Digital Marketing Strategies for Lawyers: LTRC Roundtable

What are the best digital marketing strategies for lawyers that are cost-effective but also will bring in clients?  

CARNEY:  Lawyers can start to explore AI programs to assist with digital marketing.  Bringing marketing in-house can dramatically cut the costs of a third-party vendor who is charging the firm to do marketing or SEO.  In addition, training an AI product specifically on the goals of the firm can help streamline and enhance its online presence. AI can assist with content creation and optimization, create key tag words, improve technical SEO and identify link-building back to the attorney website. AI tools can also analyze marketing data to provide insight, optimize ad campaigns, and enable personalized marketing strategies.  

BRUCE: Using old-school technology, put FAQs on your website answering the questions your clients often ask in the same words that they use. Potential clients are likely to be asking the same or similar questions in their online searches. You can then repurpose your responses in posts in social media like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can create a brief Instagram, YouTube or TikTok video using your smartphone. You can simply say in the video, “Clients often want to know…” and answer the questions. Videos that are 3 minutes make it easy for potential clients to get answers they want to specific questions. You build (i) credibility by explaining the answer in words they can understand, (ii) trust because you are demonstrating that you have their interests at heart by answering questions without seeking compensation, and (iii) visibility by getting your name and face out in the public. 

JOHS: One of the best digital marketing strategies lawyers can use in this age of AI is authenticity. I agree with Michele that AI can be a useful tool that can help with things like refining your content, creating keywords and improving technical SEO, but ultimately, when potential clients are making a decision about who to hire to help them with their legal problems or referral sources are deciding who to recommend to their colleagues and clients, they want to see that you are a real human that they would feel comfortable interacting with and sharing their legal problems with.

Video is also extremely hot right now, and doesn’t have to be professionally produced, expensive video. Video shorts recorded on your mobile phone can increase your visibility, especially short-form videos.

If social media is part of your digital marketing strategy, the best strategy is to invest your time in actually networking on the platform, rather than chasing likes or views. Building relationships is the best way to get business, and to do that, you have to invest time in engaging with other people.

KLEVAN: What Deborah and Allison said.  I am a fan of organic, authentic marketing.  I consider every client who retains me as my next best source of referrals.  My ”about me” section of my website essentially says nothing about who I am but actually what I can do for my client.  I absolutely agree that having a few short videos is key in this age, so long as the videos depict who you are in a clear and concise way.

How can lawyers maximize AI to develop video & text content for marketing on a continuous basis? 

CARNEY: Lawyers can use AI to create video, podcasts, and text content for marketing by using tools for idea generation, drafting, and video production, to name just a few. In addition, AI can assist in creating initial drafts of blog posts, podcasts, and video scripts, which lawyers can use as a launch and refine with their own spin.  There are several products on the market that are geared towards lawyers, and it is worth it to do trials to see which product is the right fit for the firm.  As an example of a quick tool, Google’s NotebookLM can create a two-person podcast in minutes by simply uploading a case.  Of course, the lawyer needs to verify the output, but it is a fast way to keep clients updated on cutting-edge cases.  

BRUCE: I agree that AI can be great for idea generation and first drafts on content or refining our content to soften the tone, increase clarity, be more concise, etc. Even if you are not a tech-savvy person, you can use many of the basic AI tools for free just to improve your writing. As a result, you can save time in generating the content you post online.

JOHS: A great use of AI for marketing now is to take content that you have already created, whether it’s a longer article or blog post, a description you’ve sent to clients, or testimonials you’ve received from clients, and use the AI tool to repurpose that content into a different format, such as an image or presentation.

KLEVAN:  I am answering this only on what I have read and heard, as I have not embraced AI to the extent that some others have.  Allison’s recommendation of using AI to repurpose previously created content is something that I had not thought of.  If I were to use AI for marketing on a continuous basis, I would likely use it to keep my written content to a set number of words or paragraphs, as well as perhaps use studies or either types of links to support my content.  I’d certainly review the content to keep it personal, and perhaps use AI to create an image that relates to the content.