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Creating an engaging and informative alumni newsletter is a crucial component of a law firm’s alumni relations strategy. Not only does it serve as a bridge reconnecting former colleagues with the firm, but it also fosters a sense of community and ongoing engagement among the alumni network. The key to a successful alumni newsletter lies in striking the right balance between sharing news about the firm and focusing on content that focuses and resonates with alumni. Here are some essential components and creative ideas for what to include in a law firm’s alumni newsletter. Welcome message. Start with a personal touch—a welcome message from the managing partner. This message can reflect on recent achievements within the alumni network, share the firm’s vision for the future and offer a warm greeting to reinforce that alumni will always be part of the firm’s community at large. Alumni spotlights. Feature profiles of alumni who have made significant strides in their careers, whether in the legal industry or beyond. These spotlights not only celebrate the achievements of former colleagues but also provide current employees and alumni with inspiring stories of career progression and success. An easy way to do this is to email the selected alumni a choice of answering three questions from a list of 10 or so. They can complete the profile at their leisure. Consider doing these as a Q&A series and posting them on the firm website and social media channels. Firms can also repurpose this content for recruiting purposes to show the broad and impressive range of career paths taken by firm alumni. Class notes. Borrowing from the traditional college alumni newsletter format, include a section for class notes where alumni can share personal and professional updates. This can range from job changes, personal and professional milestones, publications or even anecdotes from their time at the firm. Class notes are a great way to keep the alumni community informed about each other’s lives and successes. Industry and market insights. Offer valuable content by including articles or blog posts on current legal trends, new legislation or notable firm matters. Providing analysis or commentary from the firm’s current attorneys can position your firm as a thought leader and a go-to resource for cutting-edge legal insights without seeming like you are overtly marketing the firm’s expertise. Continuing education opportunities. Many alumni are interested in professional development and continuing education. Include information about past and upcoming webinars, CLE (Continuing Legal Education) courses or workshops hosted by the firm. This not only serves as a benefit to alumni but also reinforces the firm’s commitment to ongoing learning and development. Networking and events. Highlight upcoming alumni events, networking mixers or firm-sponsored conferences. Providing a calendar of events encourages participation and keeps the alumni community connected not only to the firm but also to one another. Volunteer opportunities and pro bono projects. Showcase opportunities for alumni to engage in community service or pro bono projects alongside the firm. This appeals to the desire many alumni have to give back and can strengthen the bond between the firm and its alumni through shared values and social impact efforts. Philanthropy and charitable causes. Include a section dedicated to charitable initiatives supported by the firm and its alumni. Highlighting these efforts not only shines a light on important causes but also encourages a culture of giving and support within the alumni community. A look back. Feature a throwback section that reaches into the firm’s archives to showcase notable moments in its history, landmark cases and memorable office events. This nostalgic glance back can be a great way to remind alumni of their shared experiences and the firm’s evolution over the years. Feedback and contributions. Encourage alumni to engage with the newsletter by inviting feedback, suggestions for future content and contributions to upcoming editions. This fosters a collaborative approach and ensures the newsletter remains relevant and meaningful to alumni. By carefully curating content that balances firm news with alumni interests and achievements, a law firm can create an alumni newsletter that not only informs but also inspires and unites its community. The newsletter becomes more than just a communication tool—it evolves into a vital resource that enriches the professional and personal lives of its alumni and enhances their relationship with their former firm—a win-win for everyone.
Email has been an essential part of professional marketing since it was invented. Though tools have gotten more sophisticated and the best practices for using them have evolved, email is still one of the most effective marketing channels available. Because of that evolution, what worked 5 years ago no longer works today. There is more noise than ever before and prospects have gotten savvier about filtering email. This has led to an increase in emails that are deleted before they’re even read. Here are a few things that you can start doing—today—to boost engagement and breathe more life into your law firm’s email marketing campaigns. Law Firm Email Marketing Tips Offer more opt-in opportunities. Keep growing your law firm’s email marketing list by finding new ways for people to subscribe. Doing so won’t necessarily help your emails get opened more, but in a numbers game, a larger (quality) list will perform better. Plus, today’s laws dictate that only people who have opted in to receiving your email should get them, so creating more spaces for people to do that helps keep your list clean. Understand subject line best practices. Your email’s subject line is a first impression that makes the difference between a user clicking to read more or letting your email sit in their inbox. Always remember that subject lines are short and get cut off around 55 characters (even less for mobile). Try to keep the most pertinent information in the front of your subject line. Also, communicate the value proposition of your email right in the subject line. Why should users want to open it? What’s inside that makes this email so important? Focus on offering a solution and communicating that in those 30-55 characters. If you have space, you can even add personalizations into the subject line, to make it even more compelling. Focus on preview text. This is the snippet of copy that is pulled from the body of your email and displayed with the subject line. Most emails have a line or two like “View this email in a web browser”, but it’s important to actually optimize this copy. Try to keep this section to less than 90 characters, and create either a second headline that is attention-getting or a very brief summary of