How To Market Yourself As An Attorney: 14 Strategies

In a highly competitive industry like law, getting new clients and growing your practice will take some effort and a sound marketing strategy. We’ve talked about creating a solid attorney marketing plan, now we’ll talk about how to implement your plan. 

When it comes to marketing your legal services, you have to be willing to put in a lot of work and be consistent with your marketing efforts. There is a lot of marketing advice for lawyers to thrive in their practice area, but these are often too general or vague. In this article, we discuss specific, actionable steps on how to promote yourself as a lawyer and get promising results.

1. Create a Marketing Plan and Stay Focused

A smart way to start your legal marketing plan is to list your channels and categorize them as online (digital marketing) or offline (traditional marketing). 

Digital Marketing Channels For Law Firms

Here are some of the most common channels for promoting your law firm online:

Your Law Firm Website

Building a website is the most basic step that most businesses do to promote their products and services online. Anyone looking for a lawyer in search engines like Google will most likely find a website to a law firm that is relevant to their search. 

Whether you are a new business or have years of experience, a website is a must. Your law firm website is where you can define your brand, demonstrate your expertise, and earn the trust of potential clients. To get the best possible results, you can hire a web design agency for law firms.

Social Media

Establishing a social media presence on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram helps boost your visibility online and connect with your audience on a more personal level. Posting updates about your firm and sharing your knowledge as a lawyer helps to earn people’s trust and convert them into clients.

C. Kelly Law Firm’s Instagram page is a prime example of an organized, well-kept social media page:

PPC Ads

PPC (pay-per-click) ads or Google Ads is an advertising method where advertisers can submit ads to show on top of search engine results pages (SERPs). The advertiser is charged when someone clicks on the ad. 

If you have the resources, PPC ads are great if you want to see results faster and measure the performance of your campaigns. 

Local Services Ads

Local Services Ads (LSAs) are ads for local services that are relevant to the person searching for the service. Unlike PPC, LSA ads allow people to call the business directly from the ad. LSAs also follow a pay-per-lead model instead of pay-per-click, which means advertisers only pay for a lead generated, not just clicks. 

Here’s how an LSA might look like for the search term “personal injury lawyer new york”:

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (also called Google My Business) is a free tool by Google for local businesses to list their company on the Google network, including Search and Maps. Creating a GBP listing can help boost your local SEO, which means people in your area are more likely to find you.

When your law firm’s Google Business Profile is optimized, you have a chance at appearing on the Local 3-Pack, which looks like the screenshot below. These are the top 3 law firms that appear on Google maps when searching for divorce law firms in Los Angeles:

These law firms listed and optimized their Google Business Profile to achieve this result.

Email Marketing

Email marketing remains to be an effective method of promoting your services as a lawyer. You can set up email signup forms in your law firm website to start getting subscribers. This method takes some technical knowledge and a strategy so people would sign up.

If you don’t have the time to set this up, you can hire a law firm digital marketing agency that are experts in this method. 

Legal Directories

Legal directories are established, high-authority websites that allow lawyers to create a profile to promote their practice. Some examples of legal directories include Avvo, Lawyers.com, and Justia. Listing your firm on these directories can further boost your online presence outside of your website and social media channels.

Offline or Traditional Marketing Channels For Lawyers

Some offline or traditional marketing channels that are proven to be effective are:

Traditional Advertising

Advertising on billboards, newspapers, radio, and television may sound like a thing of the past, but there’s a reason that businesses continue to do it, including family lawyer Jasmine Mines of the Mines Law Firm (photo above). 

Traditional ads help keep your brand relevant to your target audience. Most people who see an ad on TV are not likely to buy right away, but they’ll be aware of that product and are likely to remember it when they do need it. 

Word of Mouth/Testimonials

Hearing others talk positively about your firm is a simple yet powerful way to win more clients. Always focus on providing thoughtful, caring customer service to your clients and you are sure to get more referrals in the future.

Community Outreach

Being involved with your community establishes you as a law firm that cares about people around them. Whether it’s a charity for a cause your firm advocates for or a simple town fair, participating these events help with finding prospective clients and build awareness for your practice.

2. Project Yourself as a Thought Leader

People hire a lawyer who they feel can help them win their case, and they won’t be sure of this fact unless you demonstrate your expertise. Whether it’s a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel, you need a platform for you to show your audience why they should hire you. 

Some ways that you can project your expertise are:

• Answer frequently asked questions in your blog, podcast, or other platforms
• Be consistent with the quality of your content
• Keep up with the latest events relevant to your practice
• Speak in events and conferences
• Publish a book
• Be a guest in media programs (like our client, Greg Kirakosian of Kirakosian Law)

3. Understand Ethics Restrictions and Advertising Best Practices

The American Bar Association has a set of rules for lawyers called Rule 7.2 (“Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services: Specific Rules”) who advertise their service. It’s important to study these closely and ensure compliance before going into marketing campaigns. 

In a nutshell, lawyers are not allowed to:

• Make false or misleading statements
• Offer gifts or anything of value in exchange for referrals or positive reviews
• Declare themselves specialists in an area of practice unless certified as a specialist by legitimate organizations
• Predict case outcomes

In addition to these, certain states have additional rules about lawyer advertising.

4. Give Legal Seminars at Local Bar Associations

We discussed the process of being a thought leader at the start of this article. Speaking in seminars within your area is one way of positioning yourself as a knowledgeable lawyer in your area of practice. 

Whether you’re practicing family law or personal injury law, it’s highly beneficial for you to participate in these events because you get to meet people in the flesh and personally demonstrate your competencies as a lawyer. 

