There are many opportunities for lead generation that law firms can overlook when developing marketing for personal injury lawyers. In an ultra-competitive market, it is important to make every lead count, and develop a sound strategy to cultivate useful leads. Here are ten different tools, tips, and strategies that law firms can use online to help build their ability to generate leads.
- Public meetings in Google+ Hangouts or on Skype. Generating the strongest leads takes a personalized touch. The power of a virtual meeting gives a law firm the opportunity to publish an exciting and informative event to their entire lead database. This provides an opportunity to re-connect with old leads and convert them into dedicated clients.
- Guest podcasting. Creating a podcast, building an audience, and releasing regular podcasts may be too much for a law firm to include in their marketing strategy, especially for boutique firms. However, there are many legal podcasts that may want guests to give their podcast new voices and perspectives. These successful podcasts already have a proven audience. Being a guest can provide an avenue to lead generation, not to mention national exposure and networking opportunities.
- Guest writing. Writing and maintaining an effective blog is a huge key to lead generation that most law firms know about, going as far as to contract the expertise of specialists in marketing for personal injury lawyers. Guest blogging can create many opportunities to expand lead generation, by exposing the guest blogger to an untapped audience.
- Work together. Personal injury lawyers can find partner companies and organizations that compliment their needs and goals. This requires sharing an audience, but online marketing is all about creating powerful connections. When two organizations share common goals, the results can be beneficial to both by adding new perspectives and increasing legitimacy.
- Charitable work and donations. Many clients today require that the products they buy and services that they use be socially responsible. Law firms can think of charitable donations as part of a complete marketing strategy to show that they are in tune with cultivating a healthy community online and in the local area.
- Sharing the proof. Big wins and awards can be hard to come by, and each one represents the proof of success and reliability. When a lawyer in a law firm wins a big case or gains recognition locally or nationally, this needs to be publicized on social media in addition to on the law firm’s own website. Truly newsworthy events need to be used while they are still relevant and connected to other current events. This is one more big way that a law firm can provide real proof of their work to potential clients.
- Relaunch. A launch is a great way to build buzz for a law firm, but over time the excitement naturally dissipates. Relaunching a law firm’s brand or a particular service that has not received the attention it deserves can be one way to gain attention from potential clients.
- Getting sourced. The website Help a Reporter gives professionals the opportunity to give their perspective and be cited in online, print and television media. Being cited as a source gives a number of opportunities to generate leads. First, there is the initial boost from the news source itself, but it also gives a credible linking opportunity to cite in future blog publications. Since linking is such a important portion of search engine ranking, this can provide a number of benefits to those looking for marketing for personal injury lawyers.
- Improved social media presence. LinkedIn now offers the ability for individuals to publish content. This resides in the poster’s public profile and with enough shares and likes has the potential to reach a very wide audience. This can in turn drive traffic back to a lawyer’s website and create more leads.
- Saved searches. Another less frequently used tool on LinkedIn is their saved search feature. This allows a one-time search to continue to offer appropriate results over time. By saving an advanced search, LinkedIn users receive e-mail updates giving a summary of all new results containing the search. Over time this can result in a strong database of potential clients and collaborators. LinkedIn is often looked down upon in comparison to other social media outlets, but for law firms it has incredible untapped potential.
One of the keys to online success in today’s extremely competitive environment is developing a successful strategy of marketing for personal injury lawyers. There are many accepted and proven ways of generating leads, but many possibilities get overlooked due a variety of factors, including time, staff and budget restraints.
The ten strategies mentioned above all have the benefit of generating leads and expanding a law firm’s online reach. In addition, the majority of them require only a short term time commitment. With all of the time that marketing for personal injury lawyers requires, these ideas have the potential to give big returns with a small investment.