Law Firm Marketing Tips: Lessons On Video Marketing From Attorney Gerry Oginski

We’re thrilled to announce that our upcoming marketing eBook now has an official name. “How Attorneys Are Marketing Their Firms In 2020: A Survey Article” will be available for free download next month. The book will include brand new exclusive legal marketing survey results, and feature expert tips from 13 of the best minds in the industry. You can pre-download the eBook here!

In a blog post last month, we revealed that attorney Tate Lounsbery will be one of the featured experts in our eBook. In this post, we’re excited to let you all know that attorney and founder of the Lawyers’ Video Studio, Gerry Oginski will also be a featured expert in the book. Any legal professionals looking to get into the video marketing game would be wise to check out some of the videos on Oginski’s YouTube Channel, which over the years has become a client-generating machine for his firm.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to fit all of Oginski’s thoughts on video marketing into our eBook, but the good news is that we’re able to just share his full thoughts here on our blog. So without further ado, here is Gerry sharing some of his video marketing wisdom.

Is creating marketing videos worth the time and effort for lawyers?

Oginski: I will answer this one with a direct quote from Frank Nunes, a personal injury attorney in California and a video client of mine. He sent me this text one week before Christmas. "Hi Gerry, I just wanted you to know I just settled the second largest case of my career. The client found me through my YouTube videos that you helped me create."

The answer is a definite yes. Creating videos is a one-time investment that pays dividends forever (at least as long as YouTube is around). By the way, that's exactly how I got started creating hundreds and thousands of videos to market my solo law firm. After the first video I created began to generate calls to my office, I figured that if one video could compel someone to call, then I have to do a second and a third.

That's when I realized that Google and YouTube loved fresh new content. I'll also share an interesting fun-fact. I did a search in stealth mode (using Google Chrome browser so your results are not skewed toward what you're looking for) for medical malpractice attorneys in New York. I then filtered my results just for videos done within the past year.

As I scrolled down the page, I began to smile. I scrolled to the second and third pages too. I kept looking for competitors who created videos in my field of law within the last year that should show up in this search. 99.9% of the videos on these pages were mine. One or two competitors showed up among 100-200 of the videos on the first few pages.

What does that tell me?

It tells me that YouTube thinks my videos are useful and relevant. It tells me that the sheer volume of videos have pushed out my competitors from searches like these. That means when a consumer, looking for information about their legal problem, does a search, they'll be offered up not one or ten or twenty of my videos. Instead, they'll be treated to page after page after page of my videos. Not my competitors. Mine. Think about what effect that will have on a prospective client searching for an attorney.

By the way, I don't sell my services in any of my videos and I never talk about myself or my credentials. To also answer the question, video has helped me generate calls and valid cases that have resulted in settlements of more than twelve million dollars over the past eleven years. Is video worth your time and effort? If done correctly and consistently, the answer is yes.

What kind of marketing videos are generally best at winning over new clients?

Oginski: The question you ask is the wrong question. Why? Because your goal when creating video to market yourself and your law firm is NOT to win over new clients. You might think that's strange coming from a marketing student who has created over 3000 videos to market my solo law firm. If you think your goal when creating marketing videos is to 'win over' your prospective new clients, then there's a problem with your mindset.

Let me explain...

Let's say you're a personal injury attorney. Your ideal client is someone who suffered a significant injury because of someone's carelessness. The majority of the world does NOT need a personal injury attorney when they wake up in the morning. There's no NEED for your services. NOBODY WAKES UP IN THE MORNING AND SAYS "HEY, I WONDER WHICH PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY I'M GOING TO HIRE TODAY!"

Since most people don't NEED you, there's no reason for them to be looking for you or someone who provides legal services like you. If God-forbid they were in a terrible accident and now realize they NEED an attorney like you, now they must make a few choices.

First is whether they already know an attorney or know someone who can refer them to a trusted attorney. The 'know, like and trust' factor is alway going to compete with your marketing efforts. For those people who don't know an attorney and don't know someone who can refer them to a trusted lawyer, now they begin searching.

Here's where most attorneys screw up. You will likely ASSUME that this injured person is searching for an attorney. That assumption would be wrong. Why? Because even if someone thinks they might need an attorney, they don't know what to look for. They don't know how to distinguish one lawyer from another. Because they don't know what information they should be looking for, their search starts at a different place than you think.

Instead, most will start their search trying to find answers to their questions.

• "How long do I have to start a lawsuit against a careless driver?"
• "Can I sue someone for personal injury if I'm not a U.S. citizen?"
• "Do I have to pay a personal injury lawyer up front to hire him?"
• "If I sue the driver who hit me and lose, do I have to pay his attorney's fee?"
• "If I sue a careless driver, will my case have to go to trial?"

Do you notice a pattern here?

The consumer has no idea what to look for when they finally realize they need an attorney. They don't know an attorney. They don't know a friend or family member who can refer them to a trusted lawyer. Now they start to search. On their smartphone. What are they asking?

They're asking questions to help them learn how cases like theirs works. If you understand this mindset, this will be the "AHA!" moment for you. Then, you can start creating videos to specifically answer their questions. This is not to 'win over' your viewer. Instead, it's designed to help your viewer learn. It's designed to help explain. It's designed to teach them something they didn't know.

Why would you ever go out of your way to teach, educate and inform people you don't know about how these cases work?

Simple.

Who do you think they're more likely to call with more questions?

You, who has just educated them in response to the questions going on in their head, or some guy droning on about how many years he's been in practice and how hard he fights for your rights?

The obvious answer is YOU.

The bottom line is not to create videos to win over a viewer. Instead, help them understand how their type of matter works. Teach them. Educate them. Then, invite them to call you if they have more questions. That's the million dollar formula.

For more video marketing guidance from Gerry, check out Part One and Part Two of his “Let’s Talk Legal Marketing” feature. Also be sure to bookmark our “Let’s Talk Legal Marketing” page.