5. Take Advantage of “Free” Lawyer Marketing

If you’re on a limited marketing budget, you’ll need to maximize free resources to promote your law firm online and offline. We’ve mentioned some of these methods earlier, but to be more comprehensive, here’s a list of free lawyer marketing tools you can leverage:

• Start a blog. If you already have a website, then commit to starting a legal blog and publishing content consistently.
• Offer a free seminar for events in your community.
• Answer questions in forums like Reddit or Quora.
• Post video content on social media platforms.

6. Build Your Attorney Website

Building your law firm website is crucial to your law firm’s digital marketing success. Your website is where potential clients learn about your firm and the legal services you offer. It’s also your way to rank in search engines like Google if you practice search engine optimization (SEO). 

Make sure your website design is user-friendly, uncluttered and looks great on all devices, especially mobile phones. Include service pages where you describe cases you cover for your practice area in detail. You should also have an attorney bio page to tell your readers more about your experience and qualifications as a lawyer. 

7. Start SEO and Content Marketing

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a way of creating your content to be visible in search engines like Google. To do this, you need to create and implement an SEO roadmap, which starts with conducting keyword research to identify keywords that your target audience uses to look for legal services online. 

When you put an effort into SEO, your website can get more traffic and your rank on Google search might improve. This means you get more chances of attracting new clients and growing your firm’s revenue.

Below is a snapshot of how our client, Hipskind & McAninch, increased their website’s traffic using SEO and landed their biggest client to date:

8. Build Your Personal Brand on Social Media

There is no better platform to show your personality and brand than social media. Build a social media strategy that clearly defines your firm and makes a lasting impression on your audience.

Your social media content can be categorized into three:

• Informational: FAQs, Explainer videos, Q&As, Infographics, Legal Guides.

Below is an example of this coming from Maison Law’s Facebook page:

• Engagement: Behind-the-scenes, funny memes, and client testimonials like the one from the Atlanta Divorce Law Group below encourage readers to engage and react to the content.

• Promotional: Run a contest, offer free consultations, or share your firm’s latest wins like what C. Kelly Law did for one of their clients on their Instagram page.

Posting different content consistently on your Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram pages might take some time before seeing results, but it’s worth the work. With social media, you’re building and nurturing relationships with your audience for the long haul.

9. Get Word of Mouth Going For Your Legal Services

Despite online marketing being used by most businesses, word of mouth remains to be one of the best marketing methods for the law practice.

The best way to have positive recommendations from past clients is by offering exceptional services from the first point of contact until the last day of working with your firm. Providing tailored, thoughtful, and competent customer service to your clients goes a long way to get more phone calls for your business.

Some tips to provide the best customer experience include:

• Have a seamless client intake process – utilize customer relations management (CRM) software to make the onboarding process smooth for new clients
• Make it easy for clients to reach you – set up communication channels via phone, email, live chat, or social media 
• Answer queries promptly – Respond right away to questions and inquiries within 24 hours
• Go above and beyond – Give clients more than the bare minimum 
• Train everyone in your firm on providing excellent customer service
• Listen to customer feedback

Improving the way your firm interacts with your clients is not only good for your firm’s reputation, but it also sets you apart from the competition. 

10. Offer Free Consultations

People often associate hiring a lawyer with spending a substantial amount of money. Because of this, they hesitate to reach out to legal professionals thinking that they can’t afford it. 

Offering free initial consultation (with limitations) can help overcome these hesitations from potential clients. It shows you are sincere in your willingness to help by giving people an opportunity to consult with you. 

Most law firms explicitly advertise their free consultation on their law firm website and use it as a call-to-action (CTA). Doing this is a smart way to boost conversions and acquire new cases. An example of this would be one of our clients, Gray Injury Law:

11. Experiment Integrating Traditional Print Advertising With QR Codes

Another way to combine online and offline marketing tactics is to use traditional print advertising like a newspaper or magazine ad and publish your ad with a QR code included. The QR code could link to your law firm website or a specific landing page that offers more information about the service that you advertised on the print ad.

12. Build Relationships and Build a Referral Engine

Creating and maintaining a network where you are likely to get referrals is one of the best law firm marketing strategies. Again, it can be a mix of online and offline channels, but with the same goal of establishing relationships and nurturing them to be beneficial in the future.

You can build a referral engine by:

• Asking for referrals from past clients
• Join legal associations and events
• Volunteer for bar committees or pro bono work
• Write articles for legal publications
• Develop relationships with accountants, financial advisors, and other professionals who might have clients in need of legal services
• Be active in online forums

Doing some or all of these is a sure way of expanding your reach and getting more clients for your practice.

13. Sponsor and Network at Local Events

Print out some business cards and sponsor local events to keep your firm’s name on top of mind with potential clients. Take the time and effort to organize an event that advocates for relevant causes related to your area of law practice. Use social media marketing to tell people about the event and share photos and updates during and after the event, like what Tampa-based law firm, Bush Ross did (pictured above).

14. Spare Some Budget For Lawyer Advertising

Whether you like it or not, the legal industry benefits from running paid ads – online and offline. If you want to get ahead of the competition and achieve your goals faster, then investing in paid promotions can truly make it happen for you.

You can start with cost-effective methods like pay-per-click (PPC) or Local Services Ads (LSAs) where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad (for PPC) or becomes a lead (LSA). Be sure to set a realistic budget and track your return on investment (ROI).

These strategies are great for solo lawyers, but these can be tweaked to fit small law firms – which we’ll discuss in the next chapter.

Hire On The Map Marketing to Take Charge of Your Legal Marketing!

If you are overwhelmed with the amount of work that goes into marketing yourself as a lawyer, then we can help. On The Map Marketing offers comprehensive marketing services to help law firms improve their visibility online. 

Our marketing experts can simplify your marketing plan and tailor it to your needs. We have helped hundreds of firms grow with campaigns that deliver impressive results. Contact us today and we’ll help you get started with a customized marketing plan.