Are you frustrated with the lack of growth in your firm? Looking for new ways to scale business? We’ll show you how to win at marketing despite rising costs and decreased demand for law firm services.
Reuters, an international news agency, found a falling demand for legal services and a rise in overhead costs, which brings firms challenges…as well as opportunities. Here’s what we mean:
These factors are a concern only if they’re left unattended.
So, where should firms laser-focus?
To unlock the legal industry’s full potential, Forbes states there needs to be a cultural reset. The good news is that law firms are already working on this! The industry is morphing from a labor-intensive and practice-oriented towards a tech-efficient profession.
Gartner, a tech consulting firm, has found that the shift toward a consumer-driven market pushes law firms toward digital transformation. In their Legal Planning & Budgeting Report, they found:
The industry’s metamorphosis catalyzed by today’s customers means firms must find new ways to scale their business. To begin this, you’ll have to start looking at law as a business.
With that in mind, scaling a law firm requires looking at every aspect of your business, including the mishaps. To help you navigate the uncharted waters that business can sometimes be, let’s look at the 3 biggest mistakes law firms make and how to prevent them.
The Biggest Scalability Challenges & Opportunities For Law Firms
Mistake #1 – Relying on Traditional Marketing
Often, traditional marketing has a mixture of these 3 components, and while we won’t wholly discard traditional, it’s clear that digital is where it’s at. For example:
- With traditional marketing, to reach 1,000 prospects, you’ll probably need to spend $150 for a local radio ad, $500+ on a magazine ad, and $1k+ for direct mailing.
- Runs on gut feelings.
- With digital marketing, prices will vary, but as a rule of thumb, Crisp finds that it costs roughly $15 to run a Facebook ad campaign and $50 to run a Google search campaign.
- Runs on data and numbers.
If you want to reach 1,000 prospects and be 100% sure you target the right market, you’ll want to focus on digital.
Solution #1 – Go Where the Attention’s At
There is a reason why TikTok is the platform to be on: videos. Video content is 1200% more successful than any other content. More than half (66%) of people prefer to watch a short video to learn about a product or service.
Previously we covered ‘How Law Firms Can Use Video Marketing to Win More Clients’, where we suggest law firms:
- Answer legal FAQs
- Leverage the incredible power of legal storytelling, not up-front selling
- Rely on explainer videos (text and presentations rather than a person in front of the camera)
- Use subtitles
Want more tips? Check out our LAWsome episode – ‘How Law Firms Can Use Video Marketing to Win More Clients’
Mistake #2 – Trying to Scale Organically Only
There are over 3.96 billion total social media users across all platforms. How can you stand out from the rest?
Because there is so much noise, organic reach is not enough in this day and age. For example, if your firm solely relies on Instagram and organically posts a meme or an update here and there, chances are you won’t see much ROI from such an effort.
So, what should you do?
Solution #2 – Leverage Organic and Digital Advertising
But why should firms add digital advertising services on top of organic? Let’s put 2 + 2 together.
- You need business within the specific jurisdiction you’re authorized to practice.
- Digital advertising helps target users based on your location.
Mistake #3 – Neglecting Your Client’s Needs When Hiring a Lawyer
Because every client and case is as unique as a fingerprint, you’ll want to cater to all in different ways.
Here are a couple of questions that’ll help you brainstorm:
- What are your clients looking for?
- How did your previous calls and cases find you?
- Why did they choose you and not the competitors?
- Are prospects looking at who has the most experience?
- Do prospects want to know if you solved a case similar to theirs?
- Do they go for the firm that has the most online reviews?
- Are prospects looking for a law firm closer to them? Or would they go out of their way?
The answer should always circle back to you!
Solution #3 – Making Personal Connections
We could go on and provide thousands of pointers for this solution, but we’ll stick with one: invest in social media. Specifically, leverage the TikTok Market. Yes, TikTok.
Often there’s the misconception around, ‘my audience isn’t there,’ but as we’ve said before, your TikToks may not be for everyone, but they are for someone! And that is the power of building personal, genuine connections through socials.
Our second part series on TikTok covered How Your Firm Can Take Advantage of the TikTok Market with the top 9 best-proven tactics to help you get started.
And to take it up another level, download a FREE list with the top TikTok Topics for Lawyers.
Scaling Today Means Looking at the Big Picture
Scaling means keeping your eyes on the big picture while taking care of every aspect of your business, including:
- Keeping up with client intake and retention
- Making the right marketing investments
- Leveraging new technology
- Maximizing effectiveness between your staff and third-parties
We hope these recommendations give you the power to build on your firm’s business. If you’d like to effectively incorporate or revise any of these strategies without the headaches – we’re here to help.
