How to Get Personal Injury Clients: 14 Tactics For 2024

Personal injury is one of the most rewarding legal practices. However, you need your personal injury marketing in shape to get leads and clients regularly.

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• How to get more personal injury clients,
• Developing a system to handle incoming personal injury leads, and
• The bad practices you should avoid in your personal injury practice.

Before we discuss the specific strategies to get more personal injury cases, here are four things you should take care of first.

Note: As a law firm marketing agency, personal injury is our sweet spot. We’ve helped PI clients start from scratch, designing their websites and helping them with personal injury SEO to establish a pipeline of leads for them. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your PI practice.

Related: How to Get Clients as a Lawyer

What To Do Before Acquiring New Personal Injury Clients

Here are some aspects to consider before you try to establish a pipeline of clients for your PI firm.

Analyze Your Current Brand Positioning

Brand positioning is how you position your brand in the mind of your target clients and set it apart from your competitors. Analyzing it is figuring out how your target audience perceives your brand.

So, begin by defining what you want to be known for or what is your legal niche—for example, wrongful death cases, vehicle accidents, dog bites and pet attacks, construction site accidents, medical malpractice, and more. Narrowing your niche can help you be the best choice in that particular practice area.

Based on your niche, determine your target audience, mission, and values to help you stand out from the competition.

Additionally, determine how your competitors are positioning their brand. Besides that, market research, client feedback, and social media are some other ways that can help you with your analysis.

If you want to learn more about brand positioning, consider watching this video by Brand Master Academy.

Based on your research, you can improve or redefine your brand positioning.

Figure Out Your Unique Selling Proposition

The primary purpose of marketing is to give your potential clients a solid reason to take action or tell them why you’re the right personal injury attorney to hire among all other personal injury lawyers.

Creating your unique selling proposition is one way to do this. It becomes easier to define your USP if you have a great understanding of your target audience—for instance, what are their pain points and goals.

For example, the USP of Stracci Law Group is “The team that stands behind you.” It’s great to hook the prospects with their brand as it’s unique and tells the potential clients why they should consider this law firm.

On the other hand, a vague statement like Best Personal Injury Attorneys or merely stating your firm name would be a bad USP.

Have a System to Handle Incoming Leads

Despite how many leads you get, if you fail to respond to them promptly, you’ll lose business. For instance, not answering their emails or their phone calls at all times may send them to the competitor who answers them first and book a meeting with them already. Hence, it’s essential to have a system to respond to your prospects’ inquiries within minutes.

So, ensure to provide an after-hour answering service along with the business hours and be helpful and polite to the person speaking on the other end. Being rude will cause you to lose that client before they even begin to show interest in you taking their case.

Track Your Marketing Strategies

Another essential thing is to track your marketing strategies; otherwise, you’ll never know which of your campaigns are bringing results and which of them are falling flat. Eventually, it’ll become difficult to figure out which one of them you should continue investing in or do more of and which ones you should avoid.

So, track your website analytics. It can help you know:

• What websites were your prospects visiting before landing on your site, aka referring domains?
• What’s your website’s raw traffic—for instance, if you’ve invested in a paid legal directory to get more clients, it helps you know if anyone is coming to your site through that directory.
• What’s your bounce rate? It means how many people are returning from your website without taking action. If you have a higher bounce rate, you may need to improve the performance of your website.

After preparing for the incoming leads, you can finally begin marketing your personal injury law firm to get more clients.

Here are some rock-solid strategies you can begin with.

Design a High-Performance Website

The first and the most important thing is a high-performance attorney website. A high-performance website helps improve the overall user experience and encourages them to take action, eventually helping you get more leads.

Some of the basic elements of a high-performance website are:

• The faster loading speed of webpages.
• Mobile responsiveness
• Answering all the user questions with high-quality content and media.
• A clean design.
• Effective landing pages.
• Easy navigation.
• Readily available contact information.
• Compelling CTAs

Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Besides having a high-performance website, you’ll need to consider search engine optimization and make your law firm website SEO friendly. After all, if no one gets to find your website, all other efforts will go in vain. Hence, optimize your website for search engines. Here are three main factors to consider.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the measure of how Google-friendly your website is, so it can rank higher. Some basic elements you’ll need to take into consideration are:

• URL structure
• Thin and duplicate content
• Redirects
• Site structure and navigation
• Crawling and indexing
• Page speed

You can go through the Google Webmaster Guidelines to familiarize yourself with all other SEO rules.

