Law Firm Marketing FAQs

FAQs for attorneys considering a law firm marketing agency

Growing your law practice is always a top priority. But with countless marketing programs and high-pressure choices available, it is often difficult to know where to start or whom to trust.

We’ve created a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions covering fundamentals of digital and traditional legal marketing.

What’s the difference between legal marketing &  legal advertising?

All advertising is marketing. But not all marketing is advertising.

Advertising is a form of marketing. Advertising requires payment to mass media (television, radio, magazines, Google) to convey a commercial message.

Marketing includes much more than advertising. The highest level of marketing is strategically focused – positioning a service or product in the minds of buyers. What is the difference between Walmart and Target? Between a Dell Computer and an Apple MacBook? Between a Tesla and a Prius?

Answers to such questions go to branding, a word usually poorly defined. Most folks think branding is splashing a product or service logo and name everywhere, on billboards, bus signs, TV ads, etc. It’s not.

Brand = a claim of distinction

Branding is communicating the distinctions of a service or product. Example: Remember the last time you saw a TV commercial or billboard for Starbucks coffee. They’re pretty much non-existent.

When the first Starbucks opened in Pike Place in downtown Seattle in 1971, coffee was a supplemental beverage served to accompany meals in restaurants. But a trio of entrepreneurs envisioned bringing the concept of an Italian-style “bar” to the U.S.

Italians go to bars for not just alcoholic beverages but also non-alcoholic beverages plus casual food such as pasta, pizza, and deserts. Yet drinks – especially espresso-style coffees – are the star attractions.

Three innovators imported the same concept to that first Starbucks. More than a half-century later, nearly 18,000 Starbucks locations pull in some $29 billion in revenues annually nationwide.

To be sure, more than 37,000 other coffee shops compete with Starbucks in the U.S. Yet Starbucks commands the lion’s share of sales because it was first in the category more than five decades ago – one sure way to build an enduring brand.

How to brand a law firm

Branding a law firm can be trickier than branding consumer goods, especially for generalist law firms. But in our experience, every organization has a differentiator. Sometimes it’s the smallest of attributes, such as offering optional after-hours consultations or promoting online databases that provide timely updates to cases on client demand, with secure email notifications of changes in cases.

Other times, firms style themselves to fill a particular need. One West Coast firm headed by a former brand-name tech general counsel promotes itself as specialists in helping tech start-ups.

Another in the Rocky Mountain region focuses on representing men only in divorce cases, calling itself “The Dadvocates.” A growing trend in divorce and custody law is firms focusing on “collaborative family law,” featuring mediation as a more affordable and less stressful alternative to adversarial resolution.

These are all branding strategies. Some, of course, are more impactful than others. Yet all tend to rise above the din of competition.

However, instead of strategic brand building, many law firms rely on shotgun-style advertising that blasts messages out to the public in general. Their undifferentiated messages blur together.

This isn’t to say that Vanguard doesn’t utilize advertising in modest, meaningful ways. But we see better results in helping uncover a firm’s unique personality and then hanging a marketing program on that singular hook.

Why choose Vanguard for lawyer marketing services?

Our three- or four-floor elevator pitch: Vanguard has three decades of proven success managing marketing for professional services practices (legal and medical).

To our knowledge, we are the only legal marketing firm guarantees practice growth of 15%-30% growth in year one. Or we work for free. Which we’ve never had to do.

How much does Vanguard law firm marketing program cost?

Short answer: Usually several thousand dollars per month, all in – for a multi-disciplinary marketing team larger than many if not most marketing departments of national and multi-national law firms.

Certainly for most small to medium-sized law firms, that buys enough horsepower to grow business year after year. All in. With a qualifier – some (but far less than most experienced marketers believe) online paid advertisements can add a modest increase in expense. But…and a big but it is…

Vanguard’s LawMarketLink program more often than not dramatically cuts advertising costs, sometimes in half or more.

We charge a flat monthly fee for inclusive, highest-level marketing strategy, implementation, consultation, reporting, and ongoing proactive planning. Note: we also very gladly work with in-house marketing directors and small teams.

At the same time, we’re no fan of peacemealed marketing. Our 30-plus years in the biz clearly shows that a holistic approach to digital marketing is by far the most effective. We’ve seen too many patchwork efforts, with different parts farmed out to multiple parties. Ugh. Mediocre results abound because disparate teams aren’t fully integrated.

Our program, LawMarketLink, offers a choice of service packages and price points to fit almost any law firm’s reasonable budget and growth goals.

Big caveat: We’re not the least expensive. There are only two kinds of marketing: cheap and effective.

We do only the latter.

What makes Vanguard different?

