How Attorneys Are Marketing Their Firms in the Digital Age: A Survey Article

Question #1: Who is currently in charge of marketing for your firm?

The Results

Our survey results indicate that most attorneys are handling a majority of their firm’s marketing responsibilities themselves.

This could signify that most lawyers enjoy being a part of the marketing process, and like taking a hands on approach. It also could mean that today’s attorney is too stubborn to reach out for marketing help, or unwilling to trust another person with the advertising of their law practice.

We also recognize that budgetary reasons come into play as to why attorneys are taking on marketing responsibilities themselves.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Dina Eisenberg preaches the power of delegation, and when it comes to marketing, is in favor of attorneys reaching out for professional help.

"As marketing trends and tactics change, lawyers can’t possibly learn it all and still maintain a profitable practice. It’s much better to focus on what lawyers are trained for and allow other professionals to handle the rest."

-Dina Eisenberg

Scott Selis is a firsthand example of an attorney that chose to reach out for help with his marketing, hiring a marketing coordinator to his practice earlier this year.

"One of my greatest weaknesses is implementing plans, so I needed someone that has great follow up habits to get the job done. I also know I’m not fully educated about what market strategies generate significant ROI."

-Scott Selis

Some attorneys, like Steven H. Heisler, don’t seem to view marketing as much of a hassle.

"I decided a long time ago that there is no law practice if there is not a steady stream of clients coming through the door, so I don’t have any trouble devoting the necessary time daily to marketing."

-Steven H. Heisler

Our Final Takeaway

Marketing a law firm these days can take up the time and energy of almost a full-time job, which is why it is somewhat surprising to see so many attorneys doing marketing exclusively on their own.

If an attorney is ready to make a proper commitment to marketing their law office, then perhaps they can be successful doing it on their own. Those running firms may want to at least reach out to a few legal marketing firms or specialists, to see if they offer pricing that fits into their budget.

Having the weight of marketing lifted off an attorney’s shoulders, could free up significant time for them to accomplish other things with their firm.

Question #2: Which of the following best describes your firm’s biggest legal marketing goal for 2018?

The Results

The answers we got here were somewhat mixed, but developing a stronger online presence was the clear number one answer.

The majority of today’s attorneys seem to recognize just how important it is for their site to be highly visible online, and therefore are making it a top priority. Generating more leads was also a top response, and goes somewhat hand and hand with developing a stronger online footprint. Be seen online, and the leads will come.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Long-time law firm marketer Stephan Futeral backs up what our survey results indicate, noting that attorneys as a whole are more aware of the importance of online marketing these days.

"Compared to when I first began advising lawyers regarding legal marketing, attorneys are much more attuned to the need for a strong digital presence. For those who are still resistant, these lawyers need to understand that growing your law firm’s online presence through internet marketing isn’t just another marketing technique–it’s an absolute priority for client conversion. In the age of technology, if you’re not managing your law firm’s website in a way that encourages growth and client engagement, you’re missing out."

-Stephan Futeral

Legal marketing expert Matt Starosciak says that getting your entire firm on the same page is perhaps the most important thing when it comes to achieving marketing goals.

"It sounds counterintuitive, but the most important goal for law firms when it comes to marketing is accurately aligning expectations with investments. Put another way, even the most effective campaign fails if firm management believes one thing should happen and the marketing is designed – or capable – of doing something different. If ROI expectations are clearly defined and accurate, it becomes easier to be successful in the marketing processes."

-Matt Starosciak

Douglas Bradley, owner of Everest Legal Marketing, says law firms are really no different than any other type of business when it comes to their marketing goals.

"Law firms of all sizes should be focusing on the following: 1) Create multiple, sustaining streams of revenue 2) Implement, measure and adjust marketing plans 3) Cultivate a brand & reputation that people want to do business with."

-Douglas Bradley

Paul Julius, Marketing Manager at Consultwebs, says attorneys can build their brand, by establishing positive relationships with the clients they currently serve.

