Top Advertising Platforms for Attorneys

Finding new clients is always at the top of an attorney’s list of things that need to be done, but with all the actual legal tasks that come up, it can be challenging to prioritize client acquisition. Certainly, your legal work for your current clients takes precedence over marketing, but you still have to make an effort to advertise or you’ll eventually run out of clients. Fortunately, there are several platforms that make it simple for attorneys to advertise and offer a fantastic ROI in the process.

Facebook

No matter how you feel about Mark Zuckerberg, or the new name “Meta,” or social media in general, you simply have to advertise on Facebook. The reason is simple: there are nearly 3 billion active users on Facebook and very little attrition. Sure, some people have Facebook accounts and don’t use them and others leave Facebook because they’re tired of the whole social media scene, but there is no other digital platform that gives you as many potential clients as this one.

Facebook ads are easy to create and even easier to manage. Even better, you don’t have to invest any particular amount to get your ads up and running. Even $100 per month can go a long way in driving more traffic to your website, where you can capture these leads. Facebook also gives you the opportunity to interact with potential clients about issues that matter to them. For instance, if you’re a class-action attorney, joining groups that have a cause in common can really be a boon to your business.

LinkedIn

You’re probably already on LinkedIn as a user with a professional profile and that’s a great start. When people are researching individuals, LinkedIn is one of the first places they go to learn about their professional credentials and education. But, this platform can be much more beneficial for attorneys, especially if you’re looking to increase the number of referrals you get from other law firms or industry-adjacent professions like real estate agencies and financial advisor offices. It’s the ideal platform for making connections and building your network, which is critical for generating leads.

Speaking of lead generation, LinkedIn performs 277% better in this area than Facebook, an astonishing statistic given that LinkedIn only has 830 million members. The primary difference in the two platforms is that LinkedIn was made for business and people on the site expect to receive solicitations from others looking to expand their business. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can inundate users with cold messages and ads, but you can use LinkedIn’s powerful lead generation tools to craft a solid marketing campaign that can quickly pay dividends.

Twitter

This is a more challenging platform to tame in terms of advertising, but it still is a great way to get your message in front of millions of users in just a few words. Twitter relies on hashtags and trends, which can help you narrow your focus on the types of users you want as clients. Then, by crafting quick and simple tweets that showcase your expertise, you can attract the attention of users that don’t have a long attention span.

Be sure to follow as many other relevant Twitter users as possible, including other law firms, news sites, and legal associations so you can tweet out information and retweet important news from your own account. This will help you get more followers, which translates into more clients. Keep your tweets fresh (don’t wait too long between them) and interact with your followers’ comments. Engagement can lead to relationships and relationships lead to clients or connections with potential clients.

YouTube

Video is still huge as an advertising vehicle and even if making videos seems intimidating, you need to jump in with both feet. Your videos don’t have to be produced to the level of Hollywood blockbusters. They just need to be interesting. Perhaps you answer a legal question each week or give commentary on a well-known legal case. These videos, which you can punctuate with graphics, can serve to highlight your expertise.

If you don’t want to make videos yourself, you can buy advertising time and space on other YouTube videos. While there is a subscription level on YouTube that allows users to skip in-video ads, most people use the free version. This means your ads will have a captive audience because they can’t skip through them to continue watching the video. They have to watch at least some of your ad before they can move on. This tool is a great way to share your services with people who watch certain types of videos since you can narrow your audience using YouTube’s marketing tools.

Instagram

Many people are under the impression that Instagram is only useful if you want to share pictures of your vacation or what you’re eating for dinner. Certainly, the platform is more visual than textual, so you’ll need your fair share of photographs, but by using hashtags and sharing content like legal quotes, legal advice, and statistics, you can reach a younger audience than you can using just about any other marketing vehicle. This can be important if you’re in certain legal fields like DUI defense or paternity lawsuits.

Instagram hashtags are an effective way of drawing attention to your field of practice. Coming up with a catchy hashtag that you use for every post (among others) will make it easy for people to find your content and learn more about your legal practice. You should also post photographs of yourself and those you work with so users can start to form a relationship with you through your visual storytelling. The best part is, you don’t have to spend anything to develop an Instagram presence that can really make a difference to your bottom line.

Avvo

This attorney-specific rating site is free for lawyers and is really a must-have in a comprehensive mix of marketing efforts. While not everyone thinks Avvo is reliable, it’s still one of the top places people turn to when searching for a lawyer. If you’re already a licensed attorney, you will have a profile on Avvo, but you need to complete it for it to be useful to potential clients. Go ahead and claim your profile, add several pictures and colleague endorsements, and keep it up to date with new content as often as possible.

When people search your name, your Avvo profile will probably be one of the first listings they see. This is important because it gives you credibility, especially when you have a robust profile with plenty of reviews and endorsements. It doesn’t cost you anything to have a complete Avvo profile, so it doesn’t hurt your marketing budget in the slightest. Once it’s up and running you’ll want to improve your Avvo score.

Google My Business

As with Facebook, you really must be on Google these days if you want to increase your client base. Whenever a noun becomes a verb (Google becomes Googling), you know it’s hit the big time. Getting your law office listed on Google My Business is vital for several reasons. First, it allows users to easily find your location and get directions to your office. Second, when someone conducts a general search for an attorney, Google displays the local results first, and these are based on your Google My Business location.

Google My Business is also a place where clients can post their reviews and reviews can help you grow your business even more. People have grown accustomed to reading online reviews for just about any business or product before making a decision on which one to use or buy. The more positive reviews you have on your Google My Business listing, the more trust you’ll build between you and potential customers. Even bad reviews can be a good thing if you respond to them appropriately. People understand that you’ll get a few negative comments when you’re in business long enough. It’s how you deal with those negatives that matter.

Personal Blog

One of the best ways to get your message across to potential customers and drive traffic to your business is to create it yourself by writing a personal blog on your website. With a blog, you dictate the content and can focus on exactly what you want your clients to know or do at any given time. For instance, if you’re looking to get more clients who are getting a divorce, you can write a blog about the intricacies of asset division. If you want to attract car accident victims, you can post a blog that provides statistics on settlements with the assistance of an attorney versus those without.

You can then post a link to your blog on all the other platforms mentioned here to get more potential customers visiting your website. Once they’re there, you can use various lead generation tactics to capture their information for follow up.

Conclusion

Advertising for attorneys has changed. You have to have a digital marketing plan in place if you’re going to compete in today’s digital world. Using the platforms mentioned here to their fullest will get your law firm in front of more people, drive traffic to your website, and eventually increase your bottom line.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes