Law firms must attract new leads in order to provide their services to a larger audience. But lead generation is where many attorneys and their firms miss the mark.
Lawyers can overlook the tried-and-true direct marketing strategies that prove to achieve measurable results time and again.
The following explains how direct marketing can be used to grow your legal practice. You’ll reach a larger audience, convert more prospects to paying clients, and your marketing more efficient.
Direct Marketing Essentials
Direct marketing consists of the strategies that connect law firms to their target audiences. More importantly, its goal is to compel that audience to take action rather than just generate visibility for your brand.
Direct marketing educates prospects about your legal services and the solutions they provide. This is commonly done through physical or digital information products that teach others about your practice.
Direct marketing is rooted in the measurement of the results of marketing campaigns. Law firms and other businesses can gauge how effective a campaign is and test different strategies so they achieve better results over time.
Benefits of Direct Marketing for Law Firms
The ability to measure your results is the biggest benefit of direct marketing. But it’s not the only one that helps law firms grow their client bases quickly and at a reduced cost.
Direct marketing identifies the prospects who are most responsive to your messages. This lets you learn about your target audience so that you can tailor your services (and create new ones) that are more valuable to your audience.
Through direct marketing, you can target recipients by segmenting your mailing list. Law firms can segment their lists by their clients’ purchase history, legal needs, income, and other factors.
Instead of sending out generic marketing messages, you speak directly to the needs of a segment of your audience. This improves your ability to capture their attention and convert that attention into interest for your services.
Creating and Implementing Your Direct Marketing Plan
How you put your direct marketing plan in place depends on your law firm’s business goals, target audience, existing mailing list, and other factors.
You can market to your current mailing list as well as to the clients of others. Partnerships with non-competitive and complementary businesses whose clients may need your legal services give you an immediate boost in revenue.
Direct marketing can be done through physical mail or email marketing campaigns. Each has their own benefits and limitations.
Mail campaigns require more cost for postage and mailing materials. Emails, on the other hand, can be delivered for little to no cost.
But emails can be quickly deleted by recipients. This means that law firms must take the steps to ensure that their emails get read. This includes crafting compelling subject lines that get right to the heart of the recipient’s legal needs.
Physical mail may also be quickly tossed in the wastebasket. But by creating a personalized package, including free gifts or guides, and using other established strategies, you’re more likely to get your physical mail read.
Finally, you must have a system in place to measure results. Otherwise, your direct marketing efforts will fall short. Knowing how many people respond to a campaign lets you reduce future costs and target better prospects.
Direct marketing isn’t new. But many law firms forget how effective it can be for generating new leads and clients. Done correctly, direct marketing lets you hone in on those prospects who are more likely to need and choose your legal services.
Knowing how to use direct marketing gives you a leading edge over your competitors, reduces marketing costs, and improves the efficiency of all of your marketing activities.
