapers have now gone online, and with your smartphone, you can read content about a particular lawyer. Send those press releases to the media with a great target online audience to boost your exposure, and you'll love it.

Monitor and Optimize Your Lawyer Online Campaigns

With the ever-changing business landscape, you can't claim your lawyer online marketing success without looking at the metrics after a certain period. But what is it that you measure? Well, the list is endless, from social media platforms, email campaigns to your website analytics.

We know monitoring and optimizing metrics is not for everyone. Start with getting the basics on email analytics, social media analytics, and Google analytics, then get the data. But don't just measure; note the good and bad issues and use that information to come up with a solution that will actualize your goals.

smiling lawyer in suit holds computer

Start Attorney Online Marketing Today

There you have it!

Lawyer online marketing is the way to go in the current marketing era. While offline approaches like word of mouth are still valuable, adapting the online trends and strategies mentioned above will position you as a professional, boost your online presence and scale your ROI.

We understand that getting started and leaping from your online marketing efforts might seem challenging, but the benefits outweigh the cons by far. Have an online marketing plan, know your goals, leverage the best practices in every approach, and maintain consistency in all that you do.

Are you a lawyer or work in a law firm, and you're ready to see your client list grow as you focus more on growing your brand? Get in touch today for lawyer online marketing.

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Shawn Manaher
Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of Ignite Marketing. He's one part local business growth specialist, one part campaign strategizing ninja, and two parts leader of an awesome nerd pack. He won't eat pancakes unless you call them flat waffles.
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