The art of practicing law is always changing. New laws and regulations are written, changed and amended. The same could be said with how lawyers find their clients. With technology being highly relied upon, this shift has changed the way that potential clients are found.
A majority of lawyers now rely on some form of digital marketing in order to drive business and attract more clients. In today’s post, we’re going to look at some statistics that should guide lawyers in how they might grow their firm using online marketing.
80% of all US Law Firms have an online presence on at least one social platform.
This includes Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter collectively. It’s important to maintain a strong online presence on social media. Since 2018, there has been a 10% growth in Lawyers using social media to draw in more clients and to promote engagement with their firm. According to American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Survey Report, here are the top network sites used by Law Firms.
Among the 80% of law firms that main a presence on social networks:
- 79% use or maintain a presence on LinkedIn
- 54% use or maintain a presence on Facebook
- 20% use or maintain a presence on Twitter
- 25% use or maintain a presence on Instagram
In addition to the 79% of Lawyers who use LinkedIn for professional purposes, Instagram is becoming one of the most popular platforms that Law Firms are using for non-professional uses. It is an easy social platform to maintain and easy to use. It gives the Law Firms a chance to reach out on a more personable level – which builds trust, integrity and enables them to promote their core values.
There’s a phrase that you may have heard of before: a picture is worth a thousand words. Therefore, if you haven’t had a chance to dive into Instagram, now is the time to start.
Wherever you decide to present yourself online, make sure there is a call to action embedded in your social media, so that it can direct your audience to you.
85% of Law Firms have some sort of Cyber Security
As technology is becoming more advanced and more reliable, needless to say there is a strong effort and need to create a safe solution in order to encrypt your firm’s files and security. Most law firms already have some sort of security, such as pop-up blockers (74%), Anti-Spyware (76%) and spam filters (86%). In order to protect from losses, about a third of lawyers have some sort of cyber liability insurance.
While there’s always risks with having information online, there are plenty of options out there for security softwares that can protect your firm from online threats.
87% of Law Firms have a Website which includes a profile of the firm
These law firms have a website which includes a profile of the firm’s partners and associates, and close to half offer information about the cases that their firms have handled. However, there are fewer firms that also contain the following information:
- Paralegal Profiles
- Court and Administrative Links
- Case Studies
- Outside Legal Articles
- Community and Charity Announcements.
The more helpful information you can include on your site, your potential clients can learn more about your firm and the longer they are likely to stay browsing. Having a significant amount of relevant content on your site can also improve your SEO, helping your site be found easier on search engines.
A small percentage of law firms with websites use a live chat (5%). This can be a great strategy in offering an easy and alternative way for your potential clients to reach out. However, this functionality needs to be implemented and optimized correctly or can affect your site with slower load times, which could potentially hurt your online ranking on search engines such as Google.
For those that are interested in building a budget friendly website but don’t know where to start, check out our Tips for Website Development on a Budget
Lastly, it’s very important to have a concise and presentable call to action. 68% of law firms do not have their email address on their site and 27% don’t have their phone number up. Don’t let this happen to you.
96% of People Start Looking for Legal Advice Online
That’s why it is so important to have consistent blogs and articles to draw in that engagement. Even having a FAQ section on your site can help convert potential client questions to a legal client.
Gone were the days when Yellow Pages used to be the go-to source for research. Now, your firm needs the best resources to answer searchers queries and questions. This goes without saying that nowadays, your website is your headquarter for your search engine optimization strategies.
90% of people seeking legal advice use a search engine in their research process and 74% of consumers visit a law firm’s website to take action. Having a strong SEO campaign gives you the ability to rank higher on search engines such as Google so that you can get noticed. Only 25% of users go to the second page of search results, so you don’t want to get left behind.
If you’d like to learn more about Search Engine Optimization, check out our SEO Essentials Guide.
65% of Law Firms dedicate most of their marketing budget to online marketing
It’s effective, it’s cost efficient, and it works. Online marketing initiatives have been taking over traditional marketing efforts throughout the years.
According to a survey conducted by MartinDale, Almost 75% of lawyers spend more than half of their marketing budget on online initiatives and almost 90% of those marketing strategies lie in lead generation services, SEM, SEO and social media marketing as their best performing advertising process.
The legal industry is well into the age of digital marketing and it’s become an essential tool for every Law Firm and Lawyer regardless of the size of their firm and their area of practice.
If you aren’t utilizing your marketing budget to its fullest potential by investing it into an online marketing strategy, it’s likely that you’re not getting the most out of your budget.
Ready to take your first step and invest in Digital Marketing?
At Soulpepper Legal Marketing, we have helped law firms of varying sizes grow their business online, and we would love to help you too.
Our team is composed of industry leading experts that are specialized in every area of digital marketing. Our digital marketing strategies are tailored to the Lawyers we work with so that each client gets the most our of their digital marketing efforts.
Give us a call today or complete this quiz to schedule a free legal marketing consultation. Let us show you what we can do to grow your law firm.
