In today's Internet world law firms can no longer rely on the same marketing strategies they may have used in the past. It is still amazing to me that many attorneys don't think advertising in any way shape or form will benefit their business or impact their bottom line. I guess we can call this mistake #1 but I will break it down a little further. We know for a fact that that over 45% plus of all attorneys in the United States do not take advantage of the Internet. Let's explore other mis-perceptions by attorneys that cause marketing mistakes to occur.
1. Referrals- Relying solely on referrals quite simply allows your competition to secure potential clients searching online for an attorney or other means of advertising that is deemed as effective. What happens when your referral pipeline slows down or stalls? Actually having an effective online presence actually increases the amounts of referrals. Referring law offices will perceive your firm as the "go to firm" in your practice area. Especially if your firm focuses on businesses type clients or more sophisticated high-end clients, your firm may not appear as credible and modernized with a weak online presence.
2. Phone Directories- Spending large amounts of money for ads in phone books are not producing results like it used to. To be frank, this type of strategy is becoming prehistoric with higher levels of diminishing returns each year. I have asked several attorneys about this strategy and many of them are shifting their dollars to Internet advertising with websites, blogs, directory listings, pay per click campaigns and a few others.
3. Internal Marketing- Law firm brochures, business cards, firm voicemail when not in the office, bar association and other group affiliations....Do they all reference and point to your website? Anything that displays your firm name must point to your website. Its a free way to enhance your marketing efforts. Your website is your office when you are not in the office and people will always be searching for more information about your firm and how to contact you. I have met with many law firms that never referenced their web address on their business cards and their response was "I know". Get it changed asap! It can make a difference in whether or not you obtain a lucrative case. This type of mistake is self inflicted and doesn't make sense to curtail you internal marketing efforts. After business hours if you do not have an answering service and your office voicemail comes on the phone I have found very few if any firms that actually say "you may also visit our website at http://www.abclawfirm.com/ for further information". Very rarely do I hear a law firm voicemail that references their website....the firms that do are up to speed in capitalizing on every opportunity when no one is in the office during business hours. Kudos to those firms that make it a priority to reference their website on their firm voicemail.
4. "I can market my own firm"- Another mistake attorneys sometimes make, (especially sole practicing attorneys) is thinking they can market their firm on their own and know the right means of doing it. True there are some marketing savvy attorneys out there, but most attorneys go to school to study law, not marketing. So believing that you know what's best without doing your homework and consulting with a professional marketing organization such as FindLaw and others can be a dreadful mistake especially for new attorneys just starting out. Once an attorney gets very involved in their practice, what time is left to do your own marketing? Best advice would be to at least consult and or meet with some professional organizations that can assist. Then the decision of what would be the best fit becomes much easier. Marketing yourself can also prevent you from getting up to speed with your competition because business is always changing and the Internet continues to evolve as well. What worked 5 years go for attorney marketing is not the same as today. Look what is happening now...You Tube is now the 2nd largest referring domain next to Google. More law firms are now creating and placing videos on their websites and is now the new trend to convert clients and a way to differentiate your firm. Just a few years ago Blogs were the biggest advance for attorney websites. We continue to evolve and it is important to stay abreast of the trends in the marketplace. It is wise to establish a relationship with a professional organization that can look out for your firms best interest.
5. Have a focus- I see several law firms that have websites but have such a broad focus that can turn away a potential client. Many potential clients typically look for firms that have a focus. So if you are a firm that has Business Law, Criminal Law, Probate, Personal Injury, Family law and Employment law as your practice areas......would you consider yourself a specialist in any one area. When a potential client searches for an attorney, most potential clients are looking for a specialist or a firm that has a focus in a particular area. So If I was searching online for an attorney in Los Angeles that handles Sexual Harassment, I wouldn't be motivated to call a firm that had a very broad and wide array of practice areas. However, if I searched and found an Employment law firm that particularly focuses on Sexual Harassment cases, that firm would be tops on my call list. I have seen firms be very successful in having multiple sites that are very focused in nature that presents the firm as a specialist in a particular area. This strategy has been very effective if your firm has several practice areas. The investment into having more than one website would be more advertising dollars, but if done correctly, it can be very lucrative and provide a return on investment many times over. Having a focus will equate into a higher level of success.
A colleague of mine Andy Rogers also talks about mistakes made by attorneys in his website. Please take a look at http://www.ielawyermarketing.com/CM/Custom/Marketing-Your-Law-Firm.asp
If you have any questions about the above writing, please feel free to contact me as listed in this blog in the left column.
Happy Marketing!
Jamey J. Tomajko
