Top Marketing Tools and Software for Lawyers to Generate Leads

While the success of a law firm is undoubtedly determined by how effectively its lawyers practice law, you can say that a law firm’s growth is determined by how well it markets itself. Growth is essential - when law firm growth remains stagnant, they lose their ability to compete effectively.

Knowing what marketing software and tools are available and best to use for law firms can be tricky - the tech market is inundated with software, services, and tools that all claim to provide the ultimate in marketing assistance. To help, we’ve compiled a list below of the top marketing tools and software for lawyers to generate leads successfully. But first, let’s dive into just why marketing is so essential to law firms:

Gaining Exposure and Brand Establishment - Simply put, a law firm won’t see business or growth if potential clients are unaware of its existence. By implementing an effective marketing strategy, law firms are able to say”Hey, we’re here! We’d love your business, and here’s why we’re the right choice.” WIthout marketing, clients will mostly be unaware of a firm’s existence.
Establishing Credibility - In the legal field, credibility is vital. Credibility is comprised of two essential ingredients: experience and trustworthiness. It’s important that clients feel comfortable with their legal team; When clients feel that they can’t confidently rely on a law firm to perform honestly and effectively, they either won’t hire the firm or won’t stay long-term. With regular and relevant marketing, law firms can establish a repertoire or track record within the legal community and potential clients; This makes client base acquisition and growth much more sustainable.
Valuable Insight - The practice of marketing is known to provide valuable insight into how a law firm can grow and maintain business. Marketing creates the opportunity to test out various strategies and gain information on what matters most to potential clientele; Law firms can then make changes to better accommodate client needs.
Building Relationships - Marketing offers an important opportunity for a law firm to show potential clients how they can meet their needs. Leads and current clients can stay up-to-date on what services a law firm can offer through marketing campaigns.
Lead Generation - Perhaps one of the most important reasons for marketing is lead generation - this holds true for law firms and most businesses. By gathering potential leads, law firms are able to build a database of potential clients and nurture healthy client base growth.
Client Base Growth - It’s imperative that every law firm has a healthy client base to ensure continued success; To do this, client acquisition rates will need to see continued growth. Effective marketing plans not only help generate new leads, but they also contribute to retaining current clients.
Information Communication - For both current clients and potential clients, regular communication of information from your company is important. Tips, legal information, case wins, consumer information, law firm news, law firm changes, and more will be considered important by clientele and help establish a firm’s value within the legal realm.
Drives Revenue - Most of the revenue focus within a law firm is placed on maximizing billable hours; This is important, of course, but by focusing on marketing a law firm will be able to create more opportunity for billable hours. By marketing a law firm as a valuable service to other businesses or the community, law firms solidify their place in the legal field and retain a much better competitive edge.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is one of the most essential tools that law firms can implement to generate leads and convert them into customers. Here’s how:

Predictive Analysis - Through CRM software use, law firms can analyze data specific to what their clients (or prospective clients) are needing or looking for and develop relevant marketing techniques.

Marketing Campaign Automation - When marketing campaigns are run utilizing platforms like emails, social media, and web forms, leads can be easily collected and managed through the use of CRM software automation.

Organization - The organization of leads is essential to running a successful marketing campaign. After all, what’s the point in collecting leads if they can’t be successfully converted into clientele later - this is where CRM organization tools come in. Things like conversion charts, filters, and tags can help organize clients according to where they are in the various stages of lead conversion and lead to an increase in client growth.

Social Media Integration - Social media is one of the primary lead generation tools used today by businesses; Without the proper way to store and manage leads from social media, however, it can be overwhelming and difficult to convert leads to customers. This is where CRM software comes in and can assist by making communication and organization easier.

Enhanced Lead Nurturing - From the initial gathering of leads to the final conversion into a firm client, there can be several stages. Through the use of CRM software, law firms can easily track where prospective clients are in the lead process and focus on them accordingly.

Now that we’ve discussed why CRM software is essential to a successful law firm marketing campaign - which software options are best suited for the legal industry? Below is a list of CRM software that is tailor-fit to the specific marketing needs of law firms:

Clio Grow - For those law firms that already use Clio, this CRM software can help with client lead organization and management.

Lawmatics - Through use of this software, law firms can run email campaigns, use reporting, and simplify and automate the client intake process.

Lexicata - This is an increasingly popular CRM software for law firms, known for assisting with the automation of the lead generation process.

Hub Spot - Law firms can easily track and organize client communication and needs through use of this CRM software.

