Did you know that more than $300 billion is spent on digital advertising globally?
Used correctly, digital ads can complement your law firm's organic outreach efforts (i.e., on-page SEO) to increase brand awareness and generate new business opportunities from past, current and new clients.
With an overwhelming majority of people starting their search for legal counsel online, not having a strong presence is a significant missed opportunity for any law firm.
However, you need to be strategic about how you use digital advertising to connect with your audience. More isn’t always better. Users do not like being bombarded with irrelevant legal ads while browsing online. Plus, bot activity and ad fraud can inflate your results (i.e., impressions, website traffic), which is a waste of your firm’s resources.
On top of this, you should know what to do with the leads you do garner from your online marketing efforts – an egregious 86 per cent of law firms fail to collect full, basic contact information!
Law SEO Experts can outline the necessity of digital advertising for lawyers, the different avenues at your disposal as well as some of the rules that need to be followed to avoid an expensive slap on the wrist.
What is digital advertising?
Digital advertising is the process of publishing promotional materials to your target audience on digital channels such as social media or websites. In 2019, spending on digital marketing eclipsed traditional marketing channels for the first time and continues to grow.
There are many types of digital ads for different law firm needs, ranging from social media to pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
Unlike traditional marketing, they can be found everywhere, and the cost of entry to using them is significantly lower. Done correctly, digital ads allow you to tell your brand story in a very personalized and engaging way for your potential clients.
Online marketing for lawyers
There are a few additional things to keep in mind when using digital advertisements in the legal space.
First, you need to abide by the ethics rules in your particular niche. If you can't realistically provide a service or end result, you should avoid claiming otherwise.
Your approach will also differ depending on whether you're an individual lawyer or an entire law firm. As an individual, most of your efforts will focus on your personal brand. Everything you do is about establishing credibility and trustworthiness. All your profiles should have professional photos, with your philosophy clearly laid out and how you can help your clients.
For a law firm, personal brand is also important too but it's dependent on all the lawyers within it. Online marketing efforts will ensure that clients can easily find you and how your services can solve their issues.
Impact of internet privacy and data retention
While every business needs to be mindful of what they post on the Internet, lawyers are held to a particularly high standard. With access to sensitive client information, they have a professional obligation to safeguard it and file a report if a leak does occur.
Lawyers and law firms also have to be mindful about their email correspondences. Anti-spam legislation such as the CAN-SPAM act protects individuals from unsolicited emails and lays out stiff penalties for organizations that fail to comply.
What does this mean for you?
As a lawyer, your website and any providers that you use for digital advertising need to:
ensure any client or potential client marketing data (names, email addresses, phone numbers and so forth) are stored securely.
any individual can see their data and/or have it deleted by request.
any individual can opt-out of any digital marketing communications at any time.
Ready to get started? As a law firm marketing agency, Law SEO Experts helps law firms with their digital advertising and online marketing needs. Reach out today to speak to our team of qualified law firm marketing experts, so you can focus on what matters – winning cases and running your law firm!
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