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Growing the business through new leads is the best way to move a family law firm forward regardless of the size of the family law practice. However, it is a highly competitive field, and it can be challenging to stand out among the crowd.
Using strategies designed for general law practices or not putting in efforts to reach the right people could make it even more challenging to succeed with family law marketing strategies. If marketing seems like a daunting task, it may be advisable to contact a divorce marketing group or marketing experts to help find the marketing strategy that best suits the firm and marketing budget.
Prospective clients looking for a divorce lawyer require a unique marketing strategy than those looking for other types of lawyers. Treating family law with the care and personalization it needs could make a world of difference to a family law marketing strategy.
What Is a Family Law Attorney?
Family law is a branch of law that addresses issues affecting family relationships, such as divorce, adoption, and child custody, among other things. A family law attorney can represent clients in negotiations and during family court proceedings.
These family lawyers are also involved in drafting essential legal documents such as property agreements. A few family law attorneys specialize in paternity, adoption, emancipation, and other non-divorce-related issues.
Reasons Why People Hire Family Lawyers
The majority of family attorneys are divorce lawyers representing clients in divorce proceedings and other divorce-related matters. However, family law is a wide-ranging practice area that includes issues such as foster care which a child custody lawyer typically handles.
Because family law matters are so personal, clients need to have a trusted family law lawyer by their side to ensure that they are adequately protected and represented throughout painful legal processes.
What Family Law Firms Need to Know About Marketing
Family attorneys understand that the competition is tough, and the more a family law firm stands out from the crowd, the more likely they are to win new clients. The firm's joint marketing efforts must establish it as reliable, credible, and a trusted entity prepared to function in the client's best interest.
Furthermore, clients of family law firms should be clearly distinguished from clients of firms that deal with other practice areas, such as criminal defense or personal injury. These prospects are often not in the same fast-paced decision-making positions, but their cases tend to be more sensitive and confidential.
With their inter-relational skills, sense of empathy, and the ability to inspire trust in their clients, family law firms and their legal representatives are different from other types of law firms.
As a result, potential clients searching for a family law firm tend to conduct a lot more research, gather more information, and require a longer time for deciding whom they hire as their attorney.
Because more than 83 percent of divorces and child custody cases begin as a Google search, establishing a good online presence is the key to reeling in new clients.
Family Law Firm Marketing Strategies to Adopt
The following tips can help family law firms hoping to improve their marketing strategies by targeting the right audience. Here are some essential family law marketing ideas that can help divorce and family law practices blossom in a competitive industry.
Professional Web Design and Brand Development
Search Engine Optimization or SEO
Pay-per-click Google Ads
Social Media Advertising
Other Forms of Online Advertising for Divorce and Family Law Practices
Traditional Paid Advertising
Track, Manage, and Follow-up on Leads
1. Professional Web Design and Brand Development
Poor online presence could only mean bad things for family lawyers. In order for any family law marketing strategy to be successful, law firms must first establish a good brand identity with a professional website to serve as a central point of contact.
Setting Up a Family Law Practice Brand Identity
When setting up a brand identity for a family lawyer, the most important question to ask is why a client would choose to hire that family lawyer over others. Another important aspect is determining who the target audience is.
Planning a marketing strategy for a family lawyer without these answers in mind could cause the firm's marketing efforts to be ineffective.
First, a family lawyer should determine precisely what demographic their firm targets. This includes considering the age, gender, salary, profession, and location of the clients that the firm works with most often.
Next, family lawyers should consider what services they provide or what they specialize in. An example would be divorce lawyers who focus their efforts on divorce proceedings or child custody lawyers who concentrate on child custody matters.
Establishing a brand or niche generally has a lot to do with the family lawyers and their expertise, their experience in that particular field, their case results, testimonials, awards, and backstory, which can be used to set the firm apart from its competition.
Family law firm marketing does not have to be limited to one particular niche either. A good idea for firms with a range of expertise would be to identify it as one that deals with divorce and family law, or child custody and family law, so the firm's identity becomes more apparent to potential clients, rather than using the traditional “family lawyer.”
Build a Professional Website
Once family lawyers are clear on their brand, it is time to set up a professional website. When a person searches for a divorce lawyer, they seldom go from door to door looking for one, but rather search online.
Should a user find a family law firm online, they should not see an unprofessional, poorly designed site that offers little information and is not easy to navigate.
