Well, this sucks. 

For a year that started out with so much promise, 2020 seems to have taken a real turn for the worse. The profound impact of the ongoing public health crisis caused by the coronavirus has resulted in markedly changed circumstances for so many businesses and law firms. 

As the realities of this “COVID-19 slowdown” continue to evolve, law firms, and businesses in general, have seen growth projections steadily decline and, in some severe instances, even enter negative figures. 

However, while this time is scary, it can also be a good opportunity for attorneys and small law firms to reassess their marketing plans and strategies. Now that interminable cause lists and unending client meetings have taken the backseat for a bit, there’s no better time to go over what’s working for you and what isn’t.

• Is your digital marketing strategy working?
• How does your firm stand up against competing law firms in your area?
• Should you invest more in SEO or try Google Ads for a change? 

There’s no better time than now to assess what you can do to improve your law firm marketing and get more clients in the door. And knowing that you’ll need answers to these questions and more, we prepared this guide to show you 11 ways to improve your law firm’s digital marketing in this period.

The first thing you need to do is…

#1: Stay calm 

Granted, the whole situation may get you thinking about client cancellations and dwindling revenue streams. But it’s not the time to overreact. Rather, you should take the opportunity to review your plan for long term growth and success. 

Ask yourself, what has been working for you in the past few months? How well has your 2020 plan worked out so far? Are there any aspects you missed out on, couldn’t complete or simply didn’t pay attention to? Now’s the time to think about what can be better. 

#2: Review your budget 

Since your marketing budget will obviously be based on your marketing strategy, it makes sense to review your budget as well. In the course of your reflection, you will be identifying new factors to consider in your marketing plan. It makes sense to review your budget to include these. 

A word of caution though. The extra planning time you have on your hands should be no excuse to go overboard in your planning. Ideally, only include new marketing objectives that are SMART and in line with your overall financial and marketing capacity. 

#3: Carry out a comprehensive web and content edit 

The next thing you should really consider doing is a complete audit of your website and the content on it. You may think it’s not really necessary but here’s what the American Bar reports on that: 35% of law firms have websites that have not been updated in 3 years. No jokes. Rocket Matter further reports that: 

• 97% of law firms have no personalized content on their website
• 68% do not have email addresses on their landing pages 
• 70% do not have a CTA on their website 
• Only 14% send out an automated email immediately after a prospect fills out a form

All unforgivable sins of law firm marketing. If you feel uncomfortable doing a website/SEO audit please give me a call and I can do a full website review as well as an SEO analysis to see how you are doing and what you can improve on.

If you are a “do it yourself” type of person, Moz has some great free tools that will allow you to analyze your SEO to your local presence.

#4: Create some brand new content 

If you’re lacking on the content front, now’s the time to shore it up. It’s totally inexcusable to have content on your website that’s not geared towards a specific user demographic. Make sure you fix that during this period. 

Even if your content is peachy, you should still consider creating some brand new content that you normally wouldn’t have time for. Try out new web pages, create that email nurture sequence you’ve been meaning to swing for a while. Whip up a social media campaign or churn out some new blog posts. 

Wondering where to start? Why not start with what’s in front of you? Devote an entire series to examining the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on subjects that concern your clients and offer some handy advice. 

If you aren’t a writer let me know and I can help you come up with some ideas and along with the help of a professional writer create you an awesome piece of new content for your website.

#5: Invest in some digital marketing education 

You can also take the opportunity to train yourself or your employees on some important marketing topics. You’ll find no end of resources on YouTube, HubSpot and the like. You can even follow some content marketing gurus such as Neil Patel to understand a bit more about the newest trends in marketing. 

It may also be a good time to tweak your administrative organization. Update your client intake process from call to case, revamp your client review and rating process or your client communications model. 

Here is a list of the Top Digital Marketing Books for 2020

#6: Get on YouTube 

If your law firm does not already leverage YouTube as a marketing tool, this might be the right time to review that decision. According to the big thinkers at Forbes, video content will make up 82% of internet traffic by the end of 2020. Considering this coronavirus outbreak, we might be on course to even outperform that. 

And it makes sense too. Why tell people when you can show them? 4 times as many consumers prefer watching a video than reading about a product. You can also increase your web traffic by 41% and conversion by 80%, simply by adding a video. 

You only need a small 1 or 2-minute video on a common legal question your clients often ask, then share on social media as well. If you don’t have a camera, you can use your iPhone or follow these tips from Hubspot. 

If you need help setting up a professional YouTube page for your firm please give me a call.

#7: Update your Google My Business Profile 

Your Google My Business listing is the holy grail of your ranking in the local search result pages for your locality. 46% of all those that execute a search query on Google are looking for a local business and 74% will look to make a buying decision that same day. 

Your Google My Business listing lets Google present your law firm to those that are searching for similar services in your area. If you’re not sure how to go about optimizing your local SEO, here’s a resource you can use.  

#8: Set up a Google Ads campaign

Google Ads are a really powerful way to attract paying clients to your site. If you don’t already have this setup, now’s a great time to look carefully into it. With the right campaign set up in the right way, you can seriously boost your web traffic, the quality of your leads and eventual revenue. 

Although most of your competition will also be utilizing Google Ads, there are ways that you can beat them at it, even on a smaller budget. Check out these Law Firm PPC tips that will save you money and drive leads. 

#9: Try out some social media marketing 

For most law firms, social media has become the final frontier. According to the American Bar, 79% of law firms use one or more social media platforms for professional purposes. 

The reason is pretty simple. As a small law firm or solo lawyer, most of your potential clients are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social platforms. By also getting on these platforms, you increase the chances that you’ll reach those looking for your services. 

#10: Plan some new lead magnets 

Nothing converts visitors quicker than lead magnets. After all, we all love free stuff. Use this time to think up some interesting new content that you can give for free, in exchange for an email, a social share or another marketing objective. 

You can try putting together a short eBook on a topic that concerns your clients or any other incentive content that resonates with your target audience. 

#11: Add live chat to your website 

Finally, you really should consider adding live chat to your website. Here’s why. Software Advice reports that 56% of web users have used live chat to engage a company or brand. And those figures are increasing by the day. 

Adding a live chat option lets prospects reach you faster and help you communicate the message that you care about getting useful advice to your clients as fast as they need it. So, get chatting today. 

Here is a post that lists the top live chat software for law firms

Final thoughts 

There’s no doubt that the ongoing public health crisis has made business way more difficult than could have been imagined at the start of the year. But if you invest this time wisely, you’ll find that once the crisis is past, you’ll be in a great position to rebound powerfully. If you need some help with any of the tips below please reach out today for help.

So stay safe, and get planning.