We recommend you do one thing to market your firm: Engage in digital marketing.
In a crowded marketplace, when people search for the services you specialize in, they need to find your practice. Without a search-focused marketing plan, you risk never being in the running for potential new clients.
We live in a digital era, and when a Gen X’er or Millennial needs information, they turn to Google, Bing, and other native search engines for the answers. Gone are the days of flipping through yellow pages. Search is not just one method to find your firm, it is the only method.
We cannot stress this enough, that this digital mindset has overtaken all others. As someone who just this year had to research living wills, trusts and managing the financial affairs of my aging parents, I can attest, my short list of attorneys to work with all ranked very high in search. Firms that did not have a digital presence were just not on my radar.
If we want to serve the next generation, we need to meet them where they search—online. That’s why digital is so important for your practice’s future.
Questions I need to know include:
- How do I protect my parents?
- What are their wishes, do they have living wills, and what is a living will?
- When do I need to take control of their affairs and how do I do that?
- What is “power of attorney”?
- How does assisted living function?
- How do I pay for it?
- How do I manage my Dad’s VA benefits?
- or help them manage their bills, finances and taxes?
Some form of these questions are bound to come up weekly, perhaps daily during the operation of your legal or financial practice.
When potential clients search for these questions online, what specific answers do they find? Or more importantly, who do they turn to for a solution?
The million-dollar question then, is this:
Is my firm visible in local search?
We’ll give your first digital marketing exercise, pro bono.
- Go to Google, right now, and
- Type in, “Elder Law Attorney, near me”
(or Civil Attorney, or Tax Attorney, whatever your main focus is). - View the results.
If you’re not at the top of the list, then we can help you.
If you’re not on the first page at all, then you should call us and schedule a discovery session.
Through search, we want people to find you—and ask your firm for the answers.
As a digital marketing agency, we have a finger on the pulse of trends in marketing, advertising and promotion. We’re seeing that across many industries, big, national companies are dominating online marketing. They’ve discovered how to profitably advertise and use data and analytics to grow their bottom line.
National firms use digital marketing to attack our local markets—and they are winning.
The problem is, for a consultant like you, they are attacking local markets, where your practice lives and breathes.
With the rise of big enterprises like Rocket Lawyer and Legal Zoom, comes new challenges to your future business. They are commoditizing a portion of your business. . They are attacking new business, future business—they are after your leads.
Rocket Lawyer takes another approach, they let you create your own living will for free, and then lead you to the conclusion that you might need more. Theirs is a “content marketing” exercise, meaning they provide great information, meant to draw you in from search.
Info + Create your own FREE Living Will = You might really need a lawyer.
With millions of dollars behind their digital marketing efforts, they seek to gobble up your first line of inquiry—they’re after your leads. And they are winning.
Sophisticated digital marketing strategies, detailed tracking of data, and access to Google’s enterprise toolset*, gives them a massive advantage.
Does that mean you should retire and shutter your practice? Of course not, but it should be a wake-up call, that you need to make sure you are visible to an online audience. It’s about the future of your practice.
While this seems daunting, marketing your practice isn’t a one-time, massive expense. Rather, it’s an intentional effort, driven by measurable goals that gets your results.
Digital Marketing is Proven
If the 600 lb. gorillas are using digital marketing, then what are you doing to compete? In our exercise above, the firms who were at the top of that Google search list, are also using digital marketing.
Alongside InterActive Legal, our marketing agency provides solutions that build up your online presence.
At PracticeDev, we provide digital strategies that grow your practice, and it all starts with one call, a 15 minute discovery session. Contact us, today.
Reference
* Source: https://www.legalzoom.com/personal/estate-planning/living-will-pricing.html
** Source: https://www.rocketlawyer.com/form/living-will.rl#/
***Google Analytics 360 (formerly Google Analytics Premium) is their enterprise toolset, and costs $150,000 to use, with additional service level plans.
Source: https://www.google.com/analytics/360-suite
Article: http://www.blastam.com/google-analytics-360-standard-comparison