Law Firm MarketingSeptember 27, 2022
Inbound or content marketing is a marketing strategy that law firms can use to generate highly qualified leads consistently while positioning themselves as trust advisors or even thought leaders in their industry.
Suppose you're not familiar with the term. In that case, inbound marketing is a strategy for attracting more qualified leads organically through content creation, essentially drawing in potential clients who are actively looking for answers.
This blog post will give you an overview of what inbound marketing is, what the benefits are for law firms, and six legal marketing tips to get started.
Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy focused on organically attracting more qualified leads through valuable content creation, essentially drawing in potential clients looking for answers to specific questions or even certain services. The basic flow of law firm inbound marketing consists of potential clients searching online, finding your firm or website through compelling content, and then becoming a qualified lead.
Inbound marketing for law firms includes all the valuable content that a potential client might use to learn more about the law, your firm or that answers questions about their case or possible case.
Inbound marketing can include:
Inbound and content marketing focuses on creating and nurturing a potential client's "know, like, and trust" with your firm. That makes it different from other types of sales and paid marketing that your firm might be doing.
A law firm's inbound marketing is all about enhancing credibility. Particularly in the legal field, potential clients want to find someone they can trust. That's the principle behind client referrals in the first place. A blog or other content that denotes expertise on relevant topics, thought leadership, and helpful tactics to address visitors' concerns build that trust. Ideally, the content you create has a strong CTA that helps visitors become leads you can follow up with.
Believe it or not, getting clients to come to you will require less investment in the long run. Think how many resources you'll save if the leads you follow up with have already demonstrated interest. According to Demand Metrics, inbound marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates three times as many leads.
Savvy legal marketers know that information is key to targeting the right individuals. Rather than promoting on broad channels hoping something sticks (which can consume a lot of time and budget), your law firm's inbound marketing tactics help you collect the information you can use to your advantage. With valuable content, you'll generate traffic organically. Then, you can leverage the insight you've acquired to build a relationship, nurturing those leads into relationships. To convert website traffic into leads, try tactics like:
A one-sided marketing approach offers very little feedback from your prospects. However, an inbound marketing approach encourages conversation, questions, and customer feedback. The result is an opportunity to evolve as a law firm based on listening to your clients through meaningful conversations on places like social media.
Outbound marketing involves unsolicited advertisements urging people to buy what you're selling. Traditional advertising isn't just pricey but doesn't always promise a return. You can think of it as putting all your bets on one horse, and the horse loses the race. However, inbound marketing requires far less advertising budget and is much more likely to generate a high return on your investment.
Below we will give you seven tips for how you can create powerful inbound marketing for your law firm. Most of these are simple ways to create content that will resonate with your potential clients.
You always want to use a mix of metrics, including the data points that might not include revenue but lead to conversions and income, showing how you're getting closer to your bottom line.
Create goals for your firm that outline what you want to achieve with your inbound or content marketing. These goals could include creating brand awareness, increasing organic traffic, improving organic rankings, and generating leads and new clients.
If you're pursuing email marketing or even more focused on social media marketing, you can rely on lagging indicators such as engagement, followers, or new subscribers. But also track your leads and conversions. To correctly track your content marketing, you always want to use a mix of metrics, including the data points that lead up to conversions and revenue, that show how you're getting closer to your bottom line.
Once you have defined your goals and metrics, you'll want to take the time to look at the market and understand how your competitors are pursuing inbound and content marketing.
Start by making a list of your top three to five competitors.
Then visit their websites. Blogs and social media profiles to answer questions about what they are doing, such as:
These answers will help you explore the tactics already working for law firms in your market. You can integrate them into your content strategy where it makes sense.
If you've defined your ideal client, you should know your audience, which enables you to create content with them in mind. Rather than casting a wide net when creating content for your law firm, choose to create pieces of content that relate to each step of the client's journey.
To create engaging content for your clients, you need to understand what information they are seeking and what they need and want.
Take the time to research and define the demographics of existing clientele and your firm's followers on social media platforms. Doing this can help provide valuable data that will guide you in creating the type of content that resonates with your target audiences.
When creating content for your inbound marketing, not only do you want to be sure you're talking to your ideal client, but now is the time to highlight and focus on your areas of expertise. You want to demonstrate your legal knowledge and create awareness of your firm's legal experience.
Besides competitor analysis, we highly recommend you capture content ideas and inspiration based on your conversations with your customers.
Then it may make sense to integrate these content ideas and channels into your strategy.
When creating your content, answer in simple, understandable language that always includes calls to action. These might be contact details or downloading useful documentation (a checklist, guide, or an e-book) in exchange for their email addresses so that you can send them marketing material later.
To learn what types of content your ideal client will respond to, you will want to test various types of content as part of your strategy. Once you do different types of content, you can look at your data points to see which ones produce the best results for your firm.
Blog posts
Write engaging blog posts that are helpful and focused on your areas of legal expertise—this is a great way to utilize content to build trust in your law firm and increase overall credibility.
In addition, when effective search engine optimization strategies are used in a content marketing plan, blogs can increase organic rankings on search engines and overall exposure to your potential clients, which will help your law firm increase leads.
Listicles
Listicles are precisely what they sound like: articles that are a list of something. Since they are simple and easy to consume, they are a popular type of content online.
Law firms can utilize this type of content to share tips about things that tie back into your practice types and areas of expertise, such as:
e-Books
e-Books are a great way to demonstrate your legal expertise and develop authority. They should not be just long, text-based documents. Aim to keep them easy for your target audience to consume, scan, find, download and share. The ideal legal e-book will provide readers with valuable direction and actionable solutions.
Infographics
One of the most popular types of content created currently is the infographic. They convey a vast amount of information in a visually appealing way. Infographics are sharable, easily digestible, and engaging. Effective infographics are three times more likely to be shared on social media.
Video
Most people prefer video content over written content—it's faster and easier for them to watch, and they can multitask as they consume it. Because of this, video has grown as the most popular form of online content.
Investing in video content may help reach your target audience by explaining critical pieces of information in a format they already enjoy. Videos can also drive traffic to your law firm website. You can also upload them to YouTube—one more way to enhance visibility—and embed them in your blogs to make them more interactive.
Plus, once your audience lands on more content, you can encourage further engagement through clear, strong calls to action and relevant links.
Case Studies
Case studies are a priceless way to illustrate how your firm has worked with clients and gotten a successful outcome. They show you have experience in your specific legal areas and that your law firm can relate to and understand your audience's legal struggles. An excellent case study is written in a way that's personable, empathetic (consider testimonials of past clients), and in the correct language for the audience.
As a law firm, it's crucial to understand how inbound and content marketing can help you attract new clients. This approach differs from traditional marketing because it focuses on building relationships by providing valuable information instead of just promoting your firm through sales communications and paid advertising channels.
Remember, the key is to create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience to build trust and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field!
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