Legal Marketing And Legal Advertising

Marketing and Advertising have been used synonymously, and that too especially in the legal industry. However, the scope that marketing covers is much wider than what advertisement covers. Your TV commercials, newspaper commercials, or online advertising DO NOT mean marketing.

Let us read further to understand the difference between marketing and advertisement with a focus heavily placed on the legal industry.

Legal Marketing

The most basic question is, what exactly legal marketing is? Well, it is not some sort of definition comprising heavy or complicated words. In simple words, the process of promoting and publicising a law firm's or one lawyer's services is known as legal marketing. This can involve using strategies like building a website, blogging, connecting with industry peers, and placing advertisements in print or online media. Gaining new clients and establishing a solid reputation for the company or practitioner are the two main objectives of legal marketing. Legal marketing must adhere to state bar standards and professional conduct, and there are ethical principles that limit how attorneys may indulge in marketing.

Is legal marketing related to advertising?

Let's first briefly discuss marketing and advertising as two business strategies.

Advertising - Producing advertisements for commercial goods or services is referred to as advertising.

Marketing - Market research and advertising are included in the definition of marketing, which is "the activity or business of promoting and selling items or services."

Don’t you think there is a similarity? You are confused, right? In a way, it can be said that Advertising seems to "include" marketing.

However, the terms "promotion" and "market research" in the definition of marketing help to distinguish the two. An action is marketing. In essence, advertising is a delivery.

Both Marketing and Advertising contribute differently to the development of your legal brand. However, marketing is a relationship with your brand, whereas advertising is more of a transaction of your brand. In advertising, you make an ask and receive an answer. For instance, consult our newly opened law firm to file a case for free. LIMITED-TIME OFFER!

Marketing impacts and influences each contact point with your client and naturally you must be clear about those values to function the right way. These can include current customer service, case settlement, and staying in touch with former clients to solicit their recommendations in the future.

Now, you should read another example. A legal practitioner from a law firm analyses and pens down an article on a recent law. He makes smart suggestions for the government and so his article gains support from the public. He is now a renowned practitioner. This is marketing, where the practitioner did not engage in any advertisements of his own or his firm, but still gained popularity for his written piece.

Now suppose, after writing the said article, he adds a line, for more legal consultation contact on his number. That would come under advertisements.

Types of Legal Marketing

1. Depending on your firm's requirements, legal marketing can take many different shapes, each of which has advantages and methods of its own. While enhancing your online presence, traditional formats like print ads, direct mailers, and radio spots can help you build a brand for yourself in local marketplaces. Although these programmes are a part of certain legitimate marketing strategies, their use has decreased recently.

2. Digital marketing initiatives are more common in today's legal marketing strategies. Today, having a website is a requirement for law offices. It should be easy for visitors to use and contain thorough information about your services and attorneys.

3. Another strategy that is frequently employed by law firms is search engine optimization, which is the technique of optimising your website content to maximise the possibility that your law firm's website will appear at the top of organic search results.

4. As part of their legal marketing strategies, many law firms undertake content strategies. It's crucial to produce compelling material that potential customers can easily grasp to determine whether you are the proper fit for their needs. This can include social media updates, blogs, videos, live streams, podcasts, website pages, law firm news, emails, microsites, newsletters, and more.

5. Many law firms promote services, strengthen content strategy, and maintain relationships with both current and new clients using social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This establishes credibility and can assist in establishing them as a thought leader by educating potential clients and customers about a law firm's or individual attorney's practice.

6. Online advertising, such as pay-per-click (PPC) search ads and paid social media ads, is a developing area of digital legal marketing that is reshaping the legal sector. By effectively implementing these strategies, lawyers and law firms can connect with a much wider audience than ever before, including referral sources, other lawyers, and new clients.

7. Public relations campaigns, visibility before media, networking, writing and publishing articles, and speaking engagements are all effective ways for lawyers to gain awareness, establish their reputations, and establish connections with their target audiences.

Benefits of Legal Marketing

1. Enables you to choose the appropriate target audience : Through careful segmentation, Marketing makes it simple to connect with your potential customers. Law firms can make good money and build a reputation if they spend the correct amount on marketing law firms can anticipate a stronger return on investment with lower costs. Hence, marketing enables you to reach the appropriate audience at the appropriate moment.

2. Builds customer trust : When individuals think about choosing legal services, "trust" is a key factor. Many customers base their decisions on criteria like client reviews and the company's track record in the sector. A law firm can create a website showcasing its accomplishments to measure the interest of audiences with the use of digital marketing.

3. Raise Awareness : Marketing your law firm is essential if you want to develop your clientele in the face of the proliferation of legal firms. Many legal firms and attorneys have reached out to huge audiences through the use of social media marketing by offering meaningful information in the form of reels and YouTube clips. Law firms can demonstrate their knowledge and abilities through this tactic, which can assist to raise engagement and brand recognition.

4. Decrease competition : There is intense competition among firms as the number of law firms in India increases. While small law firms suffer, the larger ones can use advertising to determine whether clients are paying attention. Due to a lack of funding and resources, many law firms are unable to compete with large businesses and corporations. However, these law firms can attract clients at a cheaper cost if they use digital marketing tactics.

5. Increased ROI, decreased Cost : The primary goal of a law firm is to attract new clients at the lowest possible cost. One of the reasons why many law firms in India have a small clientele base is that many lawyers tend to resist marketing their services. Large law firms make use of social media's potential, which assists them in growing their clients. Law firms can lower any additional expenses associated with marketing their goods and services thanks to digital marketing. The cost of traditional marketing has been demonstrated to be higher than that of digital marketing.

SMART Legal Marketing goals

Setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals can assist you in striking a balance between producing material that potential customers and visitors will find relevant and helpful and achieving your goals. With this goal-setting technique, you can monitor your development and determine your return on investment.

Through further reading, SMART goals would be clear to you.

1. Specific - You must be very specific about the area of your business you wish to expand. That can be a practice area - one you already have or one you want to add. Or it can be broader growth. In that situation, you must specify the metric. Is it money? How many customers? Settlements? Leads?

2. Measurable. Put a number to a metric after you have one. Even while an increase of 1% from one year to the next may be true mathematically, it has no statistical significance. Instead, think about what number of customers do you wish to add. What amount of leads do you want to generate?

3. Attainable. Remember that figure should be something you can achieve as you think about it. An old school example could be, if you sit to study your whole syllabus one week before exam, you simply cannot cover the whole syllabus or get 90% on your grade card. Decide on attainable objectives worthwhile to you can avoid failure. You should build goals around the actual strengths and shortcomings of your law firm.

4. Relevant - Select targets that will really affect your business. A simple example, you are aware of the significance of social media in internet marketing. If your objective is to gain 5,000 followers on social media by the let’s say end of year, establish how it will help your business. Is it even relevant? Will your revenue increase? Decide wisely.

5. Timely - Decide on a deadline. Without one, you will procrastinate in accomplishing your objective or won’t be motivated to work towards the right direction.

If you don't work alone, be sure to communicate your objectives to everyone on your staff, including non-attorneys. It will be easier to achieve your goals if everyone is on the same page. It's a wise decision.