Attorney Pay Per Lead (PPL) Services

Attorney pay per lead (PPL) services are a way for law firms to step back from the procurement process and allow another company to bring leads to them. A PPL service can help generate solid leads for a law firm through various methods; The law firm then generally won’t pay anything until a prospective client signs up for more information or registers. The use of a PPL service can be beneficial to law firms because it saves time by eliminating the need for “mining” for leads and allows for more time to focus on organization, follow up, and conversion into clients.

It’s vital that law firms entrust the lead procurement process to companies reliable and familiar with the space. Below is a list of some of the most popular PPL services used within the legal world:

Avvo - As a popular website for legal information, Avvo has developed a platform perfect for matching lawyers and clients. Lawyers and law firms can feature profiles on the site that encompass rating and review capabilities, as well as pay for display ads and top directory placement.

FindLaw - FindLaw, owned by Reuters, is not only a popular destination for legal information and reference, but it also offers a wealth of marketing services such as lead generation, pay per click (PPC) advertising, web development, and more.

Nolo - While lead generation isn’t all Nolo does, it definitely focuses and specializes in this area. Lawyers and law firms can pay for exclusive leads explicitly generated for them, or pay for leads that are also shared with other law firms.

Lawyers.Com - This legal site has become increasingly popular in use for legal information and blogs. Lawyers listed on this platform can be searched, reviewed, and matched with clients in need of service.

Legal Match - This acts as more of a matching service between clients and lawyers or law firms; Uniquely, this service has a monthly subscription fee instead of PPL pricing structure.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Ads

Pay per click (PPC) ads are one of the most prevalent forms of advertising across the internet. Using this model of advertising, businesses and law firms pay to have an advertisement for their company show on search engines and websites; Charges occur only when a prospective customer or client clicks on the ad to go to the designated landing page.

While most PPC companies offer services that cover a broad range of business types, there are a few geared specifically towards PPC advertising for law firms:

Juris Digital - Juris Digital is a marketing agency that specializes in the field of law. While they handle SEO and content marketing, they also specialize in designing and implementing PPC ads for law firms.
LawRank - For law firms looking to increase their ranking in Google searches, LawRank offers the knowledge and experience needed to formulate effective PPC ads.
Blue Corona - Blue Corona offers marketing and PPC services in the Google Ads and Bing Ads space. Law firms appreciate the experience and depth of knowledge offered by this company, not to mention the fact that they rank very high within Google search results - which speaks to their effectiveness as a marketing and SEO company.
FindLaw (LawyerMarketing.Com) - For those looking to work with an established and reputable legal marketing company, it doesn’t get much better than FindLaw. This company has a proven track record with helping law firms stay competitive within their space.

Legal Directories

Legal directories can play an important part when clients are searching for a lawyer or law firm that fits their needs. These days, there are many directories to choose from, but only a few that matter or hold a good chance of being seen and potentially generating a new lead or client. Below, we’ve listed some of the most popular and useful legal directories:

FindLaw (LawyerMarketing.Com) - We mentioned FindLaw in our PPC recommendation, but they also hold one of the largest legal directories available online. By going through FindLaw’s LawyerMarketing.Com site, lawyers and law firms can register and pay to be listed within their directory.
JurisOffice - Another well-known legal directory is JurisOffice. They offer several different plan options for lawyers and law firms to purchase listings within their directories, mostly at very low cost.
Nolo - Many law firms like the approach that Nolo takes with their directory. Nolo encourages personalization with lawyer profiles and tries to make searching for the right lawyer as easy as possible for potential clients.
Avvo - Avvo has become an established and popular legal hub for legal information, legal advice, and lawyer-client matching; This makes Avvo an essential platform for law firms and lawyers to list in to gain traction within the industry.
Martindale - Perhaps one of the oldest and most established legal services within the United States, Martindale was established in 1868 and has been a trusted source ever since. Their comprehensive legal directory offers a place for lawyers and law firms to list their services and be reviewed and rated by clients.
Super Lawyers - Lawyers and law firms can list themselves through the Super Lawyer’s directory and gain the unique ability of being featured in accordance to areas of expertise. This feature allows legal services to be procured with ease.
Justia - As a highly-visited directory, Justia is definitely a legal directory lawyers should list in. All licensed attorneys are invited to list for free within the directory, with paid premium listings also available.
LegalMatch - LegalMatch has quickly become one of the most used and well-known legal directories online. Lawyers listed within this directory are able to secure client reviews and ratings, as well as be located in accordance with the type of legal service a client is searching for.
Best Lawyers - This legal directory is unique in that it is based upon peer reviews; By many, this is seen as helpful because it provides expert review on the quality of a law firm or lawyer that a client may be considering.
Legal 500 - Legal 500 is an international legal directory; Law firms, lawyers, barristers, solicitors, and more can obtain listings within this large directory.