The truth is that many family law firms did well without a law firm website years ago. Today, however, this is not the case. Successfully operating a family law firm in today's world involves a cutting-edge website as a foundation.
Websites are essential for informing potential clients about the law firm's service offerings and engaging them on a personal basis. It should not just be well-designed either, but should also reflect a unique perspective that can help build an outstanding online reputation.
Here are some other features and tips to enhance a family law firm website.
Choose a Reputable Content Management System
Fortunately, a family lawyer need not have software development or programming knowledge to build an effective website. An effective content management system can help them accomplish this very easily.
Simply put, a content management system is a software that can help a user build, manage, and modify their website and web pages without any technical expertise.
Make It Mobile-friendly
Most searches are conducted through smartphones, so it is essential that family lawyers take the time to produce a mobile-friendly version of their website. In fact, this should be given first priority.
When it comes to family law, most potential clients reach for their smartphones in the middle of the night when they are emotional and contemplating divorce rather than using a desktop computer.
This is because it is readily available and their search criteria are not as easily seen, so great pride should be taken in creating an excellent mobile-friendly website.
Live Chat Feature
Including a live chat feature is an excellent way to personalize a website. It shows a new client that a family lawyer is there to reassure them through some of the most challenging decisions they must make and can answer their questions even if they are not yet ready for face-to-face engagement.
The feature also serves to speed up the process when potential clients need answers to pressing questions quickly, so adding this feature to a family law practice website cannot be stressed enough.
Include Online Reviews and Testimonials
It is important to remember that a family lawyer is still a business, whether a solo practice or a multi-location firm. New clients are more inclined to trust a reputable law firm that has been tried and trusted by other people like them.
This can be achieved by simply asking clients to leave a review on the law firm's website. Clients want to know more about family lawyers before interacting with them, and hearing positive feedback from others could make them more likely to pay the law firm a visit.
Improve Website Speed
The truth is that a poorly designed website can cause serious harm to the brand name of a law firm. When a website takes too long to load, people tend to leave the site.
Be sure to include add-ons that improve the website's speed and ease of use to ensure that potential clients have the most pleasant browsing experience possible while on the firm's website.
Gated Content
Gated content is an excellent way for divorce and family law firms to provide relevant content in exchange for visitors' contact information.
It enables users to locate the information they seek while also helping the development of a prospect database and the enhancement of family lawyers' reputations as leaders in their field. It also helps to drive traffic to the website.
This content needs to be relevant and valuable, so an ebook on dealing with life after divorce may be an excellent example of gated content that could drive people to the firm's website.
Another example is a digital family lawyer magazine that includes visual as well as written information that may appeal to the target market.
Include Awards and Accolades
Websites are a way for family lawyers to sell themselves as experts in their field, so they should display all accolades prominently on their websites.
When users see this, they are more inclined to trust the family lawyer with their personal matters.
As already mentioned, family law clients are more likely to conduct extensive research on family lawyers in their area before choosing one, so including awards and accolades on the website could be the bit of information that wins them over.
2. Search Engine Optimization or SEO
Once the family law firm has established its brand and set up a good website and online presence, it should work to get it in front of potential clients. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a way to increase a family law firm's visibility in Google search results when users search for specific keywords or key phrases, such as "divorce lawyer in Michigan."
It is a necessary form of marketing for all types of businesses, and it is no different for family law practices. When a family law firm's website appears among the top search results, it is more likely to be clicked on.
Why Is SEO Important
Appearing on the first page of a search engine's results allows a law firm to get more organic traffic. This entire concept may appear to be daunting and unattainable, but the truth is that with a well-planned SEO strategy for family law firms, any firm can become the leading force in their local market.
Even though social media and Google ads tend to get much attention when it comes to advertising, SEO ranking has proven to be the most consistent.
While this may seem like a daunting task, small changes can help a family law firm provide Google with what its algorithm is searching for to help the law firm's website rank higher.
Here are some SEO strategies that family lawyers can adopt to improve their SEO ranking.
Quality Family Law Content Pages
Good legal content for a family law firm website is essential for solid SEO for any family law practice. However, a lawyer's definition of good content is likely to differ from a marketer's definition.
Writing is an essential part of most family law lawyers' work in supplying legal services. However, writing SEO content is substantially different, and a failure to understand this could leave a family law firm ranking quite low on search results.
An SEO writer would need to consider the keywords and phrases that a user in the target market is more likely to use when searching for family law-related content and include them in the content.
An example is including the word "family law firm near me" in legal web page content to help the page rank higher.
