Basic AdWords Strategy For Lawyers

Introduction

2016 should have seen continued focus on your digital strategy. Disruption in the Canadian legal market continues to put pressure on law firms. You need to find new ways to increase brand awareness, re-engage with your current customers and connect with your future clients.

Contents

Introduction

Why is a Digital Strategy Important

Getting Started

Review Your Online Reputation

Review Your Search Engine Results

Taking Actions

Conclusion

Why is a Digital Strategy Important?

Your online profile is your resume. Prospective clients will carefully review social media, blogs, industry reviews and peers reviews before contacting you. Old clients will be targeted by competitors through networking events, friend recommendations and online.

In-house counsel uses the internet to find industry information and external help. Blogging and social media now have a huge influence. Clients and in-house counsel searching for a lawyer will give credit to online publications. Lawyers use lawyer-authored blogs, articles, LinkedIn profiles, and social media to research potential new firms. 

The perceived credibility of digital sources continues to increase in professional fields. Not surprisingly, a peer recommendation or review is still one of the most important factors for anyone looking for legal advice.

You need to be the brand of the first choice for old and new customers.

Good content marketing is a key component of a Lawyers business growth. You need to be seen and heard by your industry and customers.

Getting Started

Before reaching out to your clients through any digital strategy you need an objective. Are you trying to generate a direct response to a new business inquiry or are you;

1. Nurturing your current and prospective clients?

2. Think about the needs of your audience.

3. What do they want?

4. What do they need?

5. What pain can you ease?

6. You need to address those needs in your messaging.

You need a responsive, user-focused website.

This is crucial for Google rankings, but more importantly your user's enjoyment. If the site doesn't scale well to their browser, the forms are un-useable or they can’t find a telephone number they’re going to leave fast.

1. Your site shouldn’t be cluttered.

2. It should clearly demonstrate your unique selling points.

3. Why do customers choose you over your competitors?

4. You need to back those statements with relevant case studies and testimonials from your customers.

5. Client Feedback is increasingly important and its what sets you apart from the mediocre players in your industry.

Install Google Analytics and setup Goals.

Don’t waste any money on marketing before you can track what's working. If you can't measure it, don't do it. Too many lawyers don't know why or evening if, their marketing is succeeding.

Review Your Online Reputation

You’re going to start with the low hanging fruit. Identify what opportunities you are missing out on.

Type in your brand terms

1. Have you claimed the Google Places Business?

2. Do you have Google reviews?

3. Facebook Reviews?

4. Yelp Reviews?

5. What do the search engines results return for your brand?

6. Are there any unmanaged social media profiles floating about in Google?

7. Are the organic results positive or negative?

8. Is it clear what a customer should do next or how to get in contact with you?

9. Are your competitors pushing you down the screen by bidding on your brand terms?

Check all of this on mobiles, tablets and desktop.

Review Your Search Engine Results

1. Search for your most valuable products and services using the search queries your customers would use.

2. Check Google Analytics for search queries your customer's use.

3. Check the Search Optimisation Report to see how you rank for keywords and landing pages.

Taking Action

Create a testimonial collection strategy. You want your customers to give you good solid testimonials on Google, Facebook, and Yelp at the very least. Your customers regularly read online reviews. So it's really important that you focus on driving reviews and getting your existing customers to recommend you to others.

Create a AdWords Campaign

Clearly, Identify Your Target Audience. You aren’t trying to show the ad to every one, just the very specific few that are part of this campaign. Think about who they are. What is their location, likes, education, income level, where do they spend their time online, what search queries do they use.

Get in the shoes of your customer and walk like them. Start with the Google AdWords Keyword Planner to get some ideas. Don’t forget to look at your Google analytics keyword data. When choosing keywords think about the cost and how much you can spend acquiring a new lead.

Remarketing

Remarking is a no brainer. It is one of your most valuable opportunities. You can show ads to people who have already clicked on an ad or reengage old customers that haven't been in contact for a while.

You can create personalized ads just for customers that haven't visited the site for a while, or reach people who have already shown an interest.

Create an audiences using Google analytics that you can share and target with AdWords.

TIPS: When crafting your ads, create ads targeted to your specific audience. Use the keywords in your copy they used in their search query. Don't use generic ad copy.

Use an effective call to action. Tell your viewers exactly what you want them to do in an enticing way. Make your CTA stand out

Choosing Landing Pages

Your landing pages should be relevant to the ad copy and customers search query. There shouldn't be any surprises here for the customer. Land your customer on the information they expected to see.

If you've got a customer that's worked with you before show them a personalized landing page. Use appropriate language for a loyal customer rather than as a first-time buyer.

Make sure the page reinforces your unique selling points. Reviews & testimonials should be clearly visible above the fold.

People do buy from people.

Conclusion

The landscape for professional services is quickly changing. Legal firms must continue to focus on their digital strategy. If you need any help setting up your digital marketing campaigns don’t hesitate to give us a call or email us. We're experts in our field, our trusted team can get you setup with Google Analytics and Google AdWords.