In this article, I’m going to tell you what FindLaw, LexisNexis or your marketing firm won’t tell you. I’m going to show you how to attract an average of 3-7 new clients per week with just a few simple strategies. You will also learn what actions you need to take to increase your leads, reduce costs. Plus, if you ever wondered how some law firms attract multi-million dollar cases, it is simply because they have a lot of leads.
My name is Chance Hawkins and I am an online marketer based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For years, I specialized in attorney marketing and have analyzed hundreds of law firm websites. One thing that I’ve learned is that for every attorney that dominates online, there are 25-50 that struggle.
The problem is that it ONLY pays to be #1.
…and getting to be king of the hill can be challenging. The determining factor is not the budget, or firm’s history, but rather the strategy.
To be at the top, you have to be hungry, aggressive and take the right steps within each channel of marketing. Only then, will you have so many leads that you can choose to work with the best clients and refer the rest.
The key to getting million dollar cases is to have too many leads. When you have more leads than your firm can handle, you get to be picky.
Why Attorneys fail to get new clients online?
Most attorneys would rather focus on legal maters than marketing, so they outsource.
This is where it get’s tricky.
The big law firm marketing agencies have multiple layers of staff, technology, and a reputation in the industry. So they charge fees that are 3-10X more than an average company. The average marketing agency costs $135/hr, but Law Firm specific agencies charge $350/hr – $600/hr. At these prices, only the top firms can afford to pay what is needed to compete. Therefore, they remain at the top and the firms that struggle, continue to struggle.
Another industry secret is that law firm specific agencies tend to have conflicts of interest. They will have clients within the same city that work within the same practice area…..
It’s seriously a messed up situation….
To get 3-7 new clients per week, you need 150-2000 new visitors on your website, social media channels or within your marketing campaigns. So the firs step is to get the required amount of traffic. It is a numbers game and an attorney needs to be top-of-mind. Once people are seeing your offer, they need to convert. The way to convert leads is to target the right people and use the right lead collection strategy. No one looks for an attorney without needing an attorney. So a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) model could work. However, it can be expensive and if you don’t have the budget or a high conversion rate, then it may not be worth it. Search engine optimization might be able to bring in the targeted traffic, but you will need a powerful conversion tool on your website to get your website visitors to take action. Social media can also be used to collect leads if you can build a community.
I’ll break down how you can get 3-7 new clients per month with PPC & SEO in this article and if you would like to know the other ways or exactly how this would look in practice, then reach out to me to let me know….
Create a landing page that focuses on the keyword and has one goal. Remove distractions and make sure your landing page has a call-to-action that is clear and effective. This may take some testing, so keep in mind that you may need a testing budget before you can constantly get the results you should expect.
Set up your Analytics so that you can analyze what is happening. I install software to record each visitor’s actions so that I can analyze what the visitor is doing on the website. This will help you with your targeting.
Test & Modify the campaign until the leads start pouring in.
See who is currently ranking #1 for the keywords you want to rank for.
Get an SEO evaluation on the top ranking pages and make sure you have the domain/page authority to compete.
Write a good article about the keyword you are targeting with a clear call-to-action.
Set up an interactive form to collect leads from the page.
Link to the page and SEO optimize the article so that it can compete.
Once your pages start to rank, you will get targeted traffic. The targeted traffic will convert if you do a good job with your content and lead form.
To beat the system, you must remove yourself from the system. Think about how you want to strategically compete and then be smart with the actions you take and what you choose to outsource.
For example, one thing that you might want to outsource in order to improve your search engine optimization and social media is content for your website. However, content creation doesn’t costs $135/hr to create (some firms charge $200/article). Instead, you would want to pay a variable rate. You could pay a reasonable rate for the content and then pay an expert to optimize the content. By unbundling these services, you will reduce the cost by at least 25%.
Another tactic to get more marketing for your money is to use a marketing firm for technology access. Instead of spending money on all of the programs, subscriptions and research tools you need to properly market your firm, you could share the cost with 20 other law firms. A bundled technology package could save you $500-$1,000 per month, while giving you access to powerful marketing tools.
Each of these tactics help a little, and I mentioned them to show that an attorney can increase his or her marketing power by thinking these things through. However, it is when you combine 100 tactics together that you experience the full benefits of smart marketing.
To get better cases, you need more leads. To get more leads, you need to implement smart marketing for your firm. It only pays to be #1, and if you don’t have the same budget as the firm’s that are currently at the top, then you need leverage. By using leverage, you can expect to get an average of 3-7 new clients per week on your website. It may take a couple of months or a couple of days to implement a strategic plan, but it will be worth it!
I hope you find all the leverage you need to get to the top. If you have any questions or if you would like to explore the possibility of working together, click the button below to start a conversation with me.