Solo law firm marketing 101

Solo attorneys and small law firms may be more diminutive in size than larger legal practices. Still, they make up the majority of the legal industry, with 63% of firms identifying as solo or small, according to the American Bar Association.

With fewer resources, competing with bigger law practices for the same prospective clients is challenging. However, solo practitioners who want to secure new business are more flexible to invest in creative and effective legal marketing efforts.

The right marketing strategy makes all the difference when you’re looking to attract potential clients and bring them on board. Your target clients likely have their pick of law practices to choose from. By prioritizing law firm marketing tactics that work, your solo practice will be the one that draws in new business.

 

What is the purpose of a marketing plan for solo law firms?

Before you launch into any law firm marketing strategy, create a solo law firm legal marketing plan. The purpose of creating a marketing plan for solo law firms is to state your goals and ensure your marketing efforts align with these goals.

• Define your objectives, whether it’s getting new business, raising brand awareness among your target clients, or gaining prospective clients’ contact information
• Outline the key marketing tactics you plan to use
• Establish your KPIs: The key performance indicators should align with your objectives; i.e. land $X in new business, reach X more potential clients through marketing, generate X new legal leads
• Keep track of your return on investment (ROI) and evaluate your success. Are you bringing in enough new business to cover your marketing costs? Are certain marketing channels performing better than others (i.e. email marketing vs social media)?

How do solo practitioners get clients?

Solo practitioners can get clients by investing in the client experience to drive referrals and retention. They also leverage owned, earned and paid marketing channels to generate new leads.

Solo practitioners attract new clients:

1. By building out search engine-optimized law firm websites

The vast majority of customers look for local businesses online on a monthly, weekly or daily basis. Search makes up over 50% of small business website traffic, and most users only click on one of the first three results in search engines.

One of the best ways to take control of your online presence is to build a modern website for your small law firm, one using search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. Broadly’s law firm SEO tips ensure your website ranks at the top of Google and other search engines to drive more new business for your practice.

2. Via social media channels

Besides search engines, social media channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn are key search and discovery platforms for customers looking to connect with small businesses. Most consumers use social media to look for information about local businesses.

Unsure where to begin with social media?

• Start by claiming your business listings across social channels
• Review and respond to all customer feedback and online reviews posted about your law firm, both positive and negative
• Add relevant information to your profiles, such as your contact information and practice area
• Share updates about client testimonials and helpful tips for potential clients in your target market
• Consider paid campaigns that promote your services and encourage viewers to join your email marketing list

3. Through referrals

Most consumers say they find referrals for lawyers through someone they personally know. This means one of the best ways to get new clients is to provide an excellent customer experience to your existing clients so they’re more likely to refer your services to their friends and family.

4. Via content marketing efforts

Put your legal expertise to work by creating helpful advice for your website and social media channels. You don’t have to go all out and create a podcast, webinar or video series, but if you have the time and inspiration, that’s great. It’s perfectly reasonable to start small with some thoughtful blog articles or guides.

Evaluate the success of your efforts by seeing if you’re getting more new business from your website and content marketing. Experiment with the types of content you enjoy making, and you can grow your content marketing strategy over time.

Integrate SEO keyword efforts into your content to maximize the value. According to Google, creating “compelling and useful content will likely influence your website ranking in search results more than any [other factor].”

5. By leveraging paid advertising, such as pay-per-click (PPC ads)

Organic efforts, such as building a website, creating a presence on social media channels and generating content marketing, can take time to yield results. If you need new business now, you may have to invest in paid marketing efforts, such as advertising, to generate new leads for your solo law firm immediately.

Major platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google offer a variety of self-serve advertising that you can set up right away. You can use pay-per-click (PPC) ads to raise awareness of your law practice and services or pay-per-lead (PPL) ads to collect the contact information of prospective clients who want to hear from your firm.

6. By asking clients for online reviews

Nearly all consumers (95%) read online reviews before doing business with a company, and 58% say they would be willing to spend more if the company has good reviews. That’s why reviews are vital for lawyers — they offer a way to get new clients based on positive word-of-mouth from existing clients.

7. By providing an excellent client experience and strengthening your client relationships

Taking steps to ensure client satisfaction can help:

• Encourage existing clients to write positive online reviews
• Motivate existing clients to send referrals your way from friends and family who are looking for legal services
• Legal professionals and small firms retain existing clients if they’re looking for ongoing support or have a new legal need arise

How do you promote and market a small law firm via paid advertising?

Want to get the word out about your small law firm? There’s a variety of paid advertising channels to choose from for attorney lead generation efforts, including:

• Search engine marketing (such as Google Ads)
• Social media advertising (such as LinkedIn Ads)
• Display advertising on online publications
• Sponsored listings on local web directories
• Print advertising
• Billboards
• Radio ads
• TV ads

Determine the right channels for you based on your budget, target clients and attorney marketing goals.

How do you grow a solo law firm?

Grow your solo law firm by leveraging a combination of powerful marketing channels:

• Owned channels (website, email marketing, SMS text marketing)
• Earned channels (social media marketing, online reviews, brand mentions in the media)
• Paid channels (advertising)

Make the most of each by using the marketing tips described in this guide. The more mileage you get out of your solo law practice’s marketing efforts, the better chance you have to increase the number of potential clients you reach. As a result, you will significantly improve your odds of converting those leads into new business for your law practice.

Grow your solo law firm with Broadly’s marketing solutions

Broadly offers solutions for website design, SMS and email marketing activities and online marketing for attorneys. Our tools and services will help you generate more reviews and boost your local SEO so new clients are drawn to your law practice before the competition.

Ready to see how our digital marketing tools can help you get new business for your small firm?