"Maximize the opportunities available to you. How you treat clients – how you answer the phone, how you respond to emails – these are what establishes your brand identity in the eyes of the public. Reinforce your brand by asking for reviews. Use the positive reviews and social proof as a springboard to building up your referral network."

-Paul Julius

Our Final Takeaway

There’s a lot firms need to worry about these days when it comes to legal marketing, and it can be difficult to put one marketing goal above all others. But, if you are forced to establish one as a top priority, developing a strong online presence is certainly not a bad way to invest your time.

In the digital age, you need to create a strong online footprint for your law practice, or risk quickly becoming extinct.

Data shows that 76 percent of consumers now turn to the internet when looking for a lawyer to hire, therefore being present in the top of relevant online search results should be a top goal for any firm.

Question #3: Where does the majority of your marketing take place?

The Results

While offline marketing has not been completely abandoned (and nor should it be), most of today’s legal marketing seems to be getting done online.

Sinking money into costly billboard or print advertisement campaigns seems to bring diminishing returns with today’s legal consumers.

Most lawyers seem to think that they can put their marketing budgets to better use, by being present online in places like Google search results, online directories and social media networks.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Larry Bodine says that online marketing makes it easier for not so social lawyers to reach wider audiences.

"In-person marketing is still important, but the problem is that many task-oriented, introverted attorneys are no good at it. Besides, in-person business development is a one-to-one transaction, whereas the web is one-to-many…Online marketing can be much easier than in-person marketing, and can create a virtual presence that enables your reputation to precede you."

-Larry Bodine

Matt Starosciak says offline marketing still has value, but should be approached differently in different locations.

"When it comes to things like print advertising, it depends on the location. Firms in non-metro or rural areas should absolutely be investing in offline strategies, perhaps at the rate of fifty percent of their marketing budget. For firms in large cities, offline marketing must be very strategic to be effective, and it’s even difficult in those instances. When it comes to networking, I would say that networking can be an effective strategy, but it’s very rarely done correctly."

-Matt Starosciak

Scott Selis says that how quickly lawyers are looking for a return on investment (ROI) and how much they’re willing to invest should play a large role in how they go about their marketing.

"Decide on how quickly you want an ROI. There are only two factors to consider: time and money. Marketing with little expense (network marketing) takes time because referrals rely on relationships. Spending a lot of money will generate ROI faster. The bottom line is that when it comes to marketing, time and money, are inversely related."

-Scott Selis

Douglas Bradley is a proponent of building personal connections with other attorneys.

"It’s easy to dismiss someone you’ve never met personally, but it’s almost impossible to forget someone you’ve gone to lunch with or shared drinks with at a conference. Some of my clients use networking groups like BNI, and some of them are networking sharks at conferences. Find an offline marketing tactic that works for you and don’t only depend on your website for new clients."

-Douglas Bradley

Our Final Takeaway

Online marketing should be an attorney’s main marketing focus these days, as it’s where a large number of their new client opportunities will develop.

That being said, lawyers should remain active in attending networking events and even community events, where they can personally get their name out to other lawyers and consumers in their area.

Being able to sell yourself and your services in one-on-one conversations can help you develop connections that may later result in new clients being presented to your firm’s door.

Question #4: Who is currently your best source of referrals?

The Results

Hiring a lawyer can be a really difficult decision, and our survey data seems to indicate that legal consumers will more often than not choose an attorney that someone they know recommends.

The good news here is that very few of the lawyers we surveyed are struggling to find consistent referral sources.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Larry Bodine believes that the best way connect with potential referral sources is through online methods.

"The most effective online marketing is based on corresponding in-person techniques used to generate new files. The online equivalent of attending a networking event is to attract potential clients to your website. Social media makes it easy to meet new people. I’ve met people on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn with whom I ended up doing business."

-Larry Bodine

Douglas Bradley suggests small firm lawyers and lawyers just starting out go to local Bar events and “lunch & learns”.

