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The latest Bloomberg Law & Legal Marketing Association study reveals that 62 percent of law firms are increasing their focus on marketing and business development (you can access the report here). This is obviously music to the ears of legal marketers. But law firms and attorneys without an established marketing department will need to be giving careful consideration to how they are going to keep up if their goals are to generate more leads, grow revenue and retain clients.

Creating a data-driven legal marketing strategy is critical to these efforts. But even piecing together such a strategy can be a daunting task, particularly with the rapid changes occurring across the marketing and advertising landscape. What trends are actually worth pursuing? What marketing tactics are actually contributing to lead gen, sales and client retention?

This post sets out to answer these questions. Below you’ll find six legal marketing trends that are actually working for attorneys and firms. When building out your next marketing plan, we recommend incorporating a few of these tactics!

Okay, CLE professionals – this one’s for you! With all the educational service platforms and technologies at our fingertips today, it comes to no surprise that corporate eLearning has grown by a whopping 900% over the last 16 years. What’s more, approximately 77% of U.S. companies now offer online training to improve their employees’ professional development. And despite the unique needs of many law firms and other legal organizations, it’s impossible to deny that the world of Continuing Legal Education has quickly followed suit.

Up until recently, the success of many law firms and other legal organizations was primarily built on referrals, where word-of-mouth was currency. Bringing in new leads and clients was all about reputation management, networking, and making the most of the visibility you would receive through large industry events and well-known publications.

Today, however, 96% of people searching for legal advice now use a search engine – and 62% of these legal searches are non-branded.

The majority of people looking for legal services and solutions aren’t using a specific company name. In fact, they’re statistically a lot more likely to use a geographic term in conjunction with the topic of their interest – so for instance, defense attorneys in Boston. Therefore, from a business-to-consumer perspective, your online presence and content, as well as a well-designed, well-optimized and easy-to-navigate website are going to make a significant difference in the way your firm or institution is perceived.

It's no secret that marketing is going digital across all industries. And to keep up with competitors, law firms need to follow suit and adopt fresh legal marketing strategies that accommodate the needs, research habits and buying behaviors of the modern prospect.

Without further ado, here’s a look at four legal marketing tactics you may not have tried yet that can pay off big in terms of lead gen results without breaking the bank.

Building a content strategy is important, but following up with ideas jotted in your notebook or shared via email doesn’t a strategy make.  While attending the Legal Marketing Associations Annual meeting this year, we met with several marketers who shared that they not only do not have a documented strategy, but they do not have a shared concept of what strategy should be throughout the departments of their firm.

 

A thought leadership strategy is a must in today’s legal services marketplace. If done well, its execution will develop existing and prospective client relationships. Thought leadership not only extends visibility, but it can demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a client’s business.

In order for lawyers to position themselves as industry thought leaders, they need to create compelling content. Storytelling is an excellent way to accomplish this. People relate to stories. They see bits of themselves in your protagonist. They associate the antagonist and conflict with the problems in their own lives and they share in the joy and reward when the main characters finally achieve their goals.