A lead is a potential or prospective client. This can also be someone who finds information on your site useful to a particular query. Often, a lead is interested in engaging your services at a fee which converts them into a client.
Lead generation is the process of finding prospective clients. Many firms employ the sales funnel method to generate leads. The sales funnel model follows specific steps outlined below:
Awareness
The process of lead generation for attorneys usually starts with making potential clients aware of your legal services. While it sounds easy in theory, improving your visibility is often the biggest challenge for many attorneys. However, with a proper SEO strategy, you can improve your visibility and even get potential clients to visit your website.
Interest
Once your firm is visible, you must capture the potential lead’s interest. Attorneys who use high-quality, authoritative, and reliable content keep potential clients interested and have a higher chance of converting them into clients.
Decision
Getting your lead to decide to procure your services is the ultimate goal. To do this, your website must convince them how much value they will get from your legal services.
Action
For a law firm, action could be a lead booking a consultation, leaving their contact information, or even getting in touch with your firm to find out more about your services.
Why Is Lead Generation Important for Attorneys?
The world has increasingly shifted to the digital space and more customers look online to find what they need. This shift also applies to the legal sector. Attorneys across the country are having a difficult time marketing themselves and lead generation is a powerful tool for reaching potential clients.
Users in search of legal services get online and look to social media to find the right attorney for their needs. It is, therefore, important for you to make yourself visible in these digital spaces and place your firm among the top results that users see.
While lead generation can be challenging even for the most experienced online sales marketers, it is critical for attorneys to invest in a reliable lead generation strategy. With the right strategy, lead generation can result in a constant, reliable flow of quality leads.
Without an active lead generation strategy, many attorneys rely on traditional methods such as word-of-mouth and referrals. Lead generation protects your firm by ensuring that you have a constant flow of inquiries and potential clients.
Reliable Ways to Get More Leads
Here are some of the proven strategies that attorneys can use to generate leads for their law firms:
Have a Professional Website
A professional website is the most powerful tool in your lead generation strategy. It is the first avenue through which clients meet you and your brand. Ensure that your website is:
- Professionally designed
- User-friendly
- SEO optimized
- Compatible with desktop and mobile devices
In addition, ensure that you have high-quality, client-centered content that demonstrates your value. Include the image and bio of each attorney at the firm to cultivate trust in your firm.
Landing Pages
A landing page is designed for advertising. Consider driving your other digital advertising strategies to your landing page. These include Facebook ads, Linkedin ads, Youtube, and other social media marketing strategies as well as email marketing.
In addition to driving ads to your landing page, use compelling content and strong visuals. Of course, you must tweak your landing page often to optimize it for maximum conversion.
Lead Magnets
Use lead magnets on your social media pages, blog, or email to bring clients back to your landing page. Think about what you can offer your clients in exchange for them leaving their contact information.
Some attorneys offer free ebooks, free consultations, or other useful materials to bring clients to their email list which is ideal for email marketing as part of the lead generation strategy.
Use Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Using pay-per-click advertising in addition to other lead generation strategies allows you to compete for the right clicks. There are many of these services that are designed for attorneys with smaller firms.
It is important to note that PPC ad campaigns target certain keywords to succeed so you will probably have to hire a professional manager to handle your PPC lead generation campaign.
Offer Free Consultation
Consider offering free consultations to build a relationship with potential leads. This gives the leads upfront value by showcasing a preview of your expertise and gets potential clients in the door. After getting free help, the potential client is more likely to engage your services at a fee for an in-depth solution to their legal query.
Depending on your area of expertise, consider creating free consultation landing pages and using PPC to generate traffic.
It is important to note that free consultations are not a viable lead-generation tool for all legal firms. Invest in research to find out whether it is applicable to your practice.
Create a Content Marketing Plan
A solid content marketing strategy can help you generate qualified leads. It is also a key tool in boosting your ranking and improving visibility.
Consider using high-quality blog posts, ebooks, email newsletters, infographics, web content, and whitepapers to educate your target audience. Written and visual content educates potential clients and gives them valuable information. As a result, they trust your site as an authoritative source.
Ensure all your content is professional, practical, and customized to keep your audience engaged and informed.
Personalized Calls-to-Action
A call-to-action is used to prompt leads to take action. A good example of the call-to-action tool is the ‘subscribe’ button used by many sites. CTAs were previously generic, and every visitor would see the same text.
However, user data collection is now more dynamic and legal firms can tell the user’s location, name, number of visits to the site, and much more. This data is then used to create personalized CTAs. This means each user gets a customized text on the CTA catering to their specific needs.
Utilize Client Reviews and Referrals
People want to hire and work with an attorney they can trust. You can use client reviews as a part of your lead generation strategy to build a solid professional reputation. Use real client reviews on sites such as Yelp, FindLaw, and Google My Business among others to build your credibility.
As a bonus, consider attending industry events to build a professional network. Use these events to interact with potential clients in person and give free advice where you can to build goodwill.
Summary
Whether you are an experienced attorney at a major firm or a solo practice, lead generation should be an ongoing process to ensure the survival of your business. Invest time and consistency in your lead generation strategy and continuously tweak your content to keep it relevant.
Aim to streamline the lead generation process as much as possible to ensure that you have a reliable stream of new leads to grow and sustain your business. With the above tips, you can use your lead generation strategy to grow your firm.
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