• Practice growth guarantee: We put our own skin in the game. If we don’t hit the growth target, we work for free until we do. (It’s never happened.)
• Three decades of success: We’ve been in the biz way longer than just about everyone else.
• Comprehensive, customizable solutions: We do it all, including web design, social media, SEO, branding, and PPC advertising (pay per click), news media relations, crisis communications…you name it.
• Experienced, diversified & skilled team: Experts in technology, marketing, content writing, graphic design, and more.
• Customer service: If you call our office during business hours, you get a live person. That says something. We’ve earned a reputation for white-glove customer service. New clients are always impressed by rapid response to requests and questions, constant updates, and reporting of solid metrics on our work that usually dwarfs baselines.
• Unique perspective: Our CEO-founder has been at a long time, with graduate degrees in information technology (M.S.) and law (J.D.).

What is Vanguard’s focus in legal marketing?

Content marketing. We’re basically a writing company dressed in an internet suit.

Yes, we work and live on the internet all day long. And we are adroit on all digital platforms such as social media and search engines in building brands and growing law practices. We know our way around how computers, tablets, smartphones, and similar devices function. We’ve been around the IT block more than a few times.

How does Vanguard approach law firm SEO?

Frankly, we’re weary of marketing firms’ hyperbolic mystery about SEO. The vast majority claim to be experts in it without ever saying what it is. They throw jargon at prospective clients hoping to persuade them that it’s complicated, magical computer stuff too hard for the average person to understand.

Being honest about effective SEO is simple. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to do necessarily. But from decades of experience, we say confidently that 85% of effective SEO work is writing comprehensive, authoritative, and accurate information all readers of all educational levels can easily grasp.

There are no black box SEO secrets. Aside from clear-headed writing, the rest of effective SEO is part insightful keyword use and part optimizing a website with web code for Google and other search engines to find and highly rank content on page one.

How long does it take for lawyer SEO to start working?

It takes time to rank well because you’ve got a lot of competition and older, well-optimized sites have an advantage. Hardware and infrastructure, site optimization, and content creation all need to be in place before Google will rate a website or content favorably.

But with an integrated program, you should start seeing some results in 3-4 months. In our experience, from 6-12 months will show very good results.

Vanguard clients’ websites usually see search rankings grow from a dozen or two search terms landing each site on page one of Google to a hundred or more within a year.

What does Google say? Watch Maile Ohye with Google Search: she says it takes 4 months to a year to implement a good SEO program and start to see benefits. She also gives tips on what to look for in an SEO manager. (We do everything she says and more).

How does content marketing for law firms pay off?

To bring in new clients, content marketing works way better than advertising and costs way less. Great content can get your website into the top search results Google returns for that topic, while also building client trust and a reputation for your firm.

The top search spot is clicked 39.8% of the time; the top Google ad spot is clicked a mere 2.1%. Law is an information-driven field, and potential clients want legal info. Make your website the go-to source of legal content in your area and you will earn respect and cases.

What are Vanguard’s qualifications for legal firm web design?

We have decades of success building professional services websites that are eye pleasing, are user friendly, technically solid, and data secure. Our combination of graphic design, marketing, and developer skills ensures our websites move into the upper search rankings.

Plus, our collaborative approach means that we work closely with each client on branding and best practices to ensure the website is a true representation of each firm.

What are your law firm marketing KPIs?

Key performance indicators are important to us and to you. Here’s an abbreviated list of the nearly 100 digital metrics we measure every month:

• Ongoing count of new practice leads earned through our website and other digital efforts.
• Google Analytics on how your webpages rank in search & how you rank against competitors for important keywords.
• Conversion and lead metrics such as online form submissions, calls, and appointment requests through our digital marketing platforms.
• Online pay-per-click search ad performance.
• E-mail engagement rates and website clicks.
• Online reputation management analysis, with monitoring, trends, and improvements.
• Social media performance metrics.

Do you offer legal public relations & online reputation management (ORM)?

Vanguard offers law firm public relations (PR) and ORM as part of its full-suite of marketing services. We have decades of experience in PR, and our services include media relations, crisis communication, and PR campaigns. Law firms and attorneys can greatly boost their visibility and reputation by becoming trusted media sources and thought leaders. Our online reputation management and lawyer review services include monitoring and rapid responses, as well as proactive testimonial outreach.

Does your program include lawyer blogs and lawyer social media?

Blogging is critical to our LegalMarketLink program, and we ghostwrite or edit yours. Blogs educate potential clients, make lawyers relatable, and highlight their expertise. A good blog post helps readers separate hype from solid information.

Social media is a must component of digital marketing for legal firms. Use it to share news, information, show personality, engage with the community, and get clicks back to your website.

Are email newsletters effective?

Yes, ones that pop, ripe with meaningful and client-friendly content, and have the highest chance of being opened, appreciated, and acted on.

Our strategy and design result in a far better than industry-standard open rates and visits to each client’s website. E-newsletters educate people more about a firm’s areas of specialization and showcase its experts on subjects of critical importance to current and future clients.