what’s in the email (why should anyone bother to open it?). Use relevant keywords and a sense of urgency—but don’t simply repurpose your subject line. Add personalization. As we mentioned earlier, personalization can be pretty meaningful. After all, no one wants to truly believe their inbox is full of mass emails that go to thousands of contacts. Why should your user believe your email is relevant to them if it’s clearly something that was sent to tons of other people? Add personalization like a first name entry in the greeting, subject line, preview text, etc. Or if applicable, include their company name in the copy as you discuss your points in second person. Above all else, make the personalization seem natural. Try a re-engagement campaign. Use your email tools to pull a list of those individuals who haven’t been active with your firm in a while. Consider these leads that have gone cold. Try to win them back by sending messages along the lines of “It’s been a while.” You can show them what they’ve missed by including valuable content like your latest blog posts or webinar recordings. Remember that if even one prospect re-engages with you, the campaign was worth your time. Choose your visuals carefully. Images are tricky in email because they can add visual interest, which makes them more likely to be read, but some email providers actually block graphics. One trend over the past couple of years has been creating simpler, plain-text emails. If you’re going to use an image, make sure you have appropriate text along with it. That means that if there is text within an image, you create separate text that replicates it. Also, avoid high-resolution photos. Though they might look better, they take longer to load, particularly on mobile or slow internet speeds. That can be frustrating or even lead to a quick deletion. Leverage exclusivity. You’d be surprised how much engagement your emails can garner when users are offered something exclusive they can’t get anywhere else. What is an exclusive offer or item you can share with your loyal subscribers to make your emails worth opening? Maybe it’s a free eBook, some industry news, a free consultation, etc. Remember to remind them this offer is only for email subscribers and watch your open rate and click-through rate rise. Optimize for mobile. 81% of emails are now opened on mobile devices. Today’s world is mobile, and it’s a mistake not to take that into account when designing emails. The majority of people end up checking email on their devices, not a desktop. Use responsive email design to ensure that everything renders properly across any device. Remember what we said about images, too—you don’t want to include anything that is going to make the email take longer to load. Preview emails on your mobile device before they go out to double-check that they look good on mobile devices. Play around with send times. There is no set schedule that will lead to optimal results. That’s why we suggest testing and seeing what works for your firm. Too many emails become pretty easy to ignore and also tend to increase unsubscribe rates. Too few emails makes your firm pretty forgettable and also ensures you don’t have a lot of data to build future campaigns. In general, fewer, but properly targeted emails will perform better. And don’t forget to test which day of the week and time works best for an improved open rate. Segment campaigns. Hopefully, this is something you’re already doing, because segmented lists lead to 100% more clicks. There are many ways to segment lists, such as by geographic location, job title, area of interest, company size, etc. It’s particularly important to segment people who interact with your content so that you can send communications that are relevant to their stage in a client journey with you. Automation comes in really handy here (for a more robust guide to automation, check out our guide to marketing automation for law firms). A/B test all the time. You’d be surprised how much difference a small change can make. Test things like keywords, headlines, colors, fonts, button placements, etc. You can also test the time of day that your law firm sends emails or what emails link out to. Remember to only test one small tweak at a time, so that you can properly attribute results to the correct element. As you learn from your A/B tests, optimize future emails and keep the process going. Ideally, you will always have some sort of test running as part of your ongoing email marketing. Provide clear CTAs. Your email campaigns are only as successful as your ROI, and a successful ROI cannot happen unless users are taking next steps after engaging with your emails. Make your call to action very clear by using bold text, different colors, or better yet a bold and enticing button. Make sure the copy of your CTA makes the value proposition of taking next steps very clear. Communicate what a user will get out of taking action. And make sure next steps are something easy like a short lead gen form, or an easy-to-use scheduling calendar. No one wants to fill out a form with 10+ fields. Humanize your sender. Again, users don’t want to receive mass-produced emails from robots. They want to get back to human connection. Make sure your sender is the name of someone from your law firm, and the from address is the real address of that person. Also, make sure to sign off with a natural conclusion and signature like you would any other email, always signing off with the sender’s real name. This humanizes your email and lets users know there’s a real person on the other end of things. Track and analyze performance metrics. Monitoring the performance of your email marketing campaigns is crucial for understanding what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t. Utilize analytics tools to track open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates among other metrics. Analyzing these metrics allows you to identify trends, refine your strategies, and make data-driven decisions to optimize future campaigns. Remember, continuous improvement is key in staying relevant and engaging to your audience. Maintain email list hygiene. Regularly cleaning your email list is essential for maintaining its health and ensuring your messages reach your intended audience. Remove inactive subscribers who haven’t engaged with your emails over a certain period. This not only improves your engagement rates but also protects your sender reputation, reducing the likelihood of being marked as spam. Consider sending a re-engagement email before removing inactive users; sometimes, a well-crafted message is all it takes to bring them back. Takeaway Use the tips above to improve your law firm’s email marketing open rates, conversions, and click-throughs. Today’s email recipients might be a little harder to impress, but they’re still a reliable source of lead generation.