"Most active Bars promote networking and learning, this is a great way to meet other local attorneys. Often you can get a list of the attendees from the organizer and invite some of the people to lunch or coffee before or after the event. Most of my clients get business from other local attorneys, even some who would be considered competitors. I would also identify what type of attorney is your best potential source of referrals, make a list of who they are and make a concerted effort to invite one from that list to lunch every month. You get the benefit of building your network of referral sources while simultaneously marketing yourself to potential future employers."

-Douglas Bradley

Our Final Takeaway

What should lawyers gather from these results?

Be sure to provide your current clients with the best customer service experience possible, because doing so might bring future clients right to your door.

And maybe follow up with your former clients from time to time as well.

Even in an online dominated marketing world, building relationships with clients still matters.

Also, attorneys should make an effort to connect with individuals from groups and workplaces that might be relevant to their field of law. An example of this would be a personal injury lawyer connecting with local doctors and physical therapists.

Question #5: Who handles your website?

The Results

While lawyers are choosing to tackle most marketing responsibilities on their own, they seem more willing to hand off website design duties to a professional.

Almost half of the lawyers we surveyed allow their web designer to handle the day-to-day management of their site.

However, not all attorneys have completely separated themselves from the site design process, as 38 percent are at least somewhat involved.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

For this questions we turned to Billy Ferris, a professional web designer who not only designed this eBook, but the entire website it exists on. Ferris believes that while getting a website re-designed by a professional is good practice, further website maintenance is required to actually reap the rewards of a new site.

"If you don’t know what you’re doing in regards to SEO, you’re essentially wasting your precious time. I believe lawyers should invest money into adding a developer to their staff for the value of quality content and for the hours they’ll save not having to worry about managing their website. Investing in quality, SEO driven content is a gift that keeps on giving. You will continuously get clicks to your site through search results, leading to an increase in call volume and more money in your pocket"

-Billy Ferris

Our Final Takeaway

Proper website design doesn’t just take hard work, it takes years of accumulated experience and knowledge.

So unless you’ve taken a few courses on web design, handling the design and maintenance of your website on your own seems risky at best.

Even if you can code with the best of them, reaching out to an expert for some website design tips may still be in your best interest. It takes a really eye-catching design these days to grab and keep busy web surfers’ attentions, and a professional should be able to provide invaluable input.

Question #6: Which best describes your law firm website?

The Results

About three-quarters of the lawyers we surveyed have websites that they feel look great in design, while 62% are up-to-date with a mobile friendly design and are properly SEO optimized.

While this is far from a small percentage, it is somewhat disappointing to see how many lawyers are not making the design of their website a top priority in 2018.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

According to Larry Bodine, having a mobile friendly site is a must for today’s lawyer.

"Most consumers now visit an attorney website on a cell phone — so the site must be responsive on all devices. A website should first be designed to display beautifully on a cell phone, and on a desktop second or third. Attorneys are still learning how to give visitors a “mobile moment” — a short story, a brief video or a free download — something that make a mobile visitor remember your site."

-Larry Bodine

Page speed is another critical factor according to Stephan Futeral.

"To keep visitors from clicking away, lawyers need a website that loads quickly. There are several studies that show that nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less and potential site visitors will abandon a site that hasn’t loaded within 3 seconds."

-Stephan Futeral

Attorney Steven H. Heisler had a very specific vision for what he wanted his firm website to look like.

"I wanted my website to be clean, easy to navigate and rich in content. The main message I want visitors to take away is that I only handle injury cases, so I am the right lawyer for them."

-Steven H. Heisler

Douglas Bradley says an optimized and engaging website is often the critical “hub” of a small law firm’s marketing effort.

"Don’t make the mistake of believing that referrals won’t dismiss you if your website sucks. Referrals will go to your website to do “credibility confirmation” and to make sure you do what they need you to do. If your website disappoints people before you get the opportunity to pitch them, you reduce the likelihood that they’ll even contact you. You can probably identify the clients who’ve hired you even though you have a terrible website, but you’ll never know the clients you’ve lost because they called someone else who invested money and effort into building a professional & engaging website."

-Douglas Bradley

Our Final Takeaway

Just having any old website won’t do these days. Your website needs to look great, perform well on mobile devices (where more and more consumers are spending a majority of their online time these days), and include keywords that will get it to show up in relevant search results.

Based on the results here, it would appear that a good number of lawyers websites are up to date, responsive, and ready to succeed in 2018.

For the 38% with websites that are lacking, there should be an urgency to update right away. If their online presence hasn’t already seen a significant negative impact, it eventually will as the search marketing world becomes more and more mobile focused.

Question #7: Does your firm have a legal blog?

The Results

A lot of the results we received from this survey were pretty encouraging, but this one not so much.

Seeing that 40 percent of the lawyers who responded to this survey don’t even have a legal blog, and that 56 percent don’t have an active blog, is far from ideal.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Stephan Futeral is quick to remind lawyers just how valuable blogging can be to their firm.

"A well-written blog post that provides value to the reader is an excellent form of soft-sell marketing that will turn your website’s visitors into calls and leads. When a visitor reads your blog article, there are two positive and immediate results from your post: 1) You’re establishing your authority over your competitors an 2) You’re building a relationship of trust."

-Stephan Futeral

Dina Eisenberg suggests that lawyers that don’t have time to blog, consider hiring a professional to write blog content for them.

"There are legal writers who can capture your ‘voice’ and create consistent, relevant content on topics that legal consumers want to know about. By doing this, the lawyer is freed up to actually practice law."

-Dina Eisenberg

Bonus expert tip: Creating video content can go along way too! Here’s what content creator Leah Presser had to say.

"It’s more important than ever to include video in your marketing efforts. They are such powerful work horses for law firms. Firms that use videos can increase website traffic from search engines by 41% over those who don’t. You should add them to YouTube and promote them on all the most important social media platforms."

-Leah Presser

Ruth Carter, an attorney who has gotten about half of her new clients as a result of blogging and YouTube videos, reminds lawyers that content creation requires a serious commitment from their firm.

"I tell people don’t plan to see results for at least six months, if not a year. Having an audience is a privilege which is contingent upon consistently creating quality content."

-Ruth Carter

Our Final Takeaway

Blogging (and creating video) can help lawyers increase their website traffic, build online credibility, create return visitors to their site, and be quite beneficial from an SEO standpoint.

While blogging can be somewhat of a commitment, we recommend lawyers engage in it at least semi-regularly. And as 17% of our survey responders have found, busy lawyers can reach out for help with their legal blogging.

Question #8: If you have a legal blog, what does your blog cover?

The Results

There are a lot of directions firms can go with their legal blog content.

Our survey results tell us that a large number of the lawyers who do blog, choose to cover news and developments in their legal field.

Another popular response was giving out advice for how people should handle certain legal situations. And there is of course the 40% we mentioned in the previous question, who aren’t blogging about anything at all.

Tisk, tisk.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Steven H. Heisler has found that his field of law provides a lot of interesting topics to blog about.

"I am very involved in developing content for my blog. As an injury attorney, there are many categories to write about and I am constantly adding categories that I think are evolving and trending upwards. For example, toxic torts, legionnaire’s disease and opioids are categories that have become national health issues and people are going online to find attorneys to handle these cases."

-Steven H. Heisler

Ruth Carter uses things her clients say and care about to inspire her content creation.

"I started by asking common questions related to my practice areas and deciphering the legalese into English. Now, I try to respond to recent events related to my areas of law and I answer questions that come from my audience. These are general questions I get from clients, people I meet at events, people who respond to my posts and videos, and people who email me because they ‘just have a quick question.’ All of those questions are fodder for blogs and videos."

-Ruth Carter

Matt Starosciak says in order to develop content their target audience will enjoy, lawyers must put themselves in the mindset of their clients.

"I recommend answering specific questions prospective clients would type into the Google search box. Blogging for the sake of keeping a website “fresh” is a mistake."

-Matt Starosciak

Douglas Bradley notes that blogging about the right topics can go a long way in building your firm’s online presence.

"The blogs you publish should generally be in-line with your practice focus, which in-turn helps you create a content “footprint” that Google recognizes over time and rewards with rankings. If your entire website has content on it regarding divorce, you’re far more likely to rank for divorce related searches."

-Douglas Bradley

According to Leah Presser, video offers attorneys the opportunity to influence consumers in unique ways.

"Videos that feature attorneys or legal professionals are powerful, because they allow visitors to get to know you one-on-one in a setting of your choosing. You can show yourself hard at work handling a court hearing or in a meeting with clients who happen to look just like your targeted viewers. Your voice can make viewers feel like your friend, or their trusted adviser, or both. Videos are the ultimate combination of the beauty and power of imagery merged with the persuasiveness and authority of words."

-Leah Presser

Our Final Takeaway

There’s a lot of positive ways lawyers can go with their online content.

Establishing your firm website as a source of information and news is a quality strategy for getting return visitors to your blog.

Using a blog post to provide legal advice also can help showcase your legal knowledge, and the kind of guidance you’d be able to provide as a client’s lawyer.

Perhaps the biggest key is always providing readers (or viewers) with something of value in every post. Educating, informing, or entertaining your audience can go a long way in getting them to reach out to your firm.

Question #9: What is your relationship with social media?

The Results

The mixed responses we got from this question were quite interesting to say the least.

Lawyers who get the most out of their social networking, are usually the ones who go all in on the process and consistently post and work towards building a social audience over a long period of time.

We were encouraged to see that nearly 65% of survey respondents have shown a dedication to at least semi-regularly posting on social media.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Attorney Scott Selis has found social media to be a powerful marketing tool for his firm.

"We mostly use social media to portray our message, along with the help of our third party vendor who helps implement regular postings about sensitive subjects. We just recently posted an article about talking with a dying loved one, to help those who are going through these types of sensitive topics."

-Scott Selis

Attorney Tate Lounsbery believes social media isn’t the best tool to use for his field of law.

"My ideal prospects aren’t looking for my services on social media. They do it primarily on Google. Also, because my prospects want anonymity, they steer clear of discussing these issues on social media."

-Tate Lounsbery

Stephan Futeral says attorneys will usually get out of social media what they put into it.

"Overall, social media is no different that the real life. Introduce yourself, share in others’ online conversations, reply when someone comments online, and generally speaking – be social."

-Stephan Futeral

Our Final Takeaway

Somewhat surprising was the fact that over 20% of our survey respondents claimed that social media was too risky to get involved with.

In our opinion this is a poor reason not to engage on social media. Social posting needs to be done with care, but as long as proper judgement is being used by the person posting, the benefits of social networking far outweigh the risks.

Question #10: Which social network are you most active on?

The Results

Facebook was unsurprisingly the top choice here. With such a large audience already in place on the network, there would seem to be the most opportunity for lawyers to build their brand here.

LinkedIn, a network mostly used for connecting with peers, also received a sizable number of responses.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

According to Larry Bodine, Facebook is still king when it comes to social networks, as long as it’s used in the right fashion.

"For attorneys, Facebook has eclipsed every other medium. This is the place for attorneys to show their good works, charity activity and community involvement. It is not the place to brag about your Martindale rating. Attorneys are still mastering the skill of engaging with Facebook visitors, and not blasting out one-way messages."

-Larry Bodine

Douglas Bradley believes the two best networks to focus on are Facebook and LinkedIn.

"Facebook engages people you know personally, and LinkedIn engages your professional connections. Both audiences are distinct and can be leveraged differently. Your LinkedIn audience may want to know about a recent argument you made in court and the legal justifications behind it, while your Facebook audience may be more engaged with a recent win for a client or positive online review."

-Douglas Bradley

Matt Starosciak reminds lawyers that finding social media success takes real work and patience.

"While I suspect I’m in the minority, I believe there is a wide gap between the perceived and actual value of social media for law firms. I’m a fan of having a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube, and posting to those sites on a regular basis. More sophisticated strategies can work as well, but it’s very important to be willing to the spend the time necessary to make them effective, be patient with respect to results, and have accurate expectations of ROI."

-Matt Starosciak

Paul Julius says lawyers shouldn’t create social accounts, if they don’t plan on using them.

"Lawyers should only use the networks they will be comfortable interacting on and can commit to having a regular posting presence. A poorly maintained social profile is often times more damaging than no account at all."

-Paul Julius

Leah Presser says the type of law an attorney practices should dictate which social networks they are on.

"If you serve the government or corporate markets, get busy on LinkedIn and stay there. Attorneys who practice more personal types of law are welcome on Facebook because they’re trying to help people with common life events that can happen to anyone. But nobody wants to come across a complex or securities litigation attorney on Facebook. They, just like everybody else, are on Facebook looking at their nieces’ graduation photos or pictures of their grandkids at the zoo. And you are tapping them on the shoulder and interrupting their leisure time. Big no-no. In the past, when marketers focused on television, radio, and print, interrupting prospects’ leisure time was the goal. Advertisers strove to be the best at doing it well and often. But today, we can do better. We have so many social networks and places to connect online with specific audiences. We don’t need to interrupt and potentially agitate prospects during their personal time. Legal marketers should move beyond interruption marketing and instead endeavor show up where people expect to find us with informative, interesting content they’re deliberately seeking out."

-Leah Presser

Our Final Takeaway

With Facebook’s creators now gearing the network’s timelines more towards showing posts from family and friends rather than businesses, lawyers must be careful about putting all their eggs in the Zuckerberg basket.

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are three social networks all lawyers must be present on.

LinkedIn can be great for building valuable professional connections within your legal field, while Twitter is highly useful when it comes to direct engagement and instant sharing of content and original thoughts.

Being active and sharing content via YouTube is also a must for firms. Consumers love engaging with video, and Google loves putting YouTube content high in it’s search rankings.

Question #11: Would you consider giving out legal advice on social media?

The Results

Companies experiencing PR disasters after a negative interaction with a consumer on a social network has become an all too common occurrence these days.

With this being the case, we weren’t too surprised to see that a large number of the lawyers we polled tend to shy away from answering questions via their social channels.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Matt Starosciak believes social media must be used with caution.

"I recommend staying far away from giving legal advice to anyone who hasn’t signed a retainer agreement."

-Matt Starosciak

Douglas Bradley says lawyers giving out advice on social networks can often get a little too complicated.

"Giving legal advice on social media is like offering driving directions to someone without knowing where they’re going or the condition of their car. For that reason, most State Bar associations have rules or opinions about it. However, most attorneys I work with tend to field simple legal questions with straightforward answers, and anything beyond that they request the person to call or email them."

-Douglas Bradley

Our Final Takeaway

While answering specific legal questions from an individual on social media can be a dangerous game, there may be some middle ground here.

Lawyers may benefit from answering some of their firm’s most frequently asked questions through social media posts. That way they can show off the law office’s expertise, while not drawing ire from an individual user.

Question #12: Does your firm engage in search marketing?

The Results

When it comes to search marketing, law firms really can’t afford to do just nothing.

A firm’s involvement in proper search marketing techniques, whether it be via SEO or through pay-per-click advertising, will largely dictate its ability to reach today’s legal consumer.

We were pleased to discover that nearly 60 percent of our survey responders were already engaged in some kind of search marketing, with SEO being the more frequently used strategy.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Steven H. Heisler has put a heavy emphasis on search marketing, enlisting professionals to help with the process.

"I am technologically challenged, so I employ a phenomenal SEO firm, which helps me stay on page one on Google. Some of the keywords that I rank high on are “Baltimore Injury Lawyer”, “Baltimore Auto Accident lawyer”, and “Baltimore Personal Injury Lawyer”. While some people still use the Yellow Pages to hunt for an attorney, the masses are going online."

-Steven H. Heisler

Tate Lounsbery, is an example of a lawyer who has embraced multiple search marketing tactics.

"I advertise my practice primarily by driving traffic to my website, through SEO and PPC. Both have worked very well for me."

-Tate Lounsbery

Matt Starosciak’s recognizes the value of SEO, but says firms shouldn’t just jump into it blindly.

"Providing a great mobile website experience for prospective and existing clients is absolutely critical in today’s market. The need for SEO in the sense of organic ranking, however, applies to far fewer firms today than it did five years ago, and is an area where massive amounts of money is poorly spent. SEO has a place in today’s law firm marketing environment, but firms should be very careful when making investments designed to increase rankings in the organic search results."

-Matt Starosciak

Our Final Takeaway

While growing your firm with SEO can require a lot of learning and patience, it can be instituted without any significant cost and usually offers more sustainable results.

PPC marketing requires more of a financial commitment from lawyers, which is why many who responded have strayed from engaging in it.

For the 27% who said they don’t have time for any kind of search marketing, we strongly urge them to make the time, or risk falling into online irelavancy.

Question #13: How important are online reviews to you?

The Results

We were glad to see the survey results indicate a fairly strong valuing of online reviews among attorneys.

Over 80 percent of people say they view online reviews as at least somewhat important.

A large number of today’s legal consumers will have an opinion of you before you get the chance to even meet them. That’s because the first place people usually go these days when they want to learn more about a business or service, is the internet to read online reviews.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Stephan Futeral says that lawyers must pay close attention to what’s being said about their services online.

"The majority of consumers research lawyer reviews before deciding which attorney to hire. Additionally, the vast majority of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Therefore, I can’t emphasize enough the need for every lawyer to pay attention to their online reputation and to the need for ongoing online reputation management (ORM) as part of the lawyer’s overall marketing strategy."

-Stephan Futeral

Matt Starosciak is convinced that online reviews will only continue to grow in importance as time goes on.

"I believe online reviews are critical to a law firm’s marketing strategy. I also feel that online reviews will be the number one most important aspect of lawyer marketing in five years. In short, if a firm doesn’t have an impressive online review profile in the future, it will be very difficult to convert both referred and unreferred prospects into clients."

-Matt Starosciak

Paul Julius believes having positive reviews online is a must, and can help future clients get a better idea of what your firm has to offer.

"You MUST have social proof – people want to learn about the experiences other clients had with your firm before making a decision on whether to work with you or someone else. What else do they have to go on?"

-Paul Julius

Leah Presser reminds us that clients don’t just take your legal abilities into account when publishing reviews online.

"Clients are often judging you not on your true legal skills and abilities, but on how you made them feel. Which is unfair, really. You may very well have the most brilliant legal mind in the country, but you’re just not that good at explaining legal processes to people, or returning calls timely, or whatever faults you may have. Recognize this about yourself, and place personable team members around you who can pick up your slack. Other attorneys, paralegals, assistants, and staff can have just a big of a role to play as you in client relations. And they can make the difference between a good online review and a bad one regardless of how clients feel about you personally."

-Leah Presser

Douglas Bradley says lawyers shouldn’t waste time taking consumer judgements personally, and should instead focus on improving their overall online reputation.

"In regards to online reviews, you have to accept that in today’s world general consumers listen to what others have to say online, even if it’s inaccurate or libelous. Digest that and move on, because online reviews can seriously help or hinder your online marketing effort. I know lawyers in major metro areas who get 100% of their new, non-referral clients through Yelp simply based on reviews. If you have negative reviews try to get the person to remove it, or respond to them in compliance with your State Bar’s rules or opinion. It’s completely natural to have some negative reviews, and new potential clients will make note of the way you respond, or don’t respond. Cultivate a process to make sure that your current and past clients know that you’d appreciate a reviewer and give them service or follow up that is ‘review-worthy’."

-Douglas Bradley

Our Final Takeaway

The opinions of other consumers mean a great deal to people, and if you’re online reviews are less than stellar, you might see a lot of potential clients end up choosing your competitors.

For those who are getting minimal online reviews, just remember that having no online presence isn’t good for your business either.

Have you ever looked up a business online, only to see them with virtually no reviews.

We’re guessing you didn’t go with that company.

So do what you can to garner five-star reviews, and make sure you’re closely monitoring online review platforms.

Question #14: Does your firm currently engage in any kind of email marketing?

The Results

83% of the lawyers we surveyed aren’t engaging in any kind of email marketing.

Shocking to say the least.

While email marketing is frequently used in other industries, many legal practices seem to not think it’s worth their time.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Stephan Futeral is in favor of email marketing, as long as it is done properly.

"Email marketing is still an inexpensive, easy, and effective way to drive repeat business from existing clients and to generate referrals. That being said, many state’s ethical rules prohibit or restrict the use of such marketing to reach new consumers who don’t have a previous relationship with the lawyer."

-Stephan Futeral

Larry Bodine believes emails marketing can be a good way to generate new business.

"Newsletters for clients and a special landing page for referring attorneys are effective for staying in touch."

-Larry Bodine

Our Final Takeaway

The results of this question definitely caught us off guard, as we figured more lawyers would be engaging in this still worthwhile marketing practice.

Sending out promotional messages, newsletters, company updates, surveys, and “just checking in” type emails can be a great way to score some easy engagement, and build stronger relationships with former and existing clients.

Question #15: What types of “traditional” marketing does your firm engage in?

The Results

Offline or traditional marketing is still very much important, even in today’s digitally dominated marketing world, and today’s lawyers seem to recognize that.

25 percent of lawyers who responded say they attend networking events, while 34 percent engage in several different types of offline events.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Attorney Steven H. Heisler is a big believer is engaging with the community to market his services.

"Some of the methods I use include developing relationships with community influencers, developing and cultivating relationships with medical professionals (including chiropractors and orthopedic doctors), and cultivating relationships with other attorneys. As far as I’m concerned the most effective way to get consistent leads on a modest budget is relationship marketing."

-Steven H. Heisler

Attorney John Fisher has found public speaking to be the perfect offline forum for helping him make connections.

"There is no form of marketing better than public speaking in front of your ideal referral partners. You are a rock star and can do no wrong. For example, just from this one event, I received 8 registrations for my event, Mastermind Experience, in September. Had I not gone to this event, I would have had no new registrations."

-John Fisher

Our Final Takeaway

I’m sure many will be happy to know that not all legal networking is done behind a computer desk these days.

Even doing simple things like attending networking events, and forming new relationships with fellow attorneys can go a long way in developing firms new clients opportunities.

Question #16: Does billboard marketing still bring a quality return on investment?

The Results

Perhaps it’s because many of the lawyers who gave feedback in our survey are from small firms or solo practices, but our survey data indicates that attorneys these days are showing very little interest in engaging in billboard marketing.

What Our Panel Of Experts Say

Attorney Scott Selis offered one example in which he saw billboard marketing be effective.

"A former firm I was with had one billboard and bus wrappers. Nearly everyone I met with mentioned that they had seen one or more of them. So it was an effective branding method."

-Scott Selis

Our Final Takeaway

We’re guessing that a lot of attorneys don’t even know where to begin when it comes to renting out a billboard and making a billboard design.

Perhaps with the right signage, and right location, billboards can be a worthwhile investment for law firms. But, with so many alternative online marketing strategies available to lawyers these days, getting them to commit to a billboard is a tough sell.

Question #17: How do you stay up on the latest legal marketing trends?

Our Final Takeaway

Our survey tells us that lawyers are largely learning about the latest legal marketing trends from each other.

And it makes a lot of sense. I mean what better way to truly learn about marketing a law firm, than from someone who has done it before.

Conventions and networking events also seem to bring a fair amount of legal marketing intel to lawyers, while some attribute their legal marketing knowledge to regular blog reading.

For those who might be open to giving a legal marketing online discussion group a try, please check out ours! You’ll struggle to find a better free marketing resource.

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Thank you to all the lawyers and legal marketing professionals who contributed to the making of this eBook.