Guide to Law Firm Marketing

The idea of lawyers marketing makes many law professionals uneasy. It’s not really marketing that they shy away from, but the in-your-face advertising similar to what car dealers do. Nevertheless, a law firm can market itself in a dignified manner to produce growth.

The name of the game is competition. Every time someone looks for a lawyer, you compete against other lawyers whether you want to or not. You have to show prospective clients what your firm is about and how you’re the better choice through legal marketing.

Spend time regularly marketing a law firm to:

1. Increase your business.
2. Take advantage of new attorney marketing trends.
3. Adjust what works and what doesn’t in your marketing efforts.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Build a legal marketing strategy

You build legal strategies all the time. Approach marketing a law firm with the same principles. Start with identifying the services you provide and whom you want to serve. If your specialty is corporate law, you will market to a different audience than if you practice family law. A strategy shows where you want to go and how you're going to get there.

I recommend: Develop a marketing message that clearly makes the case about what you do and why you’re a better choice than other lawyers. Choose to communicate that message through some of the many available marketing methods that include advertising, making presentations, networking, website marketing and blogs. Who better to track effective strategies of all kinds than the American Bar Association? Jay Levinson comes up with unique "Guerrilla Marketing" ideas.

Seek credibility

People want to be confident in their lawyer, so you must appear credible to clients. In fact, many judge your credibility based upon your law marketing abilities. Demonstrate your expertise and professional knowledge in a manner that engages clients.

I recommend: The key to credibility is communicating that you know what you are doing. Educate potential clients about legal issues through booklets, newsletters, articles and seminars. Trey Rider calls this education-based marketing.

Use technology to enhance attorney marketing

Technology is a great fit for lawyers. Email, PowerPoint presentations and websites are all powerful law firm marketing ideas. Maintain contact with past and existing clients through a mailing list. Email remains a great way to communicate in our busy world.

I recommend: Tom Kane's legal blog offers tips to get your message across. Invest in a good looking website with information that you update regularly. See Net Law Tools for hints on designing a great law firm website.

Network

The reason you hear so much about networking is because it's effective. Join community and business groups. The people you know will refer you to people they know who need your services. Word-of-mouth marketing can't be beat.

I recommend: Constantly be on the lookout for networking opportunities. Take some hints about networking from other legal groups.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Paid advertising has its place in how to market a law firm. Consider placing regular law firm ads in a regional newspaper.
• Keep business cards with you at all times. Once people learn that you're an attorney, they're bound to have legal questions. Hand them a card, and tell them you're sure you'll be able to help them if they contact you.
• Don't forget to register your domain name and have an email address associated with it (for example joelawyer@legalcompany.com).

The official source of Law Firm Marketing is the Law Firm Marketing page at Business.com