Does your law firm have an identity?

Now, what might come to mind is your logo… or the people on your team… or even your company tagline. 

But some pretty designs and great copywriting do not a brand identity make. 

In fact, a strong, powerful brand identity requires several important elements. And all of these elements come together in order to help you stand out from the competition and win over new clients. 

In this guide, you’ll get a “Law Firm Branding 101” crash course – covering everything from how to define your brand, how to build a visual identity, and how to stand out in your market. 

What is law firm branding?

Law firm branding refers to the process of establishing your law firm’s unique identity through visual design, messaging, and marketing in order to attract your ideal target audience and set your firm apart from other law firms. Law firm branding also involves identifying your law firm’s Unique Selling Point (USP) to communicate what makes your firm different from the competition.

Does your law firm need a “brand”?

Many people assume that professional services businesses – like law firms – don’t need “branding” because the services should essentially sell themselves, right? 

While it’s easy to think that branding is reserved for creative agencies or physical products, the reality is that ALL types of businesses can benefit from branding.

Here are the benefits of building your law firm brand:

• Establish credibility – A strong, authoritative brand builds credibility and trust with potential clients because it shows that your law firm is polished and professional.

• Stand out from competitors – Great visual branding and clear, well-thought-out messaging helps your law firm stand out from the many other (often generic) firms in your market. 

• Visual consistency – When you invest in visual branding (like your website design and logo), you get creative assets that you can use in all of your marketing materials and campaigns, creating consistency wherever your business shows up online (and off). 

• Attract target clients – Your messaging is meant to communicate what your business does to the types of people who are looking for your services, while also highlighting what makes your business unique. 

• Increase brand recognition – When you have consistency in your visual brand and in your messaging, this can help establish your law firm as a recognizable brand, which can increase referrals and new business. 

• Enhance perceived value – When you build your brand, this shows potential clients that you are investing in your own business and care about your reputation, which increases the perceived value of your firm overall. 

How to Build Your Law Firm Brand

There are many benefits to branding your law firm, from establishing your USP to creating a visual identity to attracting your ideal clients. 

But how do you build a strong law firm brand from scratch? 

Follow these steps to turn your firm into a well-branded, well-respected powerhouse in your market. 

Step 1: Conduct audience research

The key to branding your law firm so that it’s on point for your target audience is to research your audience to understand their characteristics, needs, wants, and pain points.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming what your audience wants. The only way to truly know is to conduct research via surveys, conversations, and competitor analysis tools.

The absolute easiest way to conduct audience research is to talk to your audience directly. This can include potential clients or past clients – really, anyone who is likely to be interested in your specific services.

You can reach out to your target audience via email, telephone, or social media, or, send them a survey via a tool like Google Forms. 

Ask your audience the following questions:

1. What is your ultimate goal when it comes to hiring a [ niche ] attorney?

2. What top 3 issues are you struggling with at the moment as it pertains to [ legal service ]?

3. What methods have you tried to overcome these challenges?

4. What worked or did not work with those methods?

5. What 3 characteristics are you looking for in a [ niche ] attorney?

Once you have a few responses (I recommend reaching out to at least 5 people), write down their answers and then tally the most common responses (if available). These answers will then inform how to position your brand messaging, USP, and content.

Step 2: Establish your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Your USP is essentially a statement that communicates what it is that your business does, who it serves, and what makes it unique. When you start your brand development process with audience research, your USP can be tailored to speak to the specific needs of your target audience.

A common USP statement formula is: “We help [AUDIENCE] achieve [TRANSFORMATION] with [PRODUCT/SERVICE].”

For example, say that the most common response you received to the question “What is your ultimate goal when it comes to hiring a family law attorney?” was along the lines of “Navigate the legal process without stress”. 

Your USP could be something like: “We help families navigate the legal process without stress by providing friendly, informed family law services”.

This USP easily identifies who your audience is (families), what you help them achieve (navigate the legal process), and what you offer (family law services). And this statement uses the exact phrase your target audience used in your audience research.

Here are a few more examples of USP statements for law firms:

• "We help accident victims and their families achieve justice and financial recovery with our expert legal representation and personalized support."

• "We help inventors, creators, and businesses protect their ideas and innovations, safeguarding their intellectual property rights with comprehensive legal strategies and guidance."

• "We help individuals and families navigate challenging legal matters, such as divorce and child custody, providing compassionate guidance and effective resolutions to achieve peace of mind and a fresh start."

