Learning how to market your law firm on a budget

Marketing is an essential part of running any business.

This is as true for legal services as it is for any other type of business. If you aren’t promoting your business, it is going to be hard for you to compete with other attorneys who offer the same types of services in your area.

For many lawyers, the idea of running a marketing campaign might seem either like it is beyond their abilities or that it will cost too much. However, you have tons of options for raising awareness in the local community and for connecting with existing clients. You just need to identify these opportunities and then determine the best way to use them to promote your law firm.

In this post, you will learn about a variety of different law firm marketing opportunities that can help you promote yours on a budget.

Start a blog

If you are not already blogging on your law firm’s website, you should start. Blogging is an easy way to promote your business and it offers an opportunity to share your expertise.

Furthermore, blogging can be a great way to increase the search ranking of your website. Depending on your areas of expertise, sharing relevant information about things like slip and fall injuries, what to do after a car accident, or how to find the right lawyer can help you grow your blog and attract readers and clients alike.

When you start your blog, think about the questions your clients have and the types of topics that will attract them to your posts. You should also avoid writing as if you are creating content for other attorneys. These posts are for potential clients, so they should be easy for a non-expert to understand.

Be active in professional groups

Whether you are a new attorney or a legal professional with years of experience, networking can be one of the best ways to promote your business. If your area has local or state professional associations for attorneys, you should join them.

Furthermore, if there are any professional groups for attorneys that practice in your specific field, membership can offer a ton of good networking opportunities.

Get out and volunteer

Every community has a lot of opportunities for citizens to do volunteer work, and this is a great way to give something back and show your appreciation. Furthermore, it can offer an opportunity for you to network with a new group of people and to foster a sense of good will with the people in your area.

Volunteering also provides an opportunity to send a press release and write up a feel-good blog post to share on social media and with the local publications. Everyone loves a good community story, even Google!

Collect business cards

Business cards are a great marketing tool, but for every one that results in a contact from a client, there are several that end up in the trash or at the bottom of a desk drawer. Instead of focusing on how many of your own business cards you can give out, you should start looking for chances to collect business cards from other professionals.

With the networking opportunities your professional groups or volunteer work provides, there are plenty of chances to ask people for their business cards or take it online and connect with them on LinkedIn.

You can then use their information to contact them with marketing material. You could send them emails to possibly get them interested in your business, and if their card does not have an email address, you could send them a letter through the mail.

Try email marketing

Of all the marketing channels available today, email happens to of the best for ROI. A simple email marketing campaign can be a cost-effective way to keep your law firm in the minds of existing clients, and it can also offer a good option for reaching a new audience.

Something as simple as a regular email newsletter can provide good results, and you can even use email automation to make your campaigns more effective.

Connect with your clients

You want to stay in touch with your existing and past clients. This keeps your business fresh in their mind should they need your services in the future. Email is obviously one way to do this, but you could also consider using local events and holidays as an opportunity to get in touch without necessarily making it about the services you provide.

If there is an annual event that is popular with the local community, try to craft some content that connects to the event. You can send it to your clients as a friendly reminder of your business.

And, when you have your happy client on the line, kindly ask them to leave you a review on Google or Facebook. Online reviews for law firms are free and they can help your local online visibility!

Have a social media presence

Social media sites like Facebook offer a variety of inexpensive marketing opportunities that can be valuable for just about any business. It is a way to connect with existing and past clients, and it offers an additional place for potential clients to find your law firm.

You can even use a range of social media marketing techniques and, if you have the budget, paid advertising to expand your reach beyond the people who already know your business.

Offer your expertise

Your expertise is valuable to more than just your clients. Reporters and writers also need expert opinions and sources for stories. If you have expertise that applies to a local news story, you could consider contacting a reporter to offer your opinion for their story.

You could also consider joining an online network like HARO.

HARO connects reporters to potential sources for their stories. With this type of arrangement, the reporter gets the expertise they need, and you get cited as a source in the media. It can be a great way to promote your law firm and it can also be a good way to position yourself as a local authority on your area of practice.

Sign up for speaking engagements

Speaking engagements can offer another way to promote your business. Provided you have the expertise and can find speaking opportunities that apply to your area of practice, this is a good way to get your name out there and to position yourself as an expert.

Along with reaching the immediate audience, your name and the name of your law firm will appear on the materials associated with the speaking event.

These are just a few of the most cost-effective tactics for marketing a law firm.

As a final tip, you might want to consider hiring a digital marketing agency to help with some of the marketing work. If you feel like you do not have the time or know how to do things like social media marketing or SEO, you could focus on running your law firm and hire professionals to handle the marketing for you!

Rae is a graduate of Tufts University with a combined International Relations and Chinese degree. After spending time living and working abroad in China, she returned to NYC to pursue her career and continue curating quality content. Rae is passionate about travel, food, and writing, of course.