As a law firm, you’re probably wondering how many people out there are actually in need of your services. If you’re like many others, you probably rely on word of mouth, referrals, and repeat clients in order to ensure a steady stream of business.
However, there are ways for you to actively find, and attract, people who really need your legal advice. The problem is, they just don’t know who you are or how to get in touch with you.
The following are some of the best strategies to locate and engage with those people. By knowing how to find people who need your legal advice, you’ll be able to build a larger, more dependable flow of clients for your firm.
1. Utilize Targeting
There’s a variety of different methods you can use to target the audience your law firm wants to reach. Digital targeting, for example, can be spread across pay-per-click (PPC) and social media advertising. With these platforms, you can create digital advertising that targets different segments of your choosing. You’ll want to conduct competitive research and decide how you’ll differentiate your firm before embarking on any digital marketing initiatives. The competition for ad space and keywords can be fierce in the legal industry.
For more traditional advertising — like radio, for example — you’ll want to understand the audience that really needs your legal services and be sure you’re advertising on the right stations and programming. Your message will likely span across a variety of different formats, because people that may need your services will be spread across different stages in the buying cycle. Thus, you may need to consider advertising across platforms (assuming your budget allows it). Think about how your radio advertising will need to be adjusted from one format to another. What creative aspects need to be tweaked? Does the verbiage or copy need to change? What about the call to action?
2. Create Calls to Action that Speak to Your Target Audience
Your firm likely specializes in a particular type of law that offers specific services tailored towards a particular need. If your firm specializes helping people recently in auto accidents, for example, you can grab someone’s attention in your marketing with a catchphrase like “Were you recently injured in a car accident?” This is also its own specific form of targeting, as you’re only reaching out to those who relate to that messaging. Think about how your radio advertising CTAs and creative can target the right audience in this case. The creative could paint the picture of a car accident with screeching tires while utilizing the calls to action we’ve mentioned above.
3. Drive Traffic to Your Website
One of the things you’ll ultimately want to do with your calls to action is drive traffic back to your website. Utilizing forms, landing pages, and other tools to capture information is a great way for you to determine the needs of specific customers. It’s also a great integrated marketing strategy, as you can use your radio, digital, and social efforts to drive people to your website as they seek more information. Using Google AdWords and banner ads are effective and proven paid search marketing techniques that will also help to increase traffic. But, your radio advertising campaigns can also help you skip the paid search process and drive traffic directly to your website. While PPC ads in Google can often be featured alongside of your competition, your radio campaigns are uniquely yours and by creating the correct call to action — one that utilizes a specific and easy to recall URL — you’ll be able to drive potential prospects directly to the page of your choice so they can get the exact information they need.
4. Engage on Social Media
Your social media channels, like Facebook and Twitter, are great places to engage your audience and look for those who are in need of your services. As mentioned previously, social ads can be targeted, but there are more organic ways to go about attracting and finding those who need your legal advice. Social listening tools can also be used to track specific conversations or hashtags relevant to your service that others may be using. You can then engage those prospects that are using those hashtags with relevant information about your firm. Be sure to promote these specific hashtags and your social media handles in radio spots to keep the conversation going once listeners leave the reach of their radios.
By now you should realize that there are ways that a law firm, in any area of practice, can go out and actively find people who require their advice or services. By knowing how to market your law firm, you’ll take comfort in the fact that your office will stay busy day in, and day out.
