3 Must Do’s For Law Firm Marketing

There’s an entire industry built around law firm marketing. Which is wonderful for many reasons, but also has its downsides. Consumers will start to become more empowered and informed, especially with how many resources are so easily accessible now. Because of this competitive pressures will increase demand from law firms to use media to grow their client base. So if you need help with your marketing strategies, here are 3 things we believe all law firms must do.

We understand that law firm marketing can be as complicated as the people you’re trying to appeal to, but it doesn’t have to be. We’re here to help you improve all of your marketing, and we personally believe that everything you must do can be summed up in three simple steps:

• Get a brand
• Get a logo
• Get a website

If you do that, you’ve covered the basics. Here’s how to do it.

Get a Brand

We’ve worked in marketing and media for many years, which means we are able to tell you that a lot of ink has been spilled about your company’s brand. We are going to distill that mess into what you need to know about branding your law firm. The good news is, it all boils down to one question:

Why should people use your firm? Now we have a very unique way to see this answer. We believe your brand is the thirty-second answer to this question.

However, with that being said your brand isn’t simply “Because we win” or “Because we get the job done.” If your thirty-second statement applies to every law firm/competitive company out there, it’s a given, not a brand.

Your law firm’s brand is, “Because we are more fun to work with.” Or, “Because we know more about our area of law.” With that being said, it’s not only those kinds of statements. It could also be, “Because we have connections to better experts.” Ideally, your unique selling point (USP) aligns with what your target audience values most. But that’s not always the case. So you might be asking yourself “What if my USP doesn’t match with my audience’s values?” Well, our answer to that is, if your USP can’t change, change your audience. If your audience can’t change, change your USP.

The next step we are going to go in-depth in is:

Get a Logo

Creating a logo is one of the hardest parts of the process. You may not have any idea how to start or that no logo feels quite right. Well, we’re here to help with this step too. Basically, your logo is going to need to be printed, shrunk, blown up, made black and white, simplified, pixelated, etc.

There is much to consider with logo concepts and designs.

And our most helpful and important piece of advice in regards to your law firm’s logo is to hire a professional for the actual design of your logo, just as you would advise people to hire a lawyer rather than represent themselves. You may think that you are able to easily design your logo yourself, but despite how it looks, designing something that looks simple takes a lot of work.

The purpose of the logo is simple: Quickly communicate your brand. Your logo should visually convey your USP. Creating a great logo isn’t complicated, but it is difficult. Forget what you like, what is on-trend, and what appeals to you.

All you have to do is let your designer know any and all of the ideas that you have for your logo and they can transform that idea into a simple, flexible, usable logo. But they’re not going to know what idea to convey. That’s up to you to communicate.

Some examples of this include:

Levi

The popular denim company was able to sell a lot of its products by appealing to farmers and manufacturing workers. Farms and factories were and still are typically very dirty and dangerous areas. The men who worked in them needed clothes that were inexpensive, but tough. They not only need to stand up to lots of hard washings but also ideally offer workers’ skin some protection from contact with tools, hot metal, etc. while staying breathable.

It’s obvious that Levi’s brand is, “Our clothes work as hard as you do.”

Goodyear

Goodyear’s logo represents the winged feet of the Roman god Mercury. According to Goodyear, “The idea of speed had much to do with Goodyear’s selection of the symbol, for the wing-footed Mercury was regarded as a fleet herald of good news. But it is as a herald or carrier of good tidings to users of Goodyear products everywhere that the Wingfoot now stands in the minds of the people of the world.”

The final step is to create a website or analyze your current website.

Again, there are an infinite amount of ways to have issues with your law firm’s website, however, there are only three simple things that your website truly needs.

Those include:

• Reason to act
• Call-to-action
• Trust elements

Your website has a purpose, and it’s not to entertain or inform. It’s not to offer options. It’s to convert visitors into paying clients.

As we discussed the USP above, your reason to act is your USP. Once you figure out what your USP is, it needs to be clear, compelling, and concise. To execute this on a website you need a headline, the headline should be able to stand on its own, with no further explanation needed, and a small amount of further explanatory copy.

It’s also very important that the elements you include trust elements, which is reassurance that you’re not a scammer or fly-by-night firm. These can include but are not limited to testimonials, logos of your clients, a physical address, a rating by a third party, etc.

Conclusion

• Get a brand
• Get a logo
• Get a website

Law firm marketing doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. In fact, it works best when it’s simple and clear. You can build out more later, with newsletters, videos, ads, whatever. But marketing is not effective without a clear, compelling, and concise message. Let us help you implement these into your law firm’s marketing strategy and see wonderful results.