Blog Posts
Research has shown that over 40 percent of clients approach an attorney for legal advice thanks to their blogging efforts. Blogging does not just help a website rank higher on Google, but it also supports many family lawyers in gaining credibility, showing off their expertise, and answering pressing questions.
It also helps with backlinking, which improves SEO ranking.
Build Links
The quality of the content and the number of links they contain are thought to be necessary ranking signals in Google's algorithm.
In fact, Google said that webmasters could indeed enhance the ranking of their websites by raising the number of high-quality sites that link to their web pages. To summarize, link building is critical for family law attorneys who want to thrive.
A link is a connection that is established between two websites. In general, the idea is that links are made to sites that are both appropriate and helpful to the content in a webpage.
Links are essential for family law firm sites since they help Google make educated guesses about how the site fits into the larger picture.
The more organic links a firm includes from good sites that are relevant to the topic, the more Google perceives the firm's website as unique among the vast numbers of other divorce and family law firms.
Writing quality content for Google while also obtaining links from other sites is a winning SEO combination.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the final SEO area that family law firms should focus on. It is constantly overlooked but can be the most effective use of a marketing budget. Apart from content and links, Google is also monitoring how a web page is put together.
By complying with a set of defined guidelines that Google is searching for regarding how a website has been developed, technical SEO can improve a website's design and help family law firms rank high.
These guidelines serve as the foundation for how the search engine ranks divorce attorneys in its search results. To make Google's job as an organizer and sifter of web page information easier, they prefer that it be as standardized as possible. This enables them to deliver results as quickly as possible.
While technical aspects do not hold as much weight as link building and quality content, it could still be the factor that determines whether a web page ranks low or high in search results. Some examples of technical SEO include sitemaps, regular editing, meta tags, speed improvements, and image alt tags.
3. Pay-per-click Google Ads
Google Ads is a type of advertising service that firms must pay for per click. When a user searches for related keywords or key phrases, the firm's advertisement appears in the top banner of the search results.
The firm must pay if users click on the ad, but there is no cost if no one clicks on it. It is technically a paid SEO version that can help businesses attain clients much faster. The primary distinction is the long-term cost of acquiring every new lead or potential client.
Ads always cost money, whereas organically converting a divorce client from a page on the firm's website can cost a firm more than the investment made in developing the page.
Because users only search for a divorce attorney when they need one, advertising through Google Ads can be an excellent strategy for family law firms.
PPC drives traffic to the firm's website or generates phone calls from prospective clients needing a family attorney.
When a person is in urgent need, they use something called a 'high-intent keyword,' which indicates that they are in the "buying" stage of the conversion funnel. If a firm's marketing efforts are correctly executed, they can produce immediate results as well as a significant return on investment or ROI.
However, this strategy has a few drawbacks, so it should not be the only one a firm uses. Unlike SEO, a firm ceases to appear in search results as soon as they stop paying. Cost is an important consideration.
Every single click, whether from a potential client or not, costs the firm money. Before long, a firm could find that they have spent $1,000 in no time with no leads to show for it.
While the cost per click for family law practices may not be as high as personal injury or criminal defense law, it is still an expensive advertising option.
Consider placing pay-per-click ads on other search engines such as Bing. While they may not receive as many clicks, pay-per-click advertisements on these search engines tend to be a lot more cost-effective than Google and is still a means to reach potential clients.
4. Social Media Advertising for Family Law Firm
Social media advertising is generally a difficult marketing channel for family law practices because there aren't many people who use social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram to find a divorce lawyer.
Issues pertaining to family law can be highly contentious, and on these social media platforms, it is not easy to ascertain who the target audience is.
However, these platforms may still prove useful for creating brand awareness and boosting the firm's brand's identity. Most people expect businesses, even law firms, to have social media accounts, even if they do not expect to see several social media posts.
Should a law firm choose this advertising method, they should make sure to use it to share links to new website content and foster a sense of community. All social media channels need not be explored for social media advertising to be successful, either. Some of the most helpful social media channels include Facebook, Linked In, and Instagram.
Overall, it is advisable to have social media accounts, but social media advertising should not be at the center of a family law firm marketing strategy.
5. Other Forms of Online Advertising for Divorce and Family Law Practices
Family lawyers can explore several other online family law firm marketing avenues to increase their brand awareness and improve their online presence. Here are some of the most prominent ways.