• "We help businesses of all sizes navigate complex legal landscapes, ensuring compliance, resolving disputes, and facilitating growth with our tailored legal solutions and strategic counsel."

• "We help individuals and families from around the world achieve their dreams of living and working in the United States, offering expert guidance and personalized immigration services for a smooth and successful transition."

Step 3: Master your messaging

Your USP is essentially your guiding light for all of your brand messaging, copywriting, content, etc. While you don’t want to use your exact USP in ALL of your copy, you do want to weave those principles into your marketing.

Using the same USP from above (“We help families navigate the legal process without stress by providing friendly, informed family law services”), say it’s time to write the service pages for your website.

Instead of using a generic tagline on your homepage, you could use something like “Stress-Free Guidance for Family Matters” or “Family Law, Simplified” or “Your Worry-Free Guide to Navigating Divorce”. All of the options closely align with your original USP.

Similarly, if you want to add a call-to-action on a Facebook ad, instead of using something generic like “Call us for family law services”, you could use a call-to-action like “Call today for a stress-free consultation” or “Struggling to navigate the legal ins and outs of divorce? Contact us for support today”.

The more you align your messaging with your USP (i.e. founded on your exact audience research), the more your marketing will resonate with your target audience and generate better results for your business. 

Step 4: Define your company mission and values

Your USP is not your mission statement or values. While these can be externally facing (some law firms include a mission statement on their website), they are more so important for keeping your own company honest to its mission, expectations, and morals.

It’s valuable to establish a mission statement because it will help with the culture of your team and will keep you true to your values. It’s essentially your “playbook” to the kind of experience you want to provide to your clients. 

When writing your mission statement, consider the more qualitative values you hold important in your business. These could include things like “honest”, “fierce”, “compassionate”, etc.

Here are a few examples of powerful mission statements:

• "Our mission is to provide exceptional legal representation, unwavering dedication, and personalized solutions to protect and advocate for our clients' rights and interests."

• "We are committed to delivering professional and reliable legal services with integrity, compassion, and a relentless pursuit of justice for our clients."

• "At our firm, our mission is to be the trusted legal partner for individuals and businesses, offering strategic guidance, innovative solutions, and exceptional client service."

• "We strive to make a positive impact in our clients' lives by providing effective legal counsel, practical advice, and a commitment to achieving their desired outcomes."

• "Our mission is to promote fairness, equality, and access to justice for all, serving our community with ethical and expert legal representation."

You might consider posting this on your website or simply have it internal to your company. In any case, having a mission statement will help you establish a consistent, value-driven brand. 

Step 5: Develop your business strategy

Once you defined your USP, it’s time to get super clear of what types of services your law firm offers (or will offer) and what your business strategy will be. 

Many law firms offer a “category” of services (like “family law” or “corporate law”) but don’t clearly define the specific services they offer. This can be confusing for potential clients and doesn’t work well in driving organic traffic (which relies on optimizing for particular service keywords).

So, you will want to get very specific about what your services are and, likely, establish marketing assets for each (primarily, website landing pages).

For example, you might be a Criminal Defense attorney but then further define that you offer “DUI/DWI” defense, “Drug Crimes” defense, and “Theft and Property Crimes” defense – and then publish website pages for each.

Beyond that, you’ll need to establish your model for attracting potential clients.

Are you going to promote your business mainly on Facebook? Will potential clients need to call for a consultation or will you have contact forms on your website? Will you run paid ads? These are the types of questions to consider when building your business strategy.

It is helpful to write down your strategy and adjust it over time. You might discover that some strategies work better than others. But over time, you can turn your strategy into a well-oiled, lead-generating machine.

Here is an example of a business strategy for a Criminal Defense attorney:

1. Create website landing pages for “DUI/DWI Defense”, “Drug Crimes Defense”, and “Theft and Burglary Defense” services.

2. Optimize the landing pages for target keywords to drive organic traffic like search engines.

3. Organic traffic lands on the web pages via search engines and can either fill out a contact form or call the office number.

4. The contact form submissions arrive to the receptionist via email, who starts the lead intake process and reaches out to schedule a consultation.

5. Telephone calls go to the receptionist, who starts the lead intake princess and schedules the initial consultations.

6. New blog content is published on the website twice per month.

7. The blog articles are reshared to Facebook and LinkedIn. All posts include a call-to-action to contact the law firm for legal services.

