Lawyers and law firms rely primarily on referrals for business. Past clients, current clients, and other lawyers often refer new clients to law firms based on good work product and reputation.
But in many cities, referrals simply cannot connect everyone who needs legal services to a lawyer who has a professional relationship with someone known to the client. Similarly, while some law firms have enough work to keep the fee pipeline full, almost every firm would trade up for more valuable cases.
Here are some of the services a law firm marketing agency offers and a list of some of the best legal marketing companies.
The Need for Law Firm Marketing
Law firms face several limitations in their ability to acquire new clients, including:
- State bar rules limit how lawyers can market their services.
- Small local firms must compete against regional or national firms in many areas.
- The differences between firms can be insignificant to many clients.
One of the limitations of law firm marketing is that the audience for your marketing efforts does not always need your services. Ethical rules prohibit solicitation of clients. This means that your marketing must target those who need your services now, as well as those who may one day need them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Law Firm Marketing
Every lawyer must market their practice, whether they work in a solo practice or a large firm. Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about lawyer marketing.
Why should I market my firm?
Marketing provides many benefits to lawyers and their law practices. The most important benefit is that lawyers need a continuous source of clients to generate revenue. Without marketing, you will not have the visibility to reach clients with whom you have no preexisting relationship.
Marketing also builds your reputation and brand recognition. Unfortunately, most potential clients don’t follow or even understand the differences among lawyers in your field. Marketing gives you a platform to highlight your accomplishments and distinguish yourself from other practitioners.
What does a legal marketer do?
A legal marketer develops a marketing strategy that raises visibility in the competitive marketplace.
Law firm marketing is a bit different from other forms of professional marketing. Since most people do not need lawyer services, your marketing efforts have two goals:
1. Build your brand.
2. Give clients ways to find you when they need you.
Building your brand raises the general awareness of your firm. When clients finally need your services, your firm will pop into their minds. A law firm marketing agency designs a campaign to create consumer awareness of your law firm and what you do.
You must market in the relevant channels so your firm’s marketing materials will reach clients searching for you.
In the past, this usually meant using traditional marketing strategies, such as putting an ad in the phone book. Today, most clients turn to the internet to find legal representation. Digital marketing agencies for law firms capture online traffic generated by people searching for your specific services, or target people browsing social media with ads.
How do I market my law firm?
There is no one-size-fits-all marketing plan for law firms. Your marketing plan will vary based on your practice, the competitive landscape, and potential clients.
However, some universal principles include:
– Understanding where clients look for firms in your practice area
– Identifying what makes your law firm special
– Finding ways to communicate with clients and stand out from the competition
– Measuring the results of your marketing campaigns and adjusting them as needed
For busy lawyers, this might be overwhelming. This is where a skilled law firm marketing agency comes in. The best legal marketing companies use their knowledge and experience to develop, implement, and adjust your marketing plan to reach qualified leads who will ultimately become clients.
How do I know if the cases I am getting are qualified?
When acquiring cases from a legal marketing agency, it is important to validate the intakes to confirm that you are signing up cases that meet your acceptance criteria. Case Works works with marketing agencies to streamline this process. Signed cases are sent to Case Works immediately through our proprietary technology. Our skilled team reaches out to each client on behalf of your firm to establish rapport, confirm criteria, sign any secondary documents such as HIPAA and HITECH, and order medical records.
Immediate contact with the client reduces dual-rep scenarios and confirms that your marketing agency is securing clients for your firm that meet your case criteria.
List of the Best Legal Marketing Companies
The legal marketing companies that stand out are those that produce results. To produce results, a law firm marketing agency must:
- Know how legal marketing differs from other forms of marketing
- Understand how to connect clients and law firms
- Stay on the cutting edge of law firm digital marketing
The best legal marketing companies exceed those benchmarks and help law firms acquire clients, enhance their reputations, and boost their bottom lines.
Case Legal Media
Case Legal Media provides marketing and advertising services to law practices. Case Legal Media helps you combine radio, TV, print, and online marketing to reach the clients who need your services.
Reliance Litigation
Reliance Litigation provides law firms with cross-platform digital marketing campaigns to reach new clients, particularly those involved in mass tort cases. Reliance Litigation also helps law firms with client intake and client relationship management once the marketing efforts bear fruit.
Principal Law Group
Principal Law Group is a mass tort law firm with a nationwide attorney network. This firm does extensive marketing for mass tort cases and provides this expertise to help firms identify and acquire mass tort plaintiffs.
Broughton Partners
Broughton Partners focuses on marketing mass tort practices. Broughton Partners has a screening system that generates quality leads that are more likely to convert into revenue-generating cases.
Velawcity
Velawcity is a legal advertising network that handles case acquisition and intake qualifications for mass tort, class action, and mass arbitration cases.
Consumer Attorney Marketing Group (CAMG)
The nation’s largest, fully-integrated marketing agency dedicated to law firms, CAMG is lead by industry veteran Steve Nober and offers the full suite of legal marketing services including SEO, PPC, local and national television, radio, print, and outdoor advertising.
Choosing a Legal Marketing Company
Legal marketing agencies offer varying services. You should speak to as many as possible to find one that best fits your firm’s needs.
Once you acquire cases, Case Works can provide litigation support for your firm. From client onboarding to medical record review, Case Works helps law firms convert their newly acquired clients into compensable cases.
To learn more about our case management and development services, contact Case Works for a consultation.
