Vanguard’s lead generation for lawyers is completely unlike traditional lead generation companies – thank goodness
When most lawyers think of lead generation, they are likely to think of employing a run-of-the-mill lead generation company. But here at Vanguard, we beg to differ. That’s because we have determined a better way to generate leads – highly qualified leads – through 30 years of generating prospects for medical practices. Our entire LawMarketLink legal marketing program is essentially a turbocharged, law firm lead generation engine.
It runs on a high-octane (or high-voltage) formula of content marketing, public relations, online reputation management, and search engine marketing. And we throw in some additives like website development, branding, social media, email marketing, and blogging.
Jump to: Untraditional approach Qualified leads
Here’s a hot lead for you
Here’s our version of the personal injury marketing mantra of You only pay, if we win: We guarantee law practice growth of 15%-30% in one year of beginning our services.
The essentials of lead generation for lawyers
At its core, lead generation for lawyers means connecting with potential clients early in their buying process. A law firm should stand out from others in terms of its expertise, trust, and potential for building a strong relationship. Clients need to buy into the law firm’s brand, which should exude all of the above.
Lead gen, as it is called by those in a hurry, is no longer a cold-call affair. In today’s digital age it is mostly driven by digital marketing strategies, which is our strength. A valuable lead for a law firm is the same as a valuable lead for any organization: Someone who already shows an interest in your services.
Salesforce says the three best lead gen channels with good return on investment are influencers, social publishing/advertising, and websites.
Not all leads are created equal
Among the various types of leads, the crown jewel is the qualified lead. These are the prospects ready to sign on – with the right outfit for them.
Vanguard specializes in inbound marketing leads, which is showing potential clients the value a legal practice has for them through the firm’s website, e-newsletters, and social media. While we do work in outbound marketing for leads in our search engine marketing (SEM) with pay-per-click ads, we don’t focus our lawyer lead generation in other outbound marketing efforts like TV spots, print ads, or billboards.
Why Vanguard is not like a traditional lead generation company
Choosing a conventional lead generation company might seem like the easiest path, but it can be costly and less effective in the long run. The American Bar Association (ABA) does not allow lawyers to compensate someone for recommending their services, but lawyers can pay for advertising and referral services, which include lead generation companies.
The ABA has an interesting article in Law Practice Magazine on lead generation. One aspect is that lawyers need to be careful about how some companies generate leads.
For example, if a lead generation company has employees trolling chat rooms where people are having legal issues, it’s not permissible for a lead gen employee to contact those individuals and offer a lawyer’s services. In fact, ABA says the lawyer is responsible for training lead generation people on what is and isn’t acceptable.
Lead generation companies have an incentive to acquire leads at the lowest cost to them in terms of time and investment. That’s natural. So is the likelihood that easier to get leads are not necessarily effective. Therefore, if a firm goes with a lead generating company, it should ask the right questions to assess how the company generates leads and how they ensure lead quality. Leads can be somewhat easy to get, but are they the ones a firm wants – the qualified leads?
Smart digital marketing earns firms qualified leads
The ABA notes that 49% of law firms say lead buying is their best marketing effort. We think that’s because a lot of law firms don’t know how to generate their leads.
The way the best lead generation companies get their prospects is the same way the best legal marketing companies operate: They go after qualified leads where they are, which is in the digital environment. In essence, a good legal marketing firm is a good lead generation firm.
Of course, individual contact and outreach is still an excellent way to generate leads. This involves things like asking your accounting and financial services firms to refer clients needing legal services, attending networking events and working the room, and being a guest speaker on a legal topic at a community event. That’s a lot of work, and in truth, that’s a fairly limited pond of potential leads.
The digital universe is the opposite. And while it is a vast ocean of potential clients, it also has a lot of little fishes who aren’t interested in a law firm, and the firm is not interested in them.
The way to qualified leads is through internet search by people needing the kind of services a law firm offers. An excellent website full of specific information potential clients are looking for is a powerful lead generator that gives people free and quality information they are already seeking online.
It has to be done right – in the eyes of the web visitor and in the eyes of the Google bots that rank a website’s search engine optimization (SEO) and content in order to serve it up to searchers. Interesting blogs with insights on custody battles is great lead material for moms going through divorce and looking for representation. Pages on how divorce judges evaluate cases or how to best present the client’s side of the story without being vindictive are valuable items for a qualified divorce lead.
Now integrate that with a social media strategy, e-newsletters, public relations, online reputation management, branding, and SEM. The result is a long-term lead generating machine for a law firm.
Partner with Vanguard to generate more clients
- We guarantee 15%-30% growth in year one or we work for free.
- A turnkey digital marketing program augmented by public/media relations services.
- A proven team of experts with 29 years’ experience in marketing professional services.
- A vendor steeped in customer service and reliability, backed by ample metrics of results.