Every business strategy will look different for every law firm. What’s important is that you put thought into how you will market your business and develop your online presence to attract new clients on a recurring basis.

Step 6: Design your visual identity

Another thing that is important is visual identity. 

A visual identity is more than just a logo — it’s a well-developed aesthetic for your brand. It includes things like your website design, colors, fonts, photos and imagery, icons, social media posts, and marketing assets.

Think about it – all of the most recognizable brands in the world have an easily identifiable visual brand. Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, etc. all have established logos, colors, fonts, and the like to make their brands stand out on any platform.

While you don’t need to reach the status of Nike, you do want a visual identity that fits your business and appeals to your target audience. To do this, it’s often best to work with a professional brand and/or graphic designer who can capture the look and feel you want.

For example, many law firms gravitate toward colors like blue and green, which instill trust and give an air of professionalism. They will use polished, professional photos, clear and bold graphics, and easy-to-read fonts.

Here are two examples of law firms that have great visual branding:

• Anidjar & Levine – A polished logo, consistent colors (blue, white, and red), and clear fonts make this law firm look professional, trustworthy, and ready for business.

• John Foy – The strong-arm logo makes this law firm stand out, and the website uses bold colors and high-resolution photography to show that this firm cares about its branding. The colors (blue and orange) provide a punch of uniqueness while still looking polished.

Consider the character, practice area, and target audience when developing your brand’s visual identity. Then, invest in visual assets (like social graphics, marketing collateral, etc.) so your brand is consistent across all platforms.

Step 7: Optimize your web presence

Your website is one of the most important marketing assets you own. It is often the first landing place where people learn about your services and can drive new leads (phone calls, form fills, etc.) for your business.

As such, your website should be well-optimized for the types of clients you want to attract. That means not only weaving your USP throughout your website copy, but also optimizing for specific keywords to drive organic traffic.

This is where law firm SEO comes in. 

A good portion of your brand strategy should involve identifying the target keywords for your website, optimizing your website for these keywords (in your content), and optimizing your local SEO presence. Law firm SEO is the best way to rank high in the search engines (mainly, Google) and attract new clients, organically.

Learn how to build an SEO strategy for your law firm. 

Step 8: Execute your marketing strategy

You have your USP, you have your visual brand, and you have a well-optimized website – now what?

Well, if you put in the work to build a business strategy in Step 5, then it’s time to start executing on your marketing campaigns.

Whether you choose to market on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, none of the above, or all of the above, what’s important is that your brand is consistent, no matter the platform.

This means that all of your marketing should:

• Appeal to your ideal target audience

• Communicate your brand’s USP

• Utilize your brand’s visual identity/assets

• Highlight the specific services you offer

• Direct users to a point of conversion (engagement, phone call, form fill, etc.)

If marketing your law firm seems too advanced or time-consuming, then I recommend hiring a marketing professional or agency for help. They will be able to design your campaigns, execute on those campaigns, generate leads, and measure results for you (for an investment, of course).

This is where the branding rubber really hits the road, but you’ve already done all the heavy lifting to create a unique, compelling brand!

Bonus tips for building a strong law firm brand

Building a powerful law firm brand takes time. You won’t write the perfect USP or run amazing marketing campaigns your first time. And that’s okay! Learning and refining are all part of the process.

Here are a few bonus tips to make your law firm brand even better: 

• Embrace Authenticity – Be true to your brand's values and mission. Authenticity builds trust and loyalty with potential clients. Avoid trying to mimic other law firms and instead focus on what makes your law firm unique.

• Humanize Your Brand – Show the human side of your brand by featuring real employees, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses, and engaging in meaningful conversations with your audience. This human touch creates relatability and fosters a sense of connection with potential clients.

• Support a Cause – Align your brand with a social or environmental cause that resonates with your target audience. Supporting a cause demonstrates your brand's commitment to making a positive impact, and it can attract like-minded clients who value your brand's values.

• Focus on Customer Service – Exceptional customer service can set your brand apart from other law firms. Ensure your customer service is fast, helpful, and goes above and beyond to meet your clients’ needs. Positive experiences will lead to word-of-mouth referrals and more brand visibility overall.

Remember, law firm branding is about more than just a mission statement and a logo. It is all about the experience – personal, visual, and professional – that you provide to your clients. Help your law firm stand out with effective, impactful branding.