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The best marketing strategies for immigration law firms combine on-the-ground efforts with a growing online lead generation strategy.
Most people today are searching for legal services online, which is why it’s essential to meet your future clients where they are.
Some sources might say that the “old” ways of marketing, such as word-of-mouth referrals and in-person workshops, are no longer effective.
However, there is a way to maintain what’s working offline while still growing your online presence and generating a consistently full pipeline of leads. We’ll show you how.
Let’s dig into 10 marketing ideas to grow your immigration law firm quickly, from in-person speaking and networking opportunities to develop a strong online presence.
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1. Develop your ‘niche’
One of the top trends in legal marketing today is developing a “niche,” or specializing in a particular area of immigration law.
Sharpening your niche allows you to target a specific group of clients, which means your marketing messages and the channels you use to share these messages are smarter and more thoughtfully executed.
Develop your niche by considering your current clients, your best interests, and how you can better serve these groups.
One of the best ways to develop your target audience is to create client personas, which are detailed, fictional profiles of your customers based on their demographics and behaviors.
Client personas generally include the following information:
- Age and gender
- Occupation
- Income
- Relationship status and/or number of children
- Motivations and goals
- Pain points
- Interests
- Online activity
The goal is to identify the patterns in your clients and compile them into separate personas.
Then, you can use these personas to lead your content strategy. Promote your specialized services to the client personas that match these specific services.
2. Attend networking events
Networking events such as immigration law conferences, local meetups, community events, sporting events, or charity events can all be opportunities to connect with potential clients as well as other professionals.
Most of today’s guides for building a legal marketing strategy are focused solely on your digital presence. However, your best strategy will combine your community efforts with your digital efforts.
Consider the following networking and content examples you can pull from in-person or virtual networking events:
- Connect with attendees pre- and post-event on social media
- Promote your attendance at the event on your channels
- Take photos or videos to post while you’re there
- Write a follow-up blog or record a video to recap the event for your followers
Organizations such as the American Immigration Lawyers Association post links to conferences, training opportunities, and other events and numerous resources for lawyers.
The organization also hosts an annual immigration law conference and requests suggestions for topics and speakers.
Networking not only offers legal professionals the opportunity to connect with others but also allows them to continue growing and learning within their ever-changing field.
3. Develop a strong online presence
Developing a strong online presence will help you meet your clients directly where they are searching, engage with them, educate them, and ultimately capture them as a lead.
Your online presence involves the following channels:
- Website
- Social media
- Online directories
Let’s break down each of these channels.
Website
Your website is your online office, so it must accurately represent you with a thoughtful, clean, sophisticated design. Your home page should clearly state what you do, why you do it, how you do it, and what makes you different from the competition.
Take a look at the example above from Grover Lewis Johnson. The team describes in a statement what makes them different and explains, “Why choose us?”
The home page also lists the types of services they provide, including insurance, corporate, and commercial defense, and in the top right corner, there is a link to the medical malpractice team.
Clearly, listing your services on your home page ensures your website visitors know they are in the right place.
It can be frustrating to hunt through a website to find what a company actually does, and you’ll find that most visitors won’t be willing to put the work in to do so, anyway.
In addition to a clean, informative home page, you also will want to include links to landing pages for your separate services, team profiles, blog, and contact page.
Social media
Social media will help you engage directly with both your target audience and other immigration law professionals.
Determine which channels your audience uses the most, and meet them there. You can include this information in your client personas to help guide your content.
Today’s most popular social media channels include:
- YouTube
- TikTok
Make sure you are active and engaged on your channels by sharing your content, discussing important industry topics, responding to comments from visitors, and commenting on others’ posts.
Your social media channels can serve as a direct link to your website, so visitors who find you on these channels will be able to land on your blog easily, contact forms, or other pages.
Online directories
Online directories help search engines such as Google and Bing pull up your information in a user’s search results.
One of the most popular online directories is Google Business Profile. Google Business Profile is simple to set up, but it’s important to fill it out completely for the best results.
The listing allows you to complete the following information:
- Phone number
- Hours
- Services
- Photos
- Unique attributes
Completing online directories allows you to “claim” your business and ensure that anyone who searches for what you can provide is given a full, complete picture of your services and your accurate business information.
Accuracy is a key term here because businesses often have incomplete or inaccurate information listed. This may be because they haven’t been back to update their profiles in a while, or a random user started a profile for them that was left incomplete.
Filling out your online directory profiles completely will give you a competitive edge.
Take a look at the following example of an “immigration lawyer near me” search.
The businesses with the most complete profiles that best match the search terms and location will appear at the top of the list.
Google pulls in a preview of each law firm with a featured review. Depending on the user’s search term, Google often will highlight terms in the profile that match the user’s search.
4. Create engaging, informative content for your online channels
Your content is where you can truly shine.
Not only does your content allow you to communicate with your audience and demonstrate your expertise directly, but it is also a powerful tool to drive visitors to your website and turn them into quality leads.
Creating informative content that speaks to your audience and addresses their pain points will help establish your firm as a credible source of information.
Consider the following content examples:
- Blog posts
- Videos
- Infographics
- Ebooks
- Case studies
- Newsletters
- Photos
- Guides
- Webinars
- Checklists
Social media content and email content also fall under this umbrella. A combination of unique content for these channels and thoughtful sharing of repurposed content is the most helpful approach.
For example, you can share articles, photos, or infographics on your social media channels, or include them in your email campaigns. But these channels also should have unique content for these specific audiences, as well.
Unique social media content might include a trending style of video, a poll, or your thoughts on breaking news in the industry.
The idea is to evaluate the types of content that best serve each of your channels and share accordingly.
A digital marketing agency for law firms can help you get a jump start on your content strategy by helping you research what your niche audience is searching for — so you can snag these keywords.
Connect with us now to see how law firm marketing will generate case inquiries for your business.
Multilingual content
As an immigration law firm, your clients may not speak English as their first language.
Depending on your specific clients, you may want to invest in translation services so you can offer your clients content in their native language.
It’s an extra step that can help build a level of comfort with your clients they aren’t finding anywhere else.
5. Build a referral program
According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know, and Harvard Business Review found that referred customers are 18% more loyal than customers acquired another way.
Word-of-mouth marketing is a technique that’s as old as marketing itself, but it’s just as valuable today as it has ever been.
Leverage word-of-mouth marketing today with a referral program that will incentivize current clients to refer friends and family to your firm.
One of the simplest ways to build a referral program is with email marketing.
Create templates that encourage current clients to consider who in their lives may be in need of your services and offer an incentive that fits your business mission and goals.
Popular incentives include free or discounted services, physical prizes, or fundraisers.
6. Host seminars and workshops to educate the community
Educational seminars and workshops are a particularly helpful marketing effort when it comes to legal services.
Navigating the legal system can be confusing and intimidating for many people. Hosting a workshop — whether virtually, in-person, or both — can help you connect with potential clients and break down confusing topics.
It also will allow them the opportunity to ask questions. To “break the ice” for those who may be unsure where to begin, pull together a list of frequently asked questions that you can address.
You also can discuss recent news or changes in immigration policies that affect your clients.
Streaming the seminar live on your social media channels or posting a full recording later will help the content reach more people — and offer the opportunity for more shares and engagement.
7. Create and maintain global relationships
Where are most of your clients from?
In addition to networking with professionals in the U.S., reach out to your fellow legal professionals in other countries as well.
You can help your future potential clients before they even arrive in the U.S. by sharing helpful materials like checklists or guides with professionals overseas.
These relationships can serve as additional referral sources for both parties, as well as educational opportunities to explore other aspects of your field.
Additionally, consider reaching out to English as a Second Language (ESL) programs to establish a connection with those who may be moving to the U.S. soon.
8. Advertise online
Effective legal marketing strategies combine organic search and paid search advertising.
Organic search efforts are performed using content marketing, but paid search involves content as well.
The difference is you’ll be targeting a specific audience and keywords, and you will pay when a user clicks on your ad content.
Online advertising platforms include the following:
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- LinkedIn Ads
- Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads)
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google, for example, are displayed on top of the organic search content.
For example, when I searched for the term, “immigration attorney,” you can see the word “Ad” next to the first two search results. These are PPC ads.
Paid advertising on social media appears in the feeds of your target audience as sponsored content.
A law firm marketing agency can help you set up and execute your PPC ad campaigns through keyword research, establishing parameters and goals, and helping you track success.
9. Consider paid partnerships
Paid partnerships, whether through referral partners or influencer marketing, can help you connect with new audiences.
Consider partnering with other organizations or people that serve similar populations to promote your services and reach potential clients.
Influencer marketing is a rising paid partnership strategy that can help law firms gain the eyes, ears, and respect of related audiences they may not have reached in the past.
Thoughtfully partnering with an individual or organization on social media with an engaged audience can help attorneys meet their marketing goals and gain more qualified leads.
10. Collect and showcase client testimonials
Online testimonials and reviews are an essential addition to any business’s web presence — on your website, online directories, and social media pages.
Testimonials from satisfied clients help businesses build trust and credibility with potential clients.
It’s the digital version of word-of-mouth marketing, allowing online visitors to read about the exact types of experiences they are seeking for themselves.
However, digital word-of-mouth isn’t as transparent as a referral from a person they already know and trust, so you’ll have to make sure you do everything possible to create that experience.
You can do this by allowing reviews on your website that are less than five stars and responding to all reviews. It’s helpful to visitors to see an explanation for a less-than-stellar review while proving that you aren’t hiding anything.
In the Google search example from earlier, take a look at how reviews are pulled into the search result previews.
Through your referral program from marketing idea No. 5, you can encourage clients to leave reviews on Google or another online directory, as well.
Work with Kaleidico to effectively grow your immigration law firm
If you’re ready to take the next steps with your immigration law firm marketing plan, connect with the experts at Kaleidico.
We have over 15 years of experience generating qualified leads for law firms, mortgage lenders, and other types of businesses.
With Kaleidico, it isn’t just about targeted marketing techniques — it’s about helping someone who is seeking justice connect with an attorney they’ll feel confident and comfortable with to handle their case.
Let’s work together to communicate your true strengths to potential clients who naturally align with your firm.
Schedule a strategy session with the Kaleidico marketing team to fill your client pipeline in 2023.
Photo by Artem Podrez
