At its core, marketing is about connecting with clients at the right place at the right time. In this internet age, often the right place is online. As such, digital marketing is critically important for law firms looking to grow. We get a lot of questions about what exactly digital marketing is. Here’s a quick look at the who, what, why, when and how of law firm digital marketing.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, refers to all marketing activities that take place over the internet. Law firms can connect with current and prospective clients using digital channels such as search engines, website content, email, and even other websites. Some people think that inbound marketing and digital marketing are the same thing, but inbound marketing is actually part of digital marketing. Simply put, digital marketing is using your online activities to meet your target audience where they are: online.

Why Digital Marketing Matters

In this day and age, digital marketing is not a “nice to have” but table stakes. Almost every brand has a website these days. Even if for some reason they don’t, they may still have a social media presence or a paid advertising strategy.

Digital marketing and content are so commonplace that today’s consumers expect it. In fact, they rely on content on various websites to learn about new services and select brands they want to work with. Without a strong digital presence, it is extremely difficult to compete in today’s legal environment.

Key benefits of digital marketing for law firms include:

• You can better target your audience and focus on those who are most likely to serve you.
• There are many ways to measure ROI, and they tend to be more cost-effective than outbound efforts.
• Smaller brands can use less expensive tactics to compete with larger brands.
• Tactics are highly measurable and digital strategies are easy to adapt and optimize.
• Improve lead quality and connect your digital efforts to the entire sales process.
• Marketers can engage people at every step of the funnel.

Who Should Try Digital Marketing?

The short answer to this is: There are few downsides as many digital marketing strategies are low cost and free. Plus, it’s easy to measure. This means that your ROI is likely to improve and you can adjust your tactics until you get the results you want. Additionally, many people look online for solutions to their challenges. If you don’t get discovered by them, you’re leaving plenty of opportunities on the table.

When Should You Do Digital Marketing?

There’s never a bad time to start digital marketing. As soon as you have a legal service to offer, you need to establish an online presence. Do what you can to increase your web traffic and lead generation, even if you’re just using social media and free tools like Google Analytics at first.

How Do Law Firms Do Digital Marketing?

Now that you know exactly what digital marketing is, you might want to know: how to do it. No strategy is perfect for every company, but implementing the following tactics is a good starting point.

1. Search engine optimization

The process of optimizing a website through on-page or off-page tactics to appear in search engine results. Multiple channels benefit from good SEO, including websites, blogs, and infographics.

Related: SEO eBook for Law Firm Websites.

2. Content marketing

Creation and promotion of content assets aimed at generating brand awareness, website traffic, leads and sharing expertise. Thought leadership, such as blogs, white papers, ebooks, and infographics, are effective tactics for building trust and making knowledge stand out.

3. Social media marketing

By promoting your company and content through various social channels, you can increase web traffic and drive client engagement. You can use tools like HubSpot to connect your channels and build a cohesive strategy.

To learn more about how to create a successful social media strategy, check out this free eBook: Advanced Social Media Strategies for Law Firms.

4. Pay Per Click (PPC)

With PPC advertising, you pay publishers for every click on an ad that they host on their platform. PPC is common in search engines like Google, but can also be used in social media like Twitter.

5. Native advertising

Ads that are essentially promoting your company, but are positioned as content and appear next to other content, are called native ads. Examples include articles in online legal magazines. increase.

6. Marketing automation

Software solutions can help you segment your audience and use if-then scenarios to deliver different forms of marketing. Email sequences, social media posting schedules, lead nurturing workflows, campaign tracking are all forms of marketing automation. (For more information, watch this on-demand webinar on how law firms can use marketing automation.)

7. Email marketing

Email is an essential means of communicating with your audience. Especially great for welcoming new clients, nurturing leads, and promoting events.

8. Online PR

Having online coverage builds trust and credibility with your audience. Consider digital publications, blogs, and other content-based websites that want to showcase your company. Tactics include reaching out to the reporter, encouraging him to review the company online, and engaging in activity on blogs.

Check out this free webinar to learn how your content gets media attention.

9. Inbound Marketing

This is the practice of engaging, captivating and delighting your audience at each stage of their journey. Your goal is not to track people, but to get them to come to you. You can use a variety of digital channels in your inbound strategy, but the most popular are blogs, video marketing, and email marketing.

10. Sponsored Content

This is when your company pays another brand or company to create and promote content that in some way highlights your expertise or staff. , simple blog collaboration is another example.

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Even if you don’t think your company is actively practicing digital marketing, chances are you’re already reaching clients online. No doubt you can come up with some areas where more attention would be beneficial.