Although, it can still be a little too techy for a lawyer to do independently. The better option would be to invest in a marketing firm that specializes in the legal industry to improve your website’s rank on Google.

On-Page SEO

Optimizing the content of your website for search engines is what we call on-page SEO.

It helps you cover all the terms (or keywords) you’re trying to rank for on Google. For instance, if you want to rank as “the best personal injury lawyer,” you can create content like (depending on what’s ranking in the SERPs right now):

• How to Find the Best Personal Injury Lawyer
• What are the Characteristics of the Best Personal Injury Lawyer
• What is the Right Place to Find the Best Personal Injury Lawyer or more

Then, include your keyword in the title tag, description tag, headings, subheads, throughout the content, alt text of images, internal links’ anchor text, and page’s URL.

For example, in the screenshot below, the law firm has highlighted the keywords related to driving accidents and used them for anchor text for internal links.

Besides, keep the user intent in mind while creating content. It helps reduce the bounce rate and get you more targeted traffic.

Related: Content Marketing for Law Firms

Local SEO

A local SEO strategy targets SERP features of the local pack. A local pack is the search engine result page you see when you make a local inquiry.

For example, the search results for “truck accident lawyer” are below:

And here are the results for “truck accident lawyer in Chicago”:

For the second query, Google will display the local pack.

Hence, if you want your target audience to find you locally, you’ll need to optimize your content for it. Here are some best practices that you can follow:

1. Optimize your homepage for local SERP by making who you are, what’s your practice area, and where you operate evidently clear.
   If you have multiple offices in different cities, consider creating a separate webpage for each of them.
2. List your firm on Google My Business. It’s another way to appear in the local search results. If you already have a GMB account, encourage your clients to leave reviews here. The more reviews you have the better chances there’ll be for more people to contact you. Plus, it’s one of the ranking factors that Google considers.

Again, if you have multiple offices, you’ll need to claim your Google My Business account for each location. You can manage all of them from one login credential, so it won’t be difficult for you to update them.

Advertise Your Law Firm

Let’s face it. The organic ways to build traffic are all good, but they take time and effort. So, while continuing them, consider advertising your firm. It’s the fastest way to get in front of your target audience.

Use Social Media Ads

Begin by listing the social media platforms that work for the personal injury practice area. So far, LinkedIn is the most popular platform among lawyers — in an ABA survey, 82% of respondents said they use LinkedIn and 63% of them said they use Facebook.

Still, considering where your target audience hangs out the most before advertising is important. You can use a single image, carousel, or video with a compelling ad copy to encourage your audience to click on the ad.

Use Search Engine Ads

Another way to dominate the search engine results is to use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising system. In PPC ads, Google only charges you when someone clicks on your advertisement. You can also add a daily spending limit if you want.

These types of ads help you show your message to the right people at the right time in the right place.

Use Ad Extensions

Another great way to get your message in front of your target audience is to use Google Extensions like phone number, address, law firm rating, or web page links on your G-ads.

Here’s how it works:

• Site Links: If you want people to directly visit specific pages when they see your Google ads, you can simply add those extra pages links in your ad extensions. For example, providing links to all the separate pages of your practice area: car accidents, truck accidents, wrongful death cases, or more.
• Call Extensions: If you want to enable people to make a call upon seeing your advertisement without visiting your website, you can add this extension to your G-ads. It will show your phone number with the ad. However, its functionality will be different for phones and desktops. People can directly call you with the mobile, but not with the desktop ad.
• Local Extensions: If you’re into local SEO and want to rank for the “near me searches,” this is the extension you should use. It displays a direct link to your Google My Business page on your ad.

Experiment with Retargeting Campaigns

No doubt, advertisements can get you in front of your target audience within a minimum time, but the chances are very few people will take action. Hence, you need to retarget the leads you get from here to convert them into clients.

Retargeting means displaying specific ads to the people who showed interest in your services before.