Video Advertising
According to Hitsearch, using video can boost organic traffic from search engines by up to 157 percent. It can also increase the firm's chances of appearing on the first page of search results by up to 53 times and is expected to account for around 82 percent of user internet traffic.
Customers, particularly millennials and the younger generation, prefer to gather information through video. It enhances the user's experience, fosters trust, and generates more leads.
Video content can deal with how-tos and answer frequently asked questions, allowing potential clients to hear from an attorney without contacting them.
Webinars
Hosting webinars allows attorneys to reach out to a large number of users without free, time-consuming, individual consultations.
It saves time while also allowing family lawyers to demonstrate their expertise by interacting with prospective clients and responding to their questions in real-time – a process that builds credibility and loyalty.
Because family law is a sensitive area, webinars should be secure, and the privacy of participants must be safely managed and controlled.
If this sounds overwhelming, law firms who need help with their online marketing can contact a divorce marketing group or law firm marketing company to assist with setting up these online forms of marketing.
Email Marketing
Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to reach people. Draw up a regular newsletter that can be sent to a subscriber list. This list can be generated through the firm's website.
Users can be encouraged to sign up as email subscribers in exchange for gateway content such as a free ebook or a family lawyer magazine.
Reaching people through email marketing is also a more cost-effective way to reach people, driving traffic to the firm's website and helping firms to pass on important information to their clients.
6. Traditional Paid Advertising
In addition to creating an excellent online presence, this may not be enough to get law practices the quality leads they need. Other traditional forms of marketing still hold value when it comes to marketing legal services.
Here are a few other ways of promoting family lawyers effectively.
Media Outreach Campaigns
It is always a good idea to develop a good relationship with the media. This may be achieved by offering expert advice to people of the media who are writing articles related to family law. Get the law firm's contact details to people of the media, so that they can contact the firm for legal advice.
Paid TV, radio, or newspaper adverts are also advisable. It can help people of the media get to know about the firm.
Media advertising is also important because getting the word out to people in the area keeps the firm at the back of the target audience's minds, so they know whom to call to deal with their family law issues.
Other Advertising Methods to Consider
Here are a few more traditional advertising methods to set a family law firm apart from most law firms in the area:
• Banner ads
• Billboards
• Signage on cars or benches around the city
• Referrals from existing or past clients
• Podcasts
• Producing a family lawyer magazine
• Hosting community events
7. Track, Manage, and Follow-up on Leads
Generating quality leads is an important part of marketing a business, but what good would having leads be if they are not effectively tracked, managed, and followed up on?
Leads are essentially the lifeline of any business because they have the potential to generate new business. Potential clients can forget about a law firm or lose interest altogether if the firm does not show interest in them by following up on queries, so great care should be taken in following up on leads.
Email Auto-responders
An effective way to reach potential clients quickly is by setting up an email auto-responder. There are several add-ons that can help a firm achieve this.
Email responses show a prospective client that a firm takes them seriously and sending a swift auto-response can prevent the lead from looking elsewhere for a family lawyer.
This can be done with email automation or CRM software (more on that later).
Schedule a Follow-up
A member of staff can schedule a follow-up meeting or consultation to invite the prospective client to the practice for an initial consultation. It is important that this follow-up be done within a reasonable time frame after the initial email response is sent to prevent the client from turning away.
A follow-up email can also be sent with more information about the firm and its services, or a newsletter with information that would be suitable for the user can be sent to keep the user engaged and keep the firm at the back of their minds.
Use a CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) software is a valuable tool for any business to have. It can help to manage and nurture leads effectively.
A CRM can accomplish tasks concurrently and without much error thanks to built-in features such as email automation, lead monitoring, and the management of projects.
They simplify the lead generation and management process assisting business owners in understanding the best offers or marketing strategies that leads respond to
Firms can view trends in their sales process thanks to the software's report generation features, allowing them to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their marketing strategy correctly.
The Bottom Line
Whether a law firm consists of a solo divorce attorney or a multitude of other family lawyers, it can benefit from the right marketing strategy.
There are many ways that a family law practice can market itself, but knowing the correct ratio of each marketing technique to use can be tricky and take some time.
Should a family law firm need help setting up the right marketing strategy, the help of a divorce marketing group or group of marketing experts should be employed.
The most important part of advertising a legal business is establishing a good brand and an excellent online presence that can lead clients searching for a divorce attorney to the right place.
Family lawyers can generate quality leads and attain more clients with minimal effort with the right marketing tactics and approach.