In today’s competitive world, having a significant online presence is crucial to success. This is true in just about every industry, but digital marketing is becoming increasingly prevalent in the legal world. This has had several benefits to small law firms and solo attorneys, as it has helped level the playing field and allowed the little guys the opportunity to be heard by potential clients as much as the large firms.
But as in any competitive field, it can be very easy to fall behind, and when dealing with technology, this can happen very quickly. That is why it is so important that small firms continually maintain and improve their digital marketing strategies according to changing markets and updating technologies.
“The right digital marketing techniques, when part of an effective overall strategy, can allow you to be just as visible as any of the big guys in your field,” says one expert from the Doan Law Firm, personal injury attorneys with a flare for marketing.
This means that every attorney who wishes to grow his or her client list should be ready to learn and adapt to marketing trends and techniques, even if you have never dealt personally with marketing before.
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Be Willing to Learn
That brings us to the first point on our guide: maintaining a willingness to learn. You may have no education or experience with digital marketing, but you do need to learn and understand the basics. Even if you do not plan on handling your marketing efforts in-house, you still need some basic understanding of marketing techniques, terms and metrics to gauge whether or not your strategies are effective.
2. Be Hands-on
With that being said, legal professionals in small firms or solo attorneys need to be involved in their marketing efforts. If you are serious about growing your presence, reputation and client list through marketing, you should be hands-on with it. This does not mean you need a full understanding of all the intricacies of digital marketing; much of this is simpler than you may think, and you can significantly improve your marketing ROI with just a little effort.
3. Be Ready to Adapt
Digital marketing for law firms combines three fast-paced fields: technology, law and marketing. You need to be ready to change your marketing goals, techniques and possibly even entire strategy when industry shifts require it. You do not have to give up and change every time the wind blows, but you also should not get stuck in your ways or too attached to any marketing aspects.
4. Delegate Marketing Channels
If you are able to hire one in-house person to handle your marketing efforts, that is obviously the best choice. But most attorneys with small firms need to delegate and share responsibilities with several staff members. When this is the case, you need to clearly define each person’s roles and responsibilities and separate it according to their individual talents. For instance, the young millennial paralegal may be best suited to handle social media marketing, and a well-read attorney might be best at writing content.
5. Focus on What You Know
Too many lawyers get caught up in the technicalities of SEO, PPC, ROI and every other marketing acronym that is actually outside their area of expertise. The most effective digital marketing is all about communicating with your target audience and building connections, and to do this, you need to be honest, authentic and focus on what you know.
