Blogs, Websites, & Social Media: How the Web Effects Your Lawyer Marketing Strategy
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Lawyers are finding it difficult to let go of the older methods they use to market their services. It’s difficult to change habits we’ve grown comfortable with. I find this is especially relevant to lawyers promoting their services on the web. Again and again, I see lawyers that participate in blatant self-promotion. The effect is not what they desire.
Lawyer marketing on the web is becoming far too self-promoting. This includes websites, blogs, videos, etc.
Gaining a presence on the web can work both for you and against you. In other words, even though people may know who you are, it may be for the wrong reasons. When you are marketing professional services, such as legal services, not all publicity is good publicity.
When you publish content on the web, make sure it isn’t just a giant advertisement for yourself.
The following are some suggestions to avoid egregious self-promotion.
1. Don’t write about how wonderful you are. You can show your expertise in more subtle ways. Write about your field of work. Put a creative, interesting, and personal voice to it. Think about the last time you read something and thoroughly enjoyed the piece. Didn’t you take the time to find out who wrote it afterward? That is what lawyer marketing on the internet is about.
2. You have a very brief amount of time to make your point. People on the web have ADD. Make sure you can make your point quickly and concisely. You want to be interesting and informative, but not long-winded.
3. Stay current, but don’t get overwhelmed. In addition to being brief, you need to be current. With web 2.0 lawyer marketing, people don’t want to wait a month for your next blog post. By the same token, you don’t need to produce 3 articles a day to stay current. I would advise planning out a couple of blog posts, perhaps 2-3 a week. Do the same with your social media efforts. This will help you increase the effectiveness of your efforts.
4. Talk with your own voice. In a nutshell, be interesting. The amount of information put out onto the web increases with every second. To rise to the top, you need to be interesting. When you speak in your own voice, the content will take on your personality and will differentiate from what others are writing.
Website lawyer marketing requires an understanding of some basic web concepts. Learn about how lawyer web marketing can help you grow your client base.