Here’s how it works: when someone sees your law firm’s ad and clicks on it, they’re redirected to your website. From that moment on, they’re added to your retargeted list. Hence, they see your ad across the internet whenever they go online. Eventually, develop multiple touch-points, gradually increasing their familiarity with your law firm’s brand.

It’ll make it easier for them to remember your law firm, so they can contact you when they or someone they know are in need of a personal injury lawyer.

Get Your Firm on Legal Directories

Directories aren’t dead. According to Thomas Reuters US Consumer Legal Needs Survey, almost one-third of the respondents, when in need of legal services, used lawyer directories, and 24% of them turned to online research within a day they needed a lawyer.

Hence, you can consider listing your law firm in one of these to get direct leads.

The directories enable people to search for law firms by location, practice area, and firm name. You can advertise in free or paid lawyer directories or those specific to your practice. Here are some of them that you can consider:

• Avvo
• Find Law
• Lawyer
• Super Lawyers

Leverage Content Marketing and Link-Building

As we discussed, to leverage on-page SEO, you’ll need content on your website. And content marketing, when used with link-building, can help you increase your targeted traffic tremendously.

To get more backlinks, consider creating even-based content, for instance, “XX People Injured in XX Street Accident,” along with the evergreen content like “How to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer.”

Building backlinks can improve your domain rating, which is one of the ranking factors. The higher your DR is, the easier it will be for you to rank for the targeted keywords.

You can also leverage the awards you win for your law firm, guest posting, directories, scholarship programs, and communities to build backlinks.

Request for Referrals From Friends, Family, and Existing Clients

A referred client has 25 times higher lifetime value than an average client. They also tend to be more loyal and have a higher retention rate. So referrals remain a reliable tactic to generate leads for your law firm.

Hence, it’s essential for you to remind your friends and family about what you do from time to time. Sending them a monthly email saying something like this can do the job.

Hey [First name],

If you ever get in a situation where [explain the scenario], here are the top three things you should do.

[Your Name]

Link it to the article you’ve published on your website on this topic. However, ensure that you have permission to send them these monthly emails.

Besides that, consider sending a monthly newsletter to your previous clients as well. It will keep your firm top of mind of your target audience, and if someone asks them if they know a good PI attorney, you’ll be the first to pop up in their heads.

Connect With Your Target Audience

Besides making yourself familiar to your audience, you’ll also need to build a connection with them. Hosting safety/awareness campaigns or virtual meetups on your social channels to answer your prospects’ queries are some great ways to do it.

Here are some campaigns that you can check out:

• Bicycle Helmet Giveaway
• Breathalyzer Giveaway

Get Referrals From Other Lawyers

Apart from getting referrals from your friends, family, and existing clients, you can also get referrals from other lawyers.

Plus, a client will usually give more value to a legal practitioner’s opinion than anyone else. Hence, it’s a great way to build instant trust with your prospects and get more cases.

So, let’s discuss different ways to get referred by other lawyers.

Register with a Local Bar Association

The number one step to having other lawyers refer you is to get them to know you and develop their trust in you. Local Bar Associations are one of the great places to network with such attorneys as they’re a group of lawyers in your city.

Some of these organizations will be paid and do their advertising. So, it’ll be easier to find them.

After becoming a member, your job will be to be active in the group, network with other attorneys, and ask for a referral when it’s time.

Sometimes, law firms refer cases to other lawyers for different reasons, like the case being outside of their area of expertise or they simply don’t feel comfortable handling it. If you come across such issues and refer those cases to other law firms, you’ll be better positioned to ask them for a referral back.

Consider doing this for a year and see how many new cases you get this way.

Get on Steering Committees

A steering committee is a group of law firms that manages the overall representative proceedings together.

The court appoints this committee based on the experience and position of firms. You can put your firm forward to be a part of it. It can provide your law firm a good exposure and help you build good relationships with other lawyers as well.

Share Your Business Card

It may seem like an obvious technique, but it’s still important to mention here to share your business card in every meeting, as a personal injury can happen to anybody, even a lawyer.

Pay a Referral Fee

Another way to get more clients is to connect with large PI law firms and pay a small referral fee to take their workload. It’s especially a great option for new solo practitioners as it can help you build a reputation and get more reviews from clients.

However, before you go on with this approach, you’ll need to check the lawyer advertising rules in your state to be sure you’re not breaking any.

For instance, according to ABA, Model Rule 5.4 (a), a lawyer or law firm is not allowed to share legal fees with a nonlawyer with some exceptions.

Moreover, according to ABA, Rule 7.2 (b), it isn’t permissible for a lawyer to give anything of value to anyone who recommends that lawyer’s services. Some exceptions to these general rules are discussed in Rule 1.5(e), where they say that the lawyers belonging to different firms may divide a fee between them if:

1. “The division is in proportion to the services performed by each lawyer or each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the representation;”
2. “The client agrees to the arrangement, including the share each lawyer will receive, and the agreement is confirmed in writing; and”
3. “The total fee is reasonable.”

Moreover, according to ABA Referral Policy, “No fee-generating referral may be made to any lawyer who has ownership in, who operates, or is employed by the service, or to their law firm. Referrals may be made to lawyers who are members of the board or governing committee of the service so long as they do not receive any preferential treatment.”

Hence, check with your state guidelines before getting personal injury clients by paying a referral fee.

Leverage Video Marketing

Incorporating videos in your law firm’s marketing efforts can add your personality to your campaigns.

So, consider using video ads on social media or creating YouTube videos to explain complex legal concepts. It’ll help you prove that you’re knowledgeable and trustworthy and increase your brand awareness.

Make sure to add a call-to-action and redirect the potential clients interacting with your videos to your website.

Consider Professional Development Programs

Besides marketing, leveraging professional development programs for ongoing growth and improvement can help you get more personal injury clients. Here are some organizations that can be helpful.

PLIMMA (Personal Injury Lawyers Marketing and Management Association)

The first organization on the list is PLIMMA. It’s specially created for Personal Injury lawyers by an attorney who has practiced it for 35 years. The founder, Ken Hardison, has been recognized as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in North Carolina and has built two multi-million dollar law firms, which he sold at 52.

They provide great training and tools to help you scale your personal injury law firm and improve your practice.

Vistage

This coaching organization is meant for CEOs and small and mid-sized business owners to grow their businesses. They can also provide training to scale your personal injury law firm. You can check the different training programs they offer. And be on your way to grow your legal business.

Lawyer Coaches

Besides these organizations, if you’re interested in getting a mentor, you can consider contacting lawyer coaches.

How to Convert the Personal Injury Leads That Come Your Way

Now that we’ve discussed acquiring more personal injury leads through different means, it’s essential to discuss how to convert those leads into clients.

One way to increase your conversion rate is to optimize your website for conversion, for instance, improving the landing pages to encourage visitors to book a consultation call.

Moreover, leverage quick answering services like legal call center or law firm chat. It can help you provide better services to the leads who make an effort to call you and set up a meeting with them without any delay.

Finally, follow up with the leads. It may seem like generic advice, but it’s essential to follow up with the leads. For example, if they didn’t decide during the first meeting because they had to discuss it with someone else, following up with them will be a good reminder. It can help them make a positive decision for your personal injury law firm.

Bad Practices to Avoid

Even though you might be willing to take multiple approaches to book more personal injury clients, there are certain things that you should avoid while on a hunt for more leads.

Paying for Yellow Pages

In the past, yellow pages services may have been quite effective, but not anymore. These days everyone owns a smartphone, and it’s hard to believe if anyone would go through a phone book to find themselves a lawyer.

Buying Leads

According to the ABA Rule 7.2, a lawyer is allowed to pay others to help them generate leads until the lead generator isn’t directly recommending their services or is accepting payments for it, consistent with rules 1.5 (e) (Division of fees) and 5.4 (Professional independence of lawyer), and the communication are consistent with rule 7.1.

However, the rules may differ from state to state, so you can consider checking with your state bar association to know the different ways you can benefit from paid lead generation.

Get More Personal Injury Clients Now!

From leveraging lawyer directories and digital marketing to referrals, there are numerous ways to generate high-quality leads.

If you’re short of time to run DIY PI marketing campaigns, you can contact us today. We specialize in helping law firms with their digital marketing. We can get you new client leads, while you can channel your efforts in what you do best — handling those personal injury cases.