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Supreme Court, where it was overturned
on the grounds that truthful advertisement
was protected under the First and
Fourth Amendments.
“The case stands for the idea that commercial
information is something that
offers vitally important information to
consumers just as other types of speech,
and the speech is important because it
leads to economic decisions that govern
our lives,” Bill Canby, the lawyer for Bates
v. State Bar of Arizona, according to the
First Amendment Center.
But others feel as if the Supreme Court
reached the wrong decision. “My skin
crawls and stomach screams when I see
the ads for lawyers who promise to fight
like tigers and at very low cost,” John
Frank said in an interview with the First
Amendment Center. “I believe that advertising
has become so sufficiently promiscuous
that it is a profound change in
the practice of law.”
Three Challenges Facing the Industry
Clearly, there are mixed opinions on
legal marketing and advertising. And
though we’re 40 years past the Supreme
Court decision, the industry still faces
some pretty stout – albeit different – challenges.
Let’s take a look at some of the
issues law firms have and why many are
struggling to gain exposure in ethical,
natural, and high-returning ways.
1. Lack of Client Education
Consumer education is important in
every industry, but there are few areas
where it matters more than in the legal
world. In almost every case, the client
has something at stake – money, freedom,
reputation, responsibility, etc. – and
a failure to properly understand what’s
happening can lead to catastrophic consequences.
From the law firm side of things, it’s
crucially important that firms are able
to develop educational content as part
of their overall marketing and advertising
strategies. It’s the only way to develop
healthy and stable relationships with clients.
Unfortunately, many aren’t investing
in client education. This is either because
they don’t know how, or because they
don’t recognize the need.
Thankfully, there’s a lot of flexibility in
today’s marketplace. With social media,
blogging, and the pervasiveness of content
marketing, it’s possible to publish educational
materials in the form of eBooks,
white papers, articles, and videos – and
then push this content to highly targeted
audiences. For an example, look no further
than O’Steen’s current law practice
to see what this looks like.
2. Attorney Pushback Against Content
Attorneys – like almost everyone else
– are creatures of habit. For the past few
decades, law firm success has depended
on networking. So, when marketing and
advertising finally became options, it was
difficult for many to switch gears. Nearly
half a century later, many lawyers still
struggle with the concept.
“Many attorneys believe their networking
efforts are the only tactics that
successfully bring in new business,” says
Matt Naffah, a marketer who works closely
with lawyers. “While networking is an
invaluable tool for bringing in new business,
I don’t believe it’s the only tool at
your disposal.”
Naffah is a strong proponent of using
legal content marketing to generate clients.
However, he also recognizes that
getting attorneys to buy-in is one of the
biggest challenges the industry currently
faces.
His solution is to encourage firms to try
content marketing for a substantial period
of time and use predetermined KPIs
(Key Performance Indicators) to judge
the results. In most cases, the KPIs will
show that legal content marketing yields
a positive return.
As we move forward, look for more legal
firms to hire content writers and copywriters
in order to gain the upper hand in
this aspect of digital marketing. It’s a dynamic
shift in the legal workplace and will
shape how clients perceive the firms they
choose to work with.
3. Out With the Phone
Books, In With SEO
Today’s client is much different than
he was 10, 20, or 30 years ago. Instead of
picking up a phone book and shuffling
through to find an attorney, people are
utilizing the resources they have in front
of them to make educated decisions. In
most cases, this means a search engine
like Google.
But even more than searching for
something like, “Personal Injury Lawyer
+ NYC,” people are searching for lawyers
and then navigating through their websites
to gain a clearer picture before making
contact.
“What we’re finding is that our traffic is
increasing in terms of people finding us
through organic search said,” Jim Matsoukas,
CMO of a large law firm, when
asked about the biggest legal marketing
challenge he’s facing in 2016. “We have to
be more sophisticated and more strategic
about the language we use on the site and
the language that we use in our ads and in
our alerts, articles, and publications and
how that matches up with people looking
for legal services. I think that’s important.”
In other words, while Bates and O’Steen
were simply trying to gain visibility in
1976, today’s legal marketers and advertisers
must be more strategic. It’s about
gaining visibility and then cashing in on
this platform by using the right language,
resources, and content.
It’s not uncommon in law practices
around the country to now have weekly
meetings with SEO experts and digital
marketing teams. This is a pretty clear
shift in how lawyers view the Internet as a
source of reliable traffic generation.
Leverage Legal Marketing
the Right Way
In most industries, marketing is
straightforward. Choose your mediums,
tell the truth, and see what happens. In
the legal industry, things are a bit more
complicated. There’s much more at stake
when clients choose law firms.
In order to successfully and consistently
get new clients onboard in 2016, it’s imperative
that you invest in quality content
that allows you to overcome the challenges
and roadblocks that have emerged.
Furthermore, it’s important that you
educate clients in honest ways that prove
your firm is equipped to take on their
challenges. Bates and O’Steen paved the
way – it’s your turn to carry the torch.
Larry Alton is a full-time freelance writer and
business consultant. With over 7 years of experience
providing strategic consulting to companies ranging
from Fortune 500 firms to small, locally-owned
shops, He has directly observed the way America’s
workforce is changing across differing industries
and businesses.
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