Legal Marketing In the Era of Absolute Consumer Control: An Attorney's Thoughts on Supplemental Marketing

In one of the most competitive professions in the world, even the most business-savvy attorneys always feel one step behind in the marketing game. And that's for good reason. The world of attorney advertising is changing almost daily. Now the experts are saying we have "lost control" over our ability to communicate the marketing messages we want our potential client base to see and hear. But there's hope. Once you accept that you have lost control, there's so much you can do to ensure your law firm thrives.

A few months ago, I took it upon myself to do some research into cheap, non-traditional marketing techniques that I could personally execute to supplement our firm's TV and digital ads. A bit of Googling led me to Mark Schaefer, a leading voice in social media marketing and personal branding.

Two months and two Mark Schaefer books later, I am a fan. Mark's insights have completely changed the way I look at self-marketing and online presence. While I am no marketing expert, I think all professionals (including attorneys) should educate themselves on what works and what doesn't work in the realm of marketing. Mark's books are a good place to start.

One of these books, Marketing Rebellion, rests on a shocking premise: companies have completely lost control over their marketing message. But it's not their fault nor their PR agencies' fault. This loss of control was inevitable as a result of digital advances. The digital evolution has provided humans unlimited ability to interact about brands and inform their own decision-making process. Companies no longer steer the impression of their own company. The consumers are now in control.

Premise of the Marketing Rebellion

In recent years, digital and social media advertising have come to dominate corporate marketing. The good news is that the internet allows for billions of valuable brand impressions for companies. But the flip side is that businesses have been castrated of their ability to control their messaging. Consumers increasingly distrust corporate advertising and are much more likely to be impacted by humanistic messaging and human interactions. Indeed, the subtitle of Marketing Rebellion is "The Most Human Company Wins."

With that said, law firms shouldn't abandon their online marketing campaigns. Traditional social media ads are very effective. However, to thrive, law firms must make a concerted effort to be "human-centered." In other words, a law firm cannot just be a law firm providing legal services.

Instead, firms should strive to be seen by the public as a group of humans who provide meaning and value to their communities. This is a tough path for attorneys since the legal profession is consistently designated as being one of the most untrustworthy professions in public polling.

So what are some cost-effective ways that attorneys can use to supplement their more traditional (and more expensive) marketing efforts to become more human in the eyes of the consumer? Here are some of my thoughts:

Turn Your Fans into Your Marketers

Consumers trust human endorsements more than corporate advertising. And it's not even close. So you should capitalize on people who already like your firm. For example, every law firm has former clients who loved the way their case was handled. Some of these former clients are also very active on social media and are even trusted voices in the community. There are ways to ensure that these "fans" spread your message for you.

Send them handwritten cards, become their friend on social media, celebrate their successes, and nurture that relationship. After the relationship is solidified, ask them to do online reviews for you on Google, Avvo, LinkedIn, Justia, and so on. Ask them to do a shareable video testimonial.

It's also important to reciprocate: if your fans have a message or passion, make sure you share that as well. It will turn your fans into super-fans. Regular people singing your praises into the public sphere can be much more effective than an expensive TV ad boasting about your law firm's great results.

Encourage Attorneys and Support Staff to Be Your Firm's Marