If you want more law firm clients, the place to start isn’t on Instagram. Or Facebook. Or LinkedIn. 

In fact, choosing the platform upon which you promote your business should be one of the last decisions you make. First, you need to know what makes your potential clients tick.

In this guide, we’re covering the foundational key elements of law firm marketing – what comes before you hit “publish”. Master these elements, and you’ll be well on your way to a more cohesive, effective law firm marketing strategy.

Braving the Elements of Law Firm Marketing

Many law firm owners get overwhelmed trying to decide what content to create, what channels to post on, and where to spend their advertising dollars. 

But all of these decisions should come after you’ve covered the fundamentals. That is, who your target audience is, what makes your business unique, and how to communicate what you offer.

We’ve broken these concepts down into 8 Key Elements of Law Firm Marketing. These are:

1. Brand Identity
2. Audience
3. Messaging
4. Website Optimization
5. Content
6. Promotion
7. Lead Generation
8. Conversion

1. Brand Identity: Who are you?

One of the first steps to developing an effective law firm marketing strategy is to define your Brand Identity. A Brand Identity is the visual and verbal presentation of your brand, reflecting your core values and personality. 

As a law firm business owner, you might be thinking, “I offer legal services. What ‘personality?’” And while it may seem puzzling to personify your business, there’s a few reasons why this matters:

• Your prospective clients are looking to solve a problem. Your service might solve that problem, but your Brand Identity communicates how and why you solve the problem effectively.
• In a sea of competition, having a strong Brand Identity will help you stand out from other law firms.
• A strong visual Brand Identity makes your law firm memorable, from your logo to your brand colors to the design of your website.
• A strong Brand Identity evokes a feeling in your prospective clients, such as trust in your expertise or comfort with your friendly team.

With all this in mind, takes some time to define your Brand Identity, including 1) your brand Mission Statement, 2) your brand Values, and 3) your brand “look” and design. You might choose to work with a professional designer to create an updated feel and assets for your brand.

Don’t have a Brand Identity? Check out this in-depth guide on branding for law firms.

2. Audience: Who do you serve?

Chances are, your law firm doesn’t work with just anyone and everyone. More likely, you work with clients that are experiencing certain types of problems, are in a certain budget bracket, live in a particular location, etc. 

Nailing down your target audience — sometimes referred to as, your “Ideal Client” – will help you attract the types of clients you most want to work with. And, it will work to attract people who are more likely to work with you!

Not sure who your target audience is? Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you work with businesses or individuals?
• What are the most common types of problems that bring clients to our law firm?
• What types of clients do you enjoy working with?
• What types of clients do you dislike working with?
• Do clients have to have a certain amount of money to work with you? If so, how much?
• Where are your ideal clients located? Do you service locally or nationally?

Once you have answered these questions, consider what this means for your marketing strategy. 

Where are these prospective clients likely to spend their time online? What type of information are they looking for? What marketing content might interest them?

Whenever you start to plan your marketing content, measure your ideas against this “test” of whether it would interest your target audience. Create content that speaks directly to their challenges, needs, and pain points.

3. Messaging: What makes you different?

You’ve define your Brand Identity and you know your Target Audience – how do you bring that information together into one cohesive message? 

You highlight what makes your law firm unique.

For example, say that your personal injury firm stands by its values of Trustworthiness and Compassion. Your target audience is individuals, making roughly $45,000 to $65,000 per year and have experienced a car accident.

Your core message might sound something like: “New York’s Most Trustworthy Personal Injury Firm. Bringing a Compassionate Approach to Your Car Accident Case”

Taking this messaging a step further, perhaps you create a social media campaign that addresses issues your target clients face, such as:

• “Injured in a Car Accident? How to Find a Trustworthy Attorney (on a Budget)”
• “5 Steps to Take Immediately After a Car Accident Injury”
• “3 Things to Look for When Hiring a Car Accident Attorney”

See how your core values and Target Audience tie into your brand’s overall Message and marketing strategy. By defining your Message, you are better able to communicate what makes your law firm different and why you’re the best fit for your prospective clients’ needs.

4. Website Optimization: What services do you offer?

Your Messaging communicates your “why”, but your website communicates your “how”. Your website is the place to articulate what your services are, what’s included in your services, how much they cost (if you decide to disclose this), and how to work with you.

But better than that, your website can also work to get your law firm found by potential clients.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of updating and optimizing your website to rank in search engines (mainly, Google), to attract people who are searching for services like yours. It is the most effective and long-running organic (unpaid) form of marketing.

Lawyer SEO involves creating valuable content based around the services you offer and the questions your prospective clients often ask. It also requires you to update your website for mobile-friendliness, page speed, and User Experience (UX) best practices.

If website development isn’t in your wheelhouse, we recommend working with a trusted SEO specialist and website developer to make these improvements for you. 

Use your service pages to clearly communicate what you offer and target the specific keywords people are using to find legal services. 

5. Content: What information do you share?

As stated, your website isn’t just about listing your services. It’s also about answering questions your prospective clients have, and otherwise making it easy for them to find information.

And this content isn’t limited to just your website. Many platforms – Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Medium.com, etc. can be used to publish and share content that’s valuable to your audience.

For example, if you’re a corporate contract attorney looking to work with large businesses, LinkedIn (very business-to-business focused) may be your platform. Your LinkedIn content, then, will likely be related to contract negotiations, how to hire a contract attorney, your law firm case studies, Corporate Law FAQs, and the like.

It can be helpful to build out a content calendar with all the topics you plan to cover, and on which platforms. There are many tools, like Buffer and Hootsuite, that make planning and publishing your content easier.

6. Promotion: Where can people find you?

The bulk of your marketing effort should be in planning your content – the topics you will cover, the type of content you will create, and where it will be posted. After that’s dialed in, it’s time to publish and promote your content to gain more visibility!

There are many platforms and methods for content promotion. These include (but are not limited to):

• Meta (Facebook) Ads
• Instagram Ads
• Google Ads
• LinkedIn Ads
• LinkedIn posts and articles
• Instagram posts, stories, and Reels
• Tiktok videos
• Facebook posts
• Blog articles
• Guest posts
• Press releases

Again, you will want to focus promotion on the platforms your target audience are likely to use most. For example, an older audience (45+) may be more likely to spend their time on Facebook or LinkedIn than Tiktok. Younger audiences (<45) may be more interested in alternative media, like videos, memes, or reels. 

The goal is to give people multiple (but not too many) places to discover your business. Rarely than relying solely on your website, content promotion makes your business more engaging and visible.

7. Lead Generation: How can people contact you?

Now that you’ve caught peoples attention with your great content, how do you entice them to work with you? First, you make it super obvious how to get in touch with you.

Lead Generation, really, is all about capturing a prospect’s contact information so you can follow up with them as a potential client. To do that, you need to get them to call you, fill out a form, sign up for an email address, click on an ad, etc.

Here are a few tips for generating new leads with your marketing:

• Include your phone number, email address, and physical address (if you have one) in multiple places on your website, such as your Contact page and footer.
• Add a call to action (CTA) at the end of your social media posts, such as “Call ###-#### for a free consultation” or “Visit boblawfirm.com to learn more”.
• Add a subscription form on your website, capturing subscribers’ names and email addresses for access to our email newsletter, special offers, etc.
• Include links in your social media content (like Instagram stories) where people can simply click through to book a consultation.

There are many creative ways to make the phone ring more, get more email leads, and draw in potential clients. You’ve put all this work in creating great content, now make it work for you!

8. Conversion: What convinces people to work with you?

Now, you might get people to pick up the phone or fill out a form, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to sign a contract. The final step in an effective marketing strategy is to SELL – that is, get people to sign and work with you.

There are a few ways to improve the rate at which a lead turns into a new client (i.e. “conversion”). Follow these best practices:

• Intake: Ensure whoever is answering the phone is thorough in taking down a prospect’s contact information, connecting them with an attorney, and scheduling a follow up. This ensures no leads go unrecorded.
• Consultation: This is your opportunity to share your values, approach, and expertise. Put your best “sales hat” on and communicate what it is that you do and how you can help your prospective clients solve their problems.
• Follow-Up: After an initial consultation, ensure there is a timely follow-up. This can be via phone or email. Thank the prospect for their time and clearly outline next steps for working together.
• Social Proof: If a prospect needs more time to think it over, send them any client testimonials or case studies that might build trust in your services. This “social proof” could be the deciding factor in them choosing to work with you.
• CRM: Use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to save and organize client information, such as their name, phone number, email address, reason for inquiry, and date of inquiry. This will keep their information close at hand and ensure no leads fall through the cracks.

Build Your Law Firm Marketing Engine

Now you know the key elements for building an effective law firm marketing strategy. These foundations come long before you ever create a piece of content and hit “post”. 

By defining your Brand Identity, identifying your target Audience, and mastering your Messaging, you’ll be well on your way to creating great content that resonates with prospective clients and convinces them to work with you!