The struggle ends up consuming us and we give up trying to change because it’s just too hard. What we thought would be efforts to lead us to a new life, end up being just a temporary change. We’ve tried before and failed again, and the conclusion comes down to a discouraged excuse - I just couldn’t do it, I didn’t have time, or it was too hard. The truth is making a successful commitment is nothing more than a making a choice to create a desired future outcome. You may say that people who stick to their commitments are an exception, and you are definitely not one of those people. Well, I’m here to tell you that commitments are not personality specific. Each of us has the capability to set successful commitments. So now you’re saying, if that’s the case, why do so many of us fail? Because most people don’t know how to make the decisions that create successful commitment. 1. Commitment Is Nothing More Than Choice You are choosing your desired future outcome over your current reality. If you really want to lose weight, then you choose to be fit. If you really want to save money for a down payment on a house, then you choose to budget. That’s it - you just made a choice! The chocolate cake and new shoes didn’t even enter your mind because they aren’t what you really want. What you really want is to be fit, or to own your own home. Once you choose your desired future outcome, you remove the struggle that leads to exceptions. 2. Instant Gratification vs. Future Outcome Do you want your new home or those new shoes? Successful commitment relies on the individual steps between your current reality and your goal. Make every step count, and you will get there faster and easier. Instant gratifications shouldn’t even enter your mind. The only thing you should be focused on is your future outcome, and it should mean more to you than momentary desire for instant gratification. By holding your future clear in your mind, you will make the right decisions to support your goals. 3. Success Relies on 100% Commitment It’s easy to make excuses and exceptions, but it’s harder to get back on track once you’ve made room for them. Successful goal achievement requires 100% commitment. Not 99%, not even 99.9%. Making exceptions sets you up for failure and makes it harder to stay on track. Decide what you can commit to and stick to it - no excuses, no exceptions. You’ll find that 100% commitment is actually easier than 99.9%, because you remove distractions, and the emotion around them. When you can focus solely on your goal, not your distractions, it will be easier to stay on track. 4. Casual Interest or Complete Dedication You might be interested in the study of law, but are you committed to becoming a lawyer? You might be interested in losing weight, but are you committed to being fit and healthy? You might be interested in saving money for a down payment on a house, but are you committed to a budget? These are all questions to ask when committing to a goal. Your level of desire will determine your results - period. If you only have an interest in something, it will be easier to let it go. However, if you really want something, you will be committed to creating it. 5. Visualize Your Goal Visualization is powerful and will support your efforts. Spend a few moments every day, in the morning and evening, visualizing your desired outcome. Imagine it as if you were already there. Feel how good you feel, and completely immerse yourself in the smell and sounds of the environment. When you are able to focus on the end result instead of momentary temptation, you will make the right choices that support your desired outcome. If you’ve tried and failed in past commitments, it doesn’t matter. The past is the past, and you are a different person today. Starting right now, you are now armed with the strength and the tools you need to successfully commit to creating your desired future outcome. “There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”—Ken Blanchard, Author of over 30 books, including the best-seller, The One Minute Manager.
One of your goals is likely to improve the online visibility of your firm. If you’re already working on strategies like SEO, paid advertising, and social media, then you’ll want to add AEO to your arsenal. Here’s what legal marketers need to know about Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). AEO: The Basics Answer engine optimization is a method designed to help achieve more prominence in a search engine’s results by offering direct answers to a user’s inquiry. Most of the time, you’ll notice these sorts of answers in the form of carousels, snippets, packs, etc. What they all have in common is that they’re meant to deliver a better experience to users. At its core, AEO is intended to save time while seeking an answer to a certain question. AEO can be used across a desktop, device, or by voice command. If you search using a specific question, the search engine wants to provide a succinct and direct answer as often as possible. That’s great because people want to save as much time as possible. In today’s hyper-digital world, most people turn to the internet when they need information, and they want to get that information in as few steps as possible. How is AEO Different from SEO? AEO is meant to optimize your presence online, just as SEO is. However, AEO uses the intent, relevance, and context of your search query to provide a precise answer in the shortest amount of time. While the goal of SEO is to help your website rank higher, AEO has the goal of answering a particular question. Search engines assess things like backlink quality, domain authority, and mobile friendliness to assess your website’s overall position in rankings. AEO doesn’t have a negative impact on SEO, and it won’t affect the overall impact of SEO—SEO is still crucial for overall ranking. AEO and SEO should have a symbiotic relationship where both tactics work together to serve users the most accurate information and the best experience. Think of AEO as an extended version of SEO that aims to provide users with a concise and direct answer to their questions. Using AEO to Improve Your Outcomes Is focusing on AEO worth your time? There are a few specific advantages that AEO can offer, including: Immediate traffic— With AEO, searchers can find your firm’s site easily and quickly. AEO helps users find your information based on their intent, context, and topic relevance without using much effort. Enhanced conversions— You’re more likely to get qualified leads if you have a credible online presence that attracts prospects. When people are searching for legal assistance, they want to see extensive knowledge and experience. Having answers that position you as an expert online makes the decision of potential clients easier. Competitive advantages— Since users don’t have to dig for your site or browse a lot of search results, you’ll have a serious edge over other competitors on the search engine result page. It’s easier to spot the details that match a search inquiry and allows your site to reach more people. Lower advertising costs— Normally, if you want to appear at the top of a search engine page, you need to pay for advertising spots. With AEO, you can get more exposure without the advertising expense. By fine-tuning your web content to better mirror relevant keywords used in search, you can more quickly become available to people searching for your expertise. How Can Law Firms Improve Their AEO? To improve your firm’s answer engine optimization, start by focusing on structuring your content to provide concise and direct answers to common legal questions. This involves creating informative blog posts, articles, and FAQs that address specific legal queries in a clear and organized manner. Additionally, optimizing website content with relevant keywords and ensuring that it is easily accessible and understandable can improve the chances of being featured as a direct answer in search results. Finally, implementing schema markup plays a crucial role. Schema markup provides a way to give search engines more detailed information about the content on a website, enabling them to better understand and display it in search results. There are various types of schema markup that can be particularly beneficial for law firms, including “Organization” for detailing the firm’s information, “Service” for outlining the legal services offered, “Person” for team member profiles, and “Article” for publishing legal insights and case studies. Implementing schema markup not only helps law firms stand out in SERPs but also allows search engines like Google to better understand the context and relevance of the website’s content. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of the firm’s content appearing as a featured snippet, thereby boosting visibility and click-through rates. Takeaway AEO is a growing practice, and for good reason. It allows searchers to easily receive direct answers to the questions that matter to them. By analyzing the relevance and context of search queries, AEO helps search engines to deliver the best information while helping your firm to gain valuable exposure.
It’s like chocolate and peanut butter—you don’t have to pick, and they’re better together! Your offline and online ads can work better if you combine them into a mutually supportive campaign. Invest in both to enjoy the biggest returns on your investment. You don’t have to redesign your website every time you throw up a new billboard. But you do want to consider how your online presence can enrich your out-of-home (OOH) campaigns, and vice versa. Here’s how to marry online and offline advertising into a delicious and rewarding marketing strategy for your firm that will yield much better results than a one-prong approach. Attorney Advertising Is More Than Just Billboards and Cliche Ads... If you ask someone on the street what they think of when they think of attorney advertising, they may conjure up visions of towering billboards and aggressive television spots a la Better Call Saul. In part, that’s because of the proliferation of legal ads following 1977’s ruling on restrictions on attorney advertising. But on the other hand, billboards work! And although TV ads can be expensive, they are appropriate for some law firms. Traditional billboards and TV ads can be highly effective—but firms must steer away from cliches and take a nuanced approach that combines offline and online strategies. If someone’s first impression of your firm is offline, their second impression will be online. The opposite is true, too—if someone sees a digital ad for your firm online, they might recognize some of your OOH ads, too. Conversion tracking can help you keep it all straight so you’re making good investments. However, totally ignoring your digital presence in favor of OOH campaigns is a recipe for disaster. You can’t compete in spaces where you don’t appear, and you can bet that your competitors are working hard to earn business online. ... But You Also Need to Go Beyond Digital Campaigns It’s true that your digital reputation is a key differentiator when growing your firm. However, while online campaigns undeniably deliver significant impact, law firms actually exist in the tangible, real world. As online advertising is surging in popularity (for good reason), offline advertising is still very much a mainstay of attorney marketing. Offline advertising remains a cornerstone of attorney marketing strategies, even in the digital age. Offline avenues like community events, sponsorships and even strategically placed billboards contribute a personal touch that resonates with potential clients. Face-to-face interactions at local gatherings or industry conferences build trust and credibility. A thoughtful mix of both online and offline advertising helps create a comprehensive narrative for your firm. It’s not just about being seen; it’s about being present in the spaces where clients seek assurance, fostering a holistic approach that transcends the digital confines of contemporary legal advertising. Offline Advertising Should Be Supported by Your Online Presence As with most things, our solution is nuanced and holistic. Lawyers should unite offline and online advertising, deploying campaigns in harmony to maximize their marketing power. Sounds nifty, but let’s see a few examples of how this could work in real life. Create a targeted online landing page for the offline campaign. Let’s say you have a billboard off I-96 talking about car accident recovery. Ensure that your online viewers will see something on your site that resembles your billboard. In this situation, you don’t want viewers of your billboard campaign to arrive at a home page that highlights your generalized personal injury expertise and work in criminal defense. Instead, work with your web designer to develop a specific landing page for this campaign. You could consider using the same CTA and carrying over design elements from the offline ad (like slogans, colors, etc.). We also recommend a simple vanity URL that is easy to remember. This can just be set up as a redirect to the landing page on your firm’s main domain URL. Try PPC ads to accompany the offline ad. Let’s go back to our billboard example. The most memorable aspect of this billboard may be a phone number or slogan. If your offline ad uses a slogan, consider a PPC campaign using those keywords. This strategy ensures that, if folks search for your slogan online after viewing your billboard, your site shows up front and center. If your offline ad uses a vanity phone number, make sure it’s properly configured to tie inbound calls back to this specific campaign. Ask your digital marketing agency to configure tracking in Google Analytics so you can easily pull reports on visitor behavior on this page. Don’t skimp on your web presence when you invest big offline. It’s true that some people will just call your number immediately after seeing your billboard. But for many others, a billboard is just one piece of the attorney selection process. Your website still plays a critical role in convincing and converting potential clients, even after viewing your billboard. If you neglect your web presence in favor of splashing out on a big offline ad, you may be wasting your money. Use social media to amplify your offline tactics. Don’t forget social media! Social channels can be a great way to serve up more timely advertising messages that can extend the reach of your billboards. Think of it this way: Leveraging social media is like turning up the volume on your offline tactics. It’s not just about visibility; it’s about creating engagement. While billboards and events set the stage, social media platforms allow your audience to tune in, share and participate in a dynamic conversation. This can transform a static OOH strategy into a vibrant, interactive campaign, ensuring your legal presence resonates not just as a visual but as a compelling and participatory experience. Review and Next Steps Here’s the winning formula for reaching, resonating with, and converting diverse clientele: Combine both offline and online strategies. Whenever you invest in one, invest in the other to complement it.
It’s like chocolate and peanut butter—you don’t have to pick, and they’re better together! Your offline and online ads can work better if you combine them into a mutually supportive campaign. Invest in both to enjoy the biggest returns on your investment. You don’t have to redesign your website every time you throw up a new billboard. But you do want to consider how your online presence can enrich your out-of-home (OOH) campaigns, and vice versa. Here’s how to marry online and offline advertising into a delicious and rewarding marketing strategy for your firm that will yield much better results than a one-prong approach. Attorney Advertising Is More Than Just Billboards and Cliche Ads... If you ask someone on the street what they think of when they think of attorney advertising, they may conjure up visions of towering billboards and aggressive television spots a la Better Call Saul. In part, that’s because of the proliferation of legal ads following 1977’s ruling on restrictions on attorney advertising. But on the other hand, billboards work! And although TV ads can be expensive, they are appropriate for some law firms. Traditional billboards and TV ads can be highly effective—but firms must steer away from cliches and take a nuanced approach that combines offline and online strategies. If someone’s first impression of your firm is offline, their second impression will be online. The opposite is true, too—if someone sees a digital ad for your firm online, they might recognize some of your OOH ads, too. Conversion tracking can help you keep it all straight so you’re making good investments. However, totally ignoring your digital presence in favor of OOH campaigns is a recipe for disaster. You can’t compete in spaces where you don’t appear, and you can bet that your competitors are working hard to earn business online. ... But You Also Need to Go Beyond Digital Campaigns It’s true that your digital reputation is a key differentiator when growing your firm. However, while online campaigns undeniably deliver significant impact, law firms actually exist in the tangible, real world. As online advertising is surging in popularity (for good reason), offline advertising is still very much a mainstay of attorney marketing. Offline advertising remains a cornerstone of attorney marketing strategies, even in the digital age. Offline avenues like community events, sponsorships and even strategically placed billboards contribute a personal touch that resonates with potential clients. Face-to-face interactions at local gatherings or industry conferences build trust and credibility. A thoughtful mix of both online and offline advertising helps create a comprehensive narrative for your firm. It’s not just about being seen; it’s about being present in the spaces where clients seek assurance, fostering a holistic approach that transcends the digital confines of contemporary legal advertising. Offline Advertising Should Be Supported by Your Online Presence As with most things, our solution is nuanced and holistic. Lawyers should unite offline and online advertising, deploying campaigns in harmony to maximize their marketing power. Sounds nifty, but let’s see a few examples of how this could work in real life. Create a targeted online landing page for the offline campaign. Let’s say you have a billboard off I-96 talking about car accident recovery. Ensure that your online viewers will see something on your site that resembles your billboard. In this situation, you don’t want viewers of your billboard campaign to arrive at a home page that highlights your generalized personal injury expertise and work in criminal defense. Instead, work with your web designer to develop a specific landing page for this campaign. You could consider using the same CTA and carrying over design elements from the offline ad (like slogans, colors, etc.). We also recommend a simple vanity URL that is easy to remember. This can just be set up as a redirect to the landing page on your firm’s main domain URL. Try PPC ads to accompany the offline ad. Let’s go back to our billboard example. The most memorable aspect of this billboard may be a phone number or slogan. If your offline ad uses a slogan, consider a PPC campaign using those keywords. This strategy ensures that, if folks search for your slogan online after viewing your billboard, your site shows up front and center. If your offline ad uses a vanity phone number, make sure it’s properly configured to tie inbound calls back to this specific campaign. Ask your digital marketing agency to configure tracking in Google Analytics so you can easily pull reports on visitor behavior on this page. Don’t skimp on your web presence when you invest big offline. It’s true that some people will just call your number immediately after seeing your billboard. But for many others, a billboard is just one piece of the attorney selection process. Your website still plays a critical role in convincing and converting potential clients, even after viewing your billboard. If you neglect your web presence in favor of splashing out on a big offline ad, you may be wasting your money. Use social media to amplify your offline tactics. Don’t forget social media! Social channels can be a great way to serve up more timely advertising messages that can extend the reach of your billboards. Think of it this way: Leveraging social media is like turning up the volume on your offline tactics. It’s not just about visibility; it’s about creating engagement. While billboards and events set the stage, social media platforms allow your audience to tune in, share and participate in a dynamic conversation. This can transform a static OOH strategy into a vibrant, interactive campaign, ensuring your legal presence resonates not just as a visual but as a compelling and participatory experience. Review and Next Steps Here’s the winning formula for reaching, resonating with, and converting diverse clientele: Combine both offline and online strategies. Whenever you invest in one, invest in the other to complement it.
In the realm of legal services, successful client acquisition isn’t about diving straight into a sales pitch. Picture this: You walk into a doctor’s office, and before you can say a word, the physician launches into a sales spiel about their services. Sounds off-putting, doesn’t it? There’s a natural flow to effective communication, especially within the sales process. Surprisingly, many attorneys miss this crucial point and rush into the pitch, overlooking the power of a well-structured conversation. Far too often, aspiring rainmakers assume that business development equates to relentless pitching. In reality, successful business development starts with a fundamental skill—listening. And the cornerstone of effective listening? Asking the right questions. The better your questions, the more business you’ll secure. So, here are some strategies to help you prepare for and maximize the value of your next business development meeting. 1. Define Your Objective Before your meeting, take a moment to clarify your goals. What do you aim to achieve from this interaction? Script several questions that align with your objectives. Craft queries that unearth a client’s priorities, challenges, or initiatives. 2. Stimulate Engaging Conversations Kickstart the dialogue with a relevant topic or two. Consider discussing subjects that dovetail with your legal services, such as recent legislation, industry trends, or regulatory changes. Alternatively, delve into issues or projects your client is currently involved in, drawing from your pre-meeting research. 3. Master the Art of Follow-Up Pay close attention to the keywords and phrases your client uses during the conversation. Show that you’re actively engaged by reiterating what you’ve heard. Then, demonstrate your genuine interest by asking follow-up questions that delve deeper into the topic. This not only shows your attentiveness, but also rewards the client for sharing their insights. By leading with insightful questions, you’ll uncover the client’s needs and concerns before offering any solutions. This approach allows you to diagnose before you prescribe, leading to more fruitful and favorable outcomes for both you and your clients. The path to selling legal services isn’t a one-size-fits-all sales pitch; it’s a personalized journey that begins with the art of asking effective questions and truly listening to your prospective and existing clients. By mastering this skill, you’ll not only build stronger client relationships but also enhance your overall business development success.
Law firms do have many options when deciding what website company to use. There are lots of companies out there that can create and manage a law firm’s website. Some law firms, however, opt to use the same company as other law firms in their city, state, and practice area. The truth is that certain companies focus on helping law firms with their website and internet presence. These companies (which most law firms and lawyers are familiar with) often solicit law firms quite heavily for their business, which can result in a quasi-monopoly in a state or city. The net result can be that many law firms in the same geographic and practice areas use the same company. Ironically, many of these law firms compete heavily for the same business while using the same company to host, manage, and optimize their web presence. What Are the Pros of Using the Same Company as Other Law Firms? Whether a law firm should go to a company that assists many law firms in their city and state is a personal choice. On the one hand, if the marketing outfit commonly puts up many law firms’ pages, they may have a sound system for helping law firms with their web presence. One may argue that they must do a good job creating an attractive and appealing website. Otherwise, why would so many other companies use them? Indeed, other law firms would not use the same company if they were not good, one may think. The marketing company may also know the language and visual imagery necessary to create a successful law firm website. Many marketing companies might indeed have experience with putting up a website, but not for law firms. They might also help in providing off-site links that can help raise a website in the search results. The marketing company may also be suitable for running pay-per-click ads on Google or Facebook. What Are the Cons of Using the Same Company as Other Law Firms? However, the cons can be vast in number. Suppose multiple law firms in the same practice area and locality use the same company. In that case, it can be a conflict of interest for the company in many ways. In other words, a bidding war can be created where law firms use the same company. Law firms might have to pay for more content, videos, and search engine optimization to rank above their competitors in the organic search or if pay-per-click techniques are used if the same company is being used. In essence, the law firm may have to buy a greater loyalty from the marketing outfit than their competitor that also uses them. A law firm’s marketing approach can also be meant to be confidential in many respects. If multiple firms use the same company, there is also a risk that the marketing company inadvertently tells other law firms what other firms are doing that utilize their services. The danger of confidential information leaking can be pretty significant. What Is the Right Approach? Ultimately, the decision on whether to use the same marketing company as others is up to the law firm. But if a law firm does enough research, they can likely find a marketing company to help them that does not work with other law firms in their city and state. The truth is that many companies can help a law firm with their website. However, in a particular locality, there can be a domino effect where law firms are just imitating what other law firms are doing by hiring the same company because that is easy. So, before hiring the same company that other law firms use in their locality, it is often wise to seek out somebody different. One of the best ways to do this is to do a search of law firms in other cities and states to see who other firms are using in these places. It can also be helpful to research marketing companies for law firms with positive reviews and articles written about them. While the choices may seem limited for a law firm, there can often be more choices than a law firm initially thinks if they look beyond who other law firms in their locality are using.
The best ghostwriters don’t just write. They work with their clients to frame their ideas in ways that produce content that is relevant, valuable, and compelling to their target audiences. If you are thinking about hiring a thought leadership ghostwriter, as you vet potential candidates, make sure the one you choose lets you know they will also serve as a “ghost thinker.” What most people don’t realize when they work with ghostwriters is that the act of writing is only part of the value a ghostwriter provides. A ghostwriter should also be helping their clients frame their thoughts about a subject and structure them in an article or other piece of content. The Importance of Ghost Thinking When Ghostwriting The best ghostwriters don’t just write what their clients tell them to write. Instead, the best ghostwriters work with a client to frame an idea the client has in a way that will resonate with the client’s target audiences, and then create a structure for a written piece of content containing the client’s idea that ensures it is relevant, valuable, and compelling to those audiences. This is especially true when we’re talking about ghostwriting thought leadership content for attorneys. Many pieces of thought leadership content in the legal field will focus on developments in the law, such as court decisions, new legislation, and regulatory actions. This kind of content is straightforward. The ghostwriter will review the language of the court decision, legislation, or regulatory action, write an accurate summary of it, and then weave in the client’s views about the “now what” or “so what” of the development. But sometimes an attorney will want to work with a ghostwriter regarding an “evergreen” topic (i.e., one that’s not tied to a recent legal development) that the attorney has not fully thought through. Perhaps the attorney wants to write about taking depositions of expert witnesses, or a deal they worked on that required an innovative approach, or the emergence of two approaches to litigating a particular kind of case. They’re just not sure about the angle from which they’ll approach the topic. When this is the case, the best ghostwriters serve as ghost thinkers. They work with the attorney to develop the structure of the thought leadership article by asking questions about the topic, the attorney’s views on the topic, and the attorney’s experience regarding the topic. If done correctly, the ghostwriter has pulled from the attorney the substance they’ll need for writing the article, in a structure—developed in real time—that the ghostwriter has determined would make the content as relevant, valuable, and compelling as possible. Ghost Thinking in Action For example, an article about depositions of expert witnesses could take many forms. The most basic one would be “Five best practices for deposing expert witnesses.” The topic might be of interest to an attorney’s target audiences, but this particular framing is one that has been used time and time again. For that reason, those target audiences might not be interested in this article. But if the ghostwriter pushes the attorney toward more interesting angles, such as common misconceptions about deposing experts, or a discussion of the four-pronged strategy the attorney used to elicit deposition testimony from an expert that changed the direction of a litigation, the ghostwriter has given a fresh angle to a well-worn topic. The same thing goes for an article discussing the emergence of two approaches to litigating a particular kind of case. The mere fact that there are two approaches may not be particularly compelling to an attorney’s target audiences, especially if these two approaches have been employed for a while now. But if the ghostwriter asks the attorney questions that elicit insights that push the article in a more compelling direction, such as comparing and contrasting the two methods or discussing recent trends in these two methods, the attorney and the ghostwriter will now have an article about this topic that’s more interesting to the target audience. Ghost Thinking Is Simple, but Not Easy Ghost thinking is a skill that looks easy but is not. The best analogy I can make is what many characters in the LEGO Movie and LEGO Movie 2 do when they build objects with LEGOs. If you didn’t see the movies, when the characters build objects from LEGOs, the pieces come together on the fly. A vehicle may still be coming together, with LEGO pieces flying in from all directions to assemble it, as a character jumps on it and begins to drive it. That’s what ghostwriters who are ghost thinkers do. As they are chatting with their client, they start to see an outline develop in their minds for the piece of content being discussed. Once that outline comes into focus, the ghostwriter can steer the conversation in a way that helps them elicit from the client the substance they need to write the article with, based on the angle that they’ve determined would be most relevant, valuable, and compelling given what they know about the client’s target audiences and the client’s goal for this particular piece of content. When a ghostwriter can be a ghost thinker and guide their client toward the optimal substance and structure for a piece of content during a conversation, the ghostwriter also ensures they’re using their client’s time most efficiently. They should only need one conversation with their client because they should be asking the right questions to elicit the right information for the content since they’re mapping out the content’s substance in real time during the conversation. They’re seeing in their minds the outline of the content before it is written, so they know what questions to ask of their client and what points to follow up on. When You’re in the Market for a Ghostwriter, You’re in the Market for a Ghost Thinker, Too If you’re interested in hiring a thought leadership ghostwriter, you’ll want to make sure they’ll serve as a ghost thinker too. If they will, you and your colleagues will get a better bang for your buck because your ghostwriter will produce more relevant, valuable, and compelling content and require less time from you and your colleagues. To be sure a ghostwriter you’re vetting will serve as a ghost thinker, ask them questions about their process. Their description of it should make it clear they are a ghost thinker. If they’re not going to serve as a ghost thinker, they’re not going to push you and your colleagues to think about how to discuss the topics you want to discuss in your thought leadership in a way that will resonate most strongly with your target audience. If you’re confident that you and your colleagues can do that on your own, that’s fine. But chances are that you and they could use a little help getting there. That help is exactly the kind of help a ghostwriter who is also a ghost thinker provides.
Law firms rely heavily on digital marketing to fuel their growth. That doesn’t mean that their plans are always successful, though. Sometimes, despite the most thoughtful planning and diligent execution, your law firm marketing strategy won’t produce the results you want. There are plenty of reasons for this, and it’s essential to understand where things are getting derailed. By understanding the common areas where things go wrong, you can sidestep the pitfalls and create a digital marketing strategy that boosts awareness for your law firm and positions you properly in your sector. 15 Things That Can Go Wrong with Your Law Firm’s Digital Marketing Strategy Your website, CRM, and marketing automation systems can all contribute to your digital marketing success. The proper use of all of these tools will enhance your marketing strategy and enable you to accomplish your goals. However, aside from making adjustments within these specific areas, it’s important to consider these fifteen things that commonly go wrong when it comes to marketing strategy. 1. There’s No Strategy in Place at All If you don’t have a strategy in place, or are unable to articulate it, then your firm is relying on luck. Many law firms are willing to invest in tactics but do so without an overarching strategy to guide those tactics. Law firms need an overarching strategy such as a structured document that provides a clear framework for reaching their target audience, including details on planned activities and the relevant methods of communication. This document should also include your business goals and a plan to measure success. Start by defining your SMART goals, then figure out what tactics you will use to achieve these goals, and define key performance indicators that you will use to measure if you’ve reached these goals. 2. Focusing on Tactics Instead of Strategies As we just mentioned, many firms choose to implement tactics rather than an integrated marketing strategy. Well-executed tactics can produce positive results, but relying on such tactics is not smart for the long term. For example, if you decide to invest in social media, you may put a plan together or outsource those activities. But without a thoughtful approach to developing content tied to business goals, your efforts are not likely to lead to increased traffic or brand awareness. A systemized approach will help marketers create repeatable programs and measure outcomes. 3. Executing the Same Strategy as Your Competition There are certainly things about your law firm that set you apart. It’s important to make sure these unique selling propositions are at the center of your strategy. Doing the same things as your competition will not help set you apart, no matter how well executed. Rather, look for gaps and opportunities where your competition is not. 4. Not Focusing on the Needs of Your Clients Firms need to take the approach of strengthening their relationships with clients, not just marketing to them. It’s important to focus on the experience of your clients and position marketing from there. Always look to provide value to your clients and prospective clients. Start by defining who your target audience is. Then, build out client personas, which are personified characters that represent the different segments of your target audience. All of your strategies should be created with these client personas and your target audience in mind. You should have a deep understanding of your audience, their needs, thoughts, desires, and challenges. 5. Marketing Strategy Isn’t Aligned With Corporate Objectives Research shows that firms that align marketing with business development experience better results. Marketing and business development should collaborate across several areas and both departments should work with firm leadership to understand larger objectives. 6. Poor Targeting Is your marketing getting to the right people? Even if you have great messaging, if you’re not reaching the people who are most receptive, you’re unlikely to be happy with your results. It’s often a good strategy to narrow targeting rather than broaden it. We understand that many law firms have multiple target audiences, which is why developing unique client personas is extremely important. Personas will guide your targeting strategies and help you to determine what kind of content you should be creating for your target audience. As you’re building out these personas, you should pay special attention to their demographics and interests. This will help you understand what channels are best for reaching them and will allow you to better target the right people with the right messaging. 7. You Assume Social Media Is the Same Across the Board Law firms should not be posting identical messages to each social media network. Different channels have different audiences, peak times, and character limits. And each one is built for a different style of writing. 8. No Calls-To-Action When it comes to digital marketing, it’s easy to get caught up in simply creating social media videos or blog content without a thought as to how it will help you drive leads and new business. The same thing happens on websites. It’s amazing how many law firms we see without clear, obvious calls-to-action. Remember, if you want people to perform an action, you have to ask them. 9. You Expect Immediate Results Successful marketing requires both time and money. It also takes time to understand what’s working and what’s not. We often tell clients that it takes 6-12 months for marketing to generate results. Yes, you will see some leading indicators of success along the way, but it takes time to really get the momentum you’re after in marketing. 10. Failing to Test, Adjust and Optimize Having a strategy in place is important, but it needs to be flexible. Adapting your strategy and tactics based on testing and results will improve your results over time. This is why measurement is so important. Think of your strategy as a guide, but then use data along the way to optimize programs. You need to keep track of what’s working and what’s not so you can decide what to tweak throughout the year. 11. Lack of Personalization 76% of consumers say they’re more likely to purchase from brands that personalize. Personalization is more than just a nice to have. It’s a necessity. As we mentioned, it’s essential that you have a deep understanding of your target audience/ client personas. Not only should you attune tactics to different client personas, but you should also adjust tactics based on the different stages of the buyer’s journey. Different audience segments should be receiving different messaging and content offerings based upon how close they are to making a decision. You can also easily personalize your messaging by adding personalization tokens in emails or on your website. 12. Your Creatives Are Lackluster Your creatives and visuals have a big impact on how prospects see your firm and whether or not they’re inspired by what you have to say enough to take action. Leveraging stale creatives that have been used over and over will leave your audience bored. And lacking any sense of creativity and always sticking with the ‘safe’ option won’t help you stand out. Get creative and implement a strong sense of brand identity in all your visuals. 13. You Neglect to Audit Audits should be done at least once a year so that you can have a deep understanding of what’s working and what’s not. At the end of every year, you should audit all your channels and look at their performance month to month and year to year. Pay attention to what performed poorly versus well and what strategies and tactics were in place. Take note of what needs to be done next year to improve the poor performing channels. 14. Inconsistency You can’t go from posting on social media every day and sending emails once a week to no communication for weeks at a time. Your audience will be confused, and you’ll no longer be at the forefront of their mind. While it’s important to focus on quality over quantity, it’s also equally as important to commit to a consistent schedule. Digital marketing is like anything else, you must practice consistency if you want it to work. 15. You Rely Too Heavily on Your Team No team is perfect, and in fact, it’s rare that law firms have an in-house team that can handle every aspect of digital marketing. There’s so much expertise that goes into building a successful strategy, from SEO to website design to social media management. If your firm has been trying to do it all, then that may be why you’re not getting the ROI you need. Consider outsourcing some strategies to a legal marketing agency. Their expertise will prove invaluable. Takeaway Digital marketing in today’s world is increasingly complex, and without a proactive and thoughtful strategy to guide your efforts, your tactics are less likely to be successful. Hopefully, this article has given your law firm an idea of digital marketing strategy problems to look out for, but it’s by no means comprehensive.
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