Tag Archives: online marketing for attorneys

Internet Legal Marketing Still the "Wild West"

Top executives from Facebook, Ford and Adobe met in Las Vegas this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. The interplay offered a fascinating look into the dynamic growth of the marketing industry in the digital age.

Those using 2014 to get serious about their law firm Internet marketing efforts can take heart from the general consensus: Despite a decade of rapid expansion and forced change upon the more traditional mediums of print and television, online marketing remains in its infancy — a wide-open opportunity with significant growth and return on investment for those who continue to invest and innovate.

The conversation among the three executives and Fortune Magazine was particular interesting. Carolyn Everson of Facebook, said the company has barely scratched the service of revenue possibilities. Specifically, “multi-touch attribution,” or credit for brand recognition or other benefits of Facebook content or advertising that, in conjunction with another advertising platform, such as television, induces customers to act. Meanwhile, Ford’s Jim Farley and Adobe’s Ann Lewnes, spoke about the challenges of transitioning to digital media. Even Adobe, which has long been a technology company, has struggled in finding the proper personnel and online marketing strategies for the 21st Century. Legal Marketing

Internet Legal Marketing Requires Comprehensive Approach

Multi-touch attribution is of interest in Internet marketing for lawyers for a number of reasons and is something we often counsel attorneys about when developing marketing plans. Historically, firms would use metered phone numbers in yellow page or billboard advertising and track calls back to the firm. Google analytics and other advances have changed the Internet legal marketing landscape and often show potential client traffic from legal blog writing or website content, even when an attorney is unsure of positive results. Billboard advertising, for instance, may help with name recognition in search results. Or a client may see a commercial on television and use a law firm’s website as validation before calling for an appointment. Is that potential attributable to billboards or the Internet?

The answer, of course, is both.

Ford’s Farley brought up another important point, according to CNN Money: Brand managers too often want to play it safe when introducing a new product, and so rely heavily on TV buys and other traditional forms of media. They know the DVR and other media advances make those buys worth a fraction of their former value. But they also know it’s the safe play and so the resulting marketing plan is inferior and return on investment lags as a result.

When it comes to your Internet legal marketing effort we are here to help. Just look for the 

2014 Internet Legal Marketing Goals and Objectives

Welcome to 2014. Glad you made it.

It’s the 5th anniversary of the Internet surpassing yellow pages as the number one referral source for clients who select a firm via advertising. What are you doing about it? What are your legal marketing goals?

There are several reasons why law firms have been so slow to move legal marketing resources online, but confusion and misinformation top the list. Legal Marketing

Attorneys are rightfully confused, as they continue to be bombarded with (sometimes) well-meaning Internet legal marketing “experts.” Lately, it seems as though everyone is offering SEO for attorneys, legal blog writing and social media marketing. I know attorneys who have built firms and added partners with a $3,000 website and firms that have spent $30,000+ on website and it’s a secret because they are nowhere to be found in search results.

Another primary reason too many small and mid-sized law firms lag when it comes to Internet marketing is because lawyers are often decent writers, and so websites sit empty through an endless string of promises to add content pages or to begin regular legal blogging. In some cases, they have bought arguments against ghost blogging. Let me tell you something: The law firms dominating search results in your market are not worried about using ghost bloggers. And something else: I don’t want to hire an attorney who has that kind of time for blogging and website advertising efforts.

In still other cases, attorneys are reticent to shift money away from more tradition forms of legal advertising, like billboards and yellow pages. We still like billboards (they increase name recognition, which is critical search-result click thru) but yellow pages are Dead on Arrival. I have a friend who still spends $700 a month on a quarter-page yellow-page ad. I have another who has built a DUI defense firm in a major metro market using virtually nothing but our $200-month starter package and a Justia blog site.

In 2010, some scoffed when we said attorneys should do no marketing before spending the first $20,000 a year online. We think little has changed, although $25,000 to $30,000 might be more accurate today.

Often attorneys are overwhelmed with the options. We are here to help. Law Firm Ghost Writer works in 22 of the nation’s 25 most competitive metro markets, with blog writing packages starting at just $200 monthly. We never use long-term contracts and most of our clients have been with us for years. The proof is in the results.

Just look for the