4 Tips on Advertising Basics

1.Consistency is key.

Credibility comes with consistency. Make sure that you are consistent in your ad message, style, and tone. This includes on business cards, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, signs, banners, and websites. When you find a style you like, stick with it.

2. Be expansive in your outreach platforms.

We all know advertising isn’t a one-man (or woman) show. While word-of-mouth advertising is useful, it is limiting in the amount of people it can reach in a quick duration of time. If you want to attract a larger audience in order to make your brand or business more successful, then you should also reach out to newspapers, radio and TV stations.

3. Promote benefits rather than features.

If you’re in a competitive industry, it’s hard to set yourself apart from the rest. Instead of focusing on the features that make your brand different, focus on the benefits that your customers experience while using your products or services. A benefit is the emotional satisfaction your products or services provide. By engaging with the emotional appeal, you’re more likely to pull on the heart-strings of future customers which will make them more likely to engage with your brand or business versus the rest.

4. Know your competitors.

While it is very important to focus on your own business, it is equally important to know everything about your competitors. The better you know what they have to offer, the easier it will be to set yourself a part from them and make your audience realize that they would prefer your service over anyone else’s.

7 Must-Have’s for Your Law Firm’s Website

Whether or not you’re in the office, your website is always on the clock. In many scenarios, your site acts as a potential client’s first impression and introduction to your firm and is often the thing that persuades them to call, or not. You must be able to capture your visitors’ attention and maintain it. Your website is your stage to display your firm’s overall image, goals, and message. While each law firm’s website will be unique, here are seven changes that can take your law firm’s website to the next level.

Responsive Design.

In the digital age we live in, most people do their searches from mobile devices. Whether it is a smart phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop, users expect a good experience on every screen. A responsively designed website adjusts fluidly to fit the screen width of any user’s device.   With responsive design, you do not have to try to anticipate every screen size and program pages accordingly. Instead, your website will adapt to whatever the screen size may be, and offer your users a consistent and hassle-free experience.

In-Depth Bio Pages.

Attorney bio pages are some of the most-visited pages on a firm’s website. People want to feel comfortable in their choice for legal help and one way to nudge them in the right direction, is by incorporating great bio pages. People care about the type of experience and personality of the person, or people, that they will be working with. Sprinkle bios with details about interests, passions, and legal background. Also, don’t be afraid to include personal information. Do not just publish a resume style list. Lists are not memorable and resumes do not make an emotional connection.

Easy-to-Find Contact Information.

If someone is visiting your website, it is to either find information on your firm, and/or to hire a lawyer. It may sound trivial, but if a potential client must work to find your contact information, they may just move onto the next. Make that transaction easy, and reap the benefits.

Simplicity.

Too much visual stimulation is stressful. To keep your website from looking cluttered, stick too two fonts (maximum) and don’t underestimate the importance of breaks in text. Breaking up long paragraphs with sub-headings or bullets, can make your website easier to navigate and easier to read. Same rules apply to color. Too many colors will make your site look sloppy and unprofessional. Choose one dominant color and create a palette based on that.

Distinct Calls to Action.

To have this, you must identify the primary function you want your website to have. Do you want users to contact you, or is your website more of a tool to confirm experience and credentials? Whatever the goal, make it clear and make it easy do.

Reviews.

Social proof is a powerful influencer. If a potential client is not so sure who to hire, their decision may lie with whoever offers a more positive overall experience. What better way to do that than with reviews that potential clients can reference. If you have client testimonials, post them on relevant practice area and bio pages and encourage previous clients to post Google reviews.

Professional Photography.

Use photography to give users an authentic sense of your firm. Professional photography helps your website look polished and professional. It’s time to toss the generic empty courtrooms and showcase your firm’s personality.

Why Knowing Your Customers Can Improve Your Brand’s Success

Relationships are a two-way street; we both want to be heard and acknowledged as the individual we are. Business is no different as many PR professionals are in long-term relationships with their customers.

As important as it is for your customers to understand your brand’s values, it is as equally beneficial if you spend the time getting to know theirs. The more time and energy you put into getting to know your audience, the more successful you will be.

Research shows that repeat customers can be your greatest ally.

• The longer the relationship with a company, the more money the customer will spend. On their 5^th purchase, customers will spend 40% more than the 1^st and on their 10^th purchase they will spend 80% more than the 1^st.
• Repeat customers will refer more people than one-time buyers. After their first purchase, customers are liking to refer 3-4 people. After 10 purchases with your company, they are likely to refer 7-13 people.
• Majority of consumers are loyal to their special brand. 64% of Millennials are as brand-loyal or more brand-loyal than their parents.

So if you have repeat customers that seem brand-loyal, why would they end the relationship and move on to another brand? Here are the top 4 reasons a consumer would “break up” with your brand:

1. A negative review remains unaddressed while similar products continue to be offered (57%)
2. Data leak or breach (53%)
3. No live or real-time customer service support (42%)
4. No timely sales and promotions offers (38%)

At the end of the day, customers want to feel important to you and crave personalized experiences. 79% of consumers want brands that understand and care about “me” and 56% are loyal to brands that deeply understand their priorities and preferences. It’s no longer about what product you can provide them, but also what kind of personalized experience you give them with the product.

Find a Master Database Management tool to help you better understand your audience then customize their experience in a way that keeps them coming back for more. Similar to nurturing your relationships at home, you need to invest the time into your customers in order to become a successful brand.

3 Tips to Improve Your Lawfirm’s Brand

• Be Authentic and Build Trust with your Community

When it comes to building your personal brand, authenticity and trust are two key components to developing a credible identity. If you want to be the best attorney in your area, prove it with your work ethic and let your website reflect that mentality.

Being authentic is highly praised within today’s society and one of the best ways to build trust with your audience. You must become comfortable with talking about yourself and asking others to talk about you too through client reviews and testimonials. Once your audience understands who you are and what you have to offer, they will trust your work and be drawn to your business.

• Use High-Quality Photos and Develop a Strong Unique Selling Proposition

We all know that first impressions matter. When it comes to your personal brand, first impressions can either make or break your business. It’s important to go the extra mile and use professional quality photos for your website and social media platforms. The more professionalism you display with your online identity; the more credibility and trustworthiness potential clients will credit you with. Don’t hurt yourself by using low-quality photos. Find a local photographer that can take high-quality photos of you and your firm to use for your various online sources.

Along with first impressions is the importance of a unique selling proposition (USP). This is what sets you apart from other attorneys and draws clients your way. Some may call it an elevator pitch or a tag line or even a mission statement, but ultimately it’s what distinguishes you from the rest. In a short phrase or sentence, make it clear as to why a prospect should choose you and your law firm opposed to anyone else.

• Consistently Engage in Social Media

Whether we want to admit it or not, social media plays a huge role within growing your personal brand. Effective social media strategy is the art of making your own voice and is essential to branding yourself as an attorney. Creating a personal profile for each of your law firm’s attorneys helps to engage clients in the effectiveness of your business because it helps display a timeline of experience and history of a specific attorney. This enables your community to follow along and feel a personal tie to him or her.

Facebook and LinkedIn are essential for the growth of your personal brand. You must consistently engage with your community and show that you are active within your field. Consistency is key. Do not post all of your photos at once in order to play catch-up and get content out there. Instead, create a schedule for when you want to post content periodically that way your audience continually comes back.

5 Ways a Blog Can Improve Your Law Firm’s Website

It is no secret that blogging has erupted with popularity over the past decade due to social media and other platforms for self-expression. To some professionals, blogging can come off as cheesy, unimportant, and time consuming. We think, however, that blogging has more potential and can be an increasingly effective tool in professional circumstances, such as your law firm’s website. This does not mean you need to incorporate a blog in the traditional sense. This can include news, updates on your law firm, awards and more.  Whether or not you agree, take some time to first read these 5 ways a blog can improve your web presence.

1. Search Engine Recognition–

When it comes to search engines paying attention to your site over thousands of others, it has a lot to do with the quantity and quality of content. If you are only updating your website once a year (or less), there is no way for search engines to detect new key phrases and updated content. By dedicating time every week to update frequently asked questions, news, updates, or link relevant articles, you are creating a more dynamic web presence and making yourself easier to find.

2. Increased Visibility for New Clients to Find You-

This goes hand-in-hand with search engine recognition. If there is more of a variety of content in association with your website, your website can become an informative tool. It allows potential clients to come across your website in a variety of ways. Whether or not someone is looking to hire a lawyer at that point in time, you have then created name recognition and when they are ready, you will already have an advantage over your competitors.

3. Illustrates Expertise and Constant Involvement-

Having a blog of some sort will allow you to show more than one area of expertise. You can touch on various areas of law in an organized, non-overwhelming way. This can also give potential clients a sense of what it might be like to work with you. The way you approach certain subjects can spark intrigue and ignite a professional relationship.

4. Efficiency for Those Seeking Information-

If you are writing content that addresses the questions and concerns of potential clients, it not only is a useful tool for those searching for information online, but it also becomes an easy and organized resource for you to point to when those topics arise with new people. Updating this information weekly or bi-weekly will also allow your website to remain in line with current projects you are working on and acknowledge arising concerns or questions about your law firm.

5. Self-Promotion-

Lastly, a regularly-updated section of your website can also serve as a place to announce firm awards, cases won, or accomplishments. This is the perfect platform to showcase what you have done and what you are capable of!

5 Questions to Consider When Writing for An Audience

The first step in conveying an effective message is knowing who you are talking to. The key is adapting your content to align with the anticipated values and concerns of those who will be receiving your message. Whether you have a generalized group of readers or you are writing to a closed group of people, there are five questions you should ask yourself before you begin:

Where do they live? Are you writing content for a localized area or will it be available to people all over? Taking the geographical location of your readers into consideration when writing is one way to pinpoint your audience’s values. Researching local customs and cultural traditions can also help you establish context in their current events.

What is the context? Researching events that have been in the news in that area will give you a sense of context. Remaining sensitive and mindful of current events will help you adjust your content in terms of what is appropriate to discuss and what might be portrayed as offensive.

How big is the audience? While this may seem insignificant, this small detail can help determine what kind of “voice” you use in your writing. For example, if you were to write a newsletter for your colleagues, you could assume that your readers are college educated and have at least a basic knowledge of the company. However, if your audience is a large and more generalized group of people, you will need to tailor your message so it is palatable to more than one demographic.

What demographic would you like to reach? It is no secret that you would not speak to a high school student the same way you would a business woman. Knowing or anticipating the demographic of your readers can help you determine the level of vocabulary to use, the formality of your language, the level of detail, and the types of visual aids, or lack thereof, to use. For example, if your goal is to persuade readers, statistics and facts might work for scholars and professionals but will not be as effective in a younger, less educated demographic.

What do they value? Finally, you must consider what your intended audience values and what they might be looking to gain from reading your content. If you can anticipate what is important to your audience, you can ultimately create something that will resonate with them.