When it comes to legal expertise, most law firms typically have a variety of resources to draw upon. But when it comes to law office administration, they may find they’re lacking.

Unfortunately, this is a common issue for thousands of firms. 

Managing a law office involves several skills that law professionals just don’t have time to acquire like accounting, human resources, interior design, client management — and, of course, marketing. 

Of all of these, marketing is the engine that can drive clients to your door and help generate new business opportunities for growth. In addition, it can solidify your image and help forge your identity in the vast expanse of law firms throughout the world. 

With this outline, you’ll learn why and how you need to create a legal marketing plan.

Set, Measure, and Adjust your Goals

Step one is listing out your firm’s specific goals. 

If you don’t know what you’re aiming at, you aren’t likely to hit the mark. These goals should be quantifiable, if possible, with definitive markers and metrics to help gauge if and when they have been achieved. 

What sort of time period would you like to achieve these goals? Ask yourself the following questions:

• In three months, what percentage of new client leads or traffic do you want on your website? 
• At the six-month mark, do you want to be established as an authority in your area of legal expertise? 
• And what about the larger picture? Where do you see yourself in two, five, and ten years?

These goals can also evolve. 

A firm may discover greater successes in areas they hadn’t anticipated from their marketing strategy starting point. Goal adjustment is a natural part of dynamic growth, and your legal marketing plan can be just as flexible.

Create a Web Presence with a Call To Action

Some law firms still question if they even need an online presence. However, given the overwhelming evidence of how people prefer the internet to search for solutions to their legal woes, it still amazes us that some firms still do this. 

Bottom line: almost every law firm needs a web presence and legal marketing plan. 

Any online presence begins with a website. A professional, on-brand, and concise website can start the ball rolling the right way. 

The next steps can include:

• Content marketing designed to target your best potential clients. 
• Continuous generation of engaging content — via blog posts or ebooks, for example — that can boost web traffic and spark interest.
• Compiling and analyzing the clicks and leads generated from the site and adjusting accordingly. 

Core principles of successful websites should be present to help achieve your goals. For example, a Call-To-Action (CTA) is one of the best devices to help clients find answers to lingering questions and find assistance. 

Yet, so many websites either hide their CTA or confuse their users with poorly-worded copy. Clear, actionable, and succinct are the watchwords for CTAs. 

Cater To Your Audience

Defining and understanding your target audience, namely their characteristics, “pain points,” and legal service purchasing habits can go a long way to developing an effective legal marketing plan. 

When you know more about the people you’re trying to reach, the better chance the content of your legal marketing plan can find new leads and new clients.  

Yet generating new leads is only part of the picture. Content that resonates with your clients continually can enable continued returns. 

In other words, if you establish a valuable connection with your target audience, i.e., they trust that you can deliver solutions time and again, you’re helping create a profitable long-term investment for both you and them. 

Use the Right Tools of the Trade

Once you have the above mechanisms in place (or at least in the works), you need to find the best tools to reach your audience. 

This begins with brand strategy, a fundamental tool that structures how your law firm can be perceived. Brand strategy is a key component of almost any company or organization, including non-profit organizations. The same applies to law firms. 

From there, there are several tools you can use to access your audience, from SEO keywords, PPC (pay-per-click ads), social media, legal directories, Google My Business, email marketing, guest blogging, and so on. 

Each has its strengths and weaknesses and can depend on your legal marketing plan, i.e., who you’re trying to reach and what they need.   

Think Outside the Hard Drive

Modern legal marketing plans tend to focus solely on the digital realm — as if everyone spends every waking hour of their lives on the net. While this might be true for a few souls out there, most of us spend a lot of time offline in the “real world.”

Traditional marketing tools like the following examples can reach a broad audience without having ever to log on: 

• Billboards 
• Posters
• TV and radio ads
• Flyers 
• And the simple business card

That’s just to name a few.

Even sponsoring community happenings like concerts, sports teams, and other cultural events can effectively integrate your law firm’s presence and brand into the consciousness of your area or, perhaps, even become a pillar of the community. 

A mix of both analog and digital marketing projects can cover more bases and increase the possibilities of success for your legal marketing plan. 

If you have a good sense of the above concepts, there are also legal marking plan guides available that can give greater details about what you might need to help your business grow.

Conclusion

As you can see, a legal marketing plan is like creating a roadmap of where you want to go and who you would like to deal with when you get there. 

But, unfortunately, it can be a complicated business, and the layperson can get bogged down with 100 obstacles and unforeseen issues. 

Kaleidico has been in the business of legal marketing plans for a long time, and we know where the obstacles are hidden. 

We’ve got the expertise, experience, and passion needed to bring your goals from aspiration to activation. Tell us about your project — it’s free, and we’re always interested in big ideas and what you have to say.