Social Media

Social media has become one of the most important marketing tools to date. Many law firms, however, make the mistake of thinking social media isn’t a tool suited for them - this is inaccurate. Trust and expertise are predominantly established these days through marketing and brand-building in social media. With regular use of and interaction on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, lawyers and law firms can compile relevant leads by directly interacting with prospective clients and providing interesting or useful information. Below, we’ll discuss how marketing through social media can influence the success of a law firm:

Inexpensive and Cost Effective - While marketing is important to law firms, it can also be very expensive. Marketing through social media has not only proved to be relatively inexpensive for many law firms, but it also gives a “bigger bank for your buck.'' Social media often provides more results for less money spent - which can mean a lot for a smaller law firm’s budget.
Networking - If there’s one thing that social media was made for, it’s networking and engaging with clients. Potential clients, leads, and other experts are regularly using social media to communicate with the brands they trust - law firms can take advantage of this opportunity to network with peers and establish and grow relationships with clients.

Visibility - Historically, it’s been difficult for companies to get their name out into the market without launching a massive (and expensive) marketing campaign. Social media allows for companies and law firms to get their names out there, often for little to no cost.
Website Traffic - By effectively using social media, law firms are able to navigate and drive potential clients directly to their website.
SEO Improvements - Because social media has become such a vital catalyst in business marketing, search engine rankings will take into consideration a company’s or law firm’s social media presence within their algorithm.
Enhanced Customer Service - Excellent customer service is essential within any type of business. Social media provides a chance for law firms to quickly and easily assist their client base and solve problems effectively.

YouTube

YouTube is another platform often ignored by law firms when it shouldn’t be. Over 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every single minute, leading to an astonishing 5 billion videos being watched every day. Through the use of YouTube, lawyers and law firms have the opportunity to engage with current and prospective client leads in a personal and meaningful manner. Videos discussing cases in the news, answering questions, and sharing information about the law firm can be helpful to establish credibility and generate. A call to action (CTA) can be implemented within each video prompting the completion of a contact form, joining of a newsletter, or following of the YouTube channel - all important and valid methods of lead generation.

While utilizing YouTube should play a key role within any law firm’s marketing plan, it’s important that it’s done in the right way. We’ve listed some important elements to pay attention to:

Quality - Depending on the type of video being made, lighting, sound, and a steady camera can be important. Potential clients will lose interest quickly if they’re met with unprofessional video quality.
Length - These days, social media users want a lot of content and want to consume it as fast as possible. For effective YouTube videos, law firms should try to keep the under 3 minutes.
Keywords - Because keywords are an integral part of SEO, it’s important that YouTube video’s utilize them properly. Keywords pertinent to the law firm, the service the law firm is selling, and what the video is about should be embedded into the video title, alt tags, blog tags, and video descriptions.
Format Layout - It’s a good idea to have a layout or plan for a video before recording and sharing it. Consider the angles planned for shots, what questions or topics will be discussed, what will be said by the person or narrator in the video, and if any screen sharing or action shots will need to be taken.
Calls to Action - Without a call to action at the end of the video, there’s almost no reason for utilizing YouTube. A call to action can take the form of a link to a contact form, request to visit the law firm’s website, a phone number to call to set up a consultation, etc.
Fluid Interaction - While important on their own, for them to be the most effective, YouTube videos should be tied in with a law firm’s other forms of social media or internet presence. When a video is posted on YouTube, for instance, it should also be shared on other social media websites and within the law firms personal site.

Website Forms

Having a great website is important, but what’s the point of generating traffic to a website if it doesn’t result in lead generation? One of the best ways businesses and law firms generate leads on their website is through the use of contact forms; These forms can prompt potential clients to submit contact information for pricing, consultations, and more information, quickly building up a list of leads for continued marketing efforts.

Conclusion

Effective use of marketing tools and software is essential for all law firms to generate leads that assist with client acquisition and firm growth. With the implementation and use of the right combination of services and tools, law firms can ensure a competitive edge is maintained and that marketing efforts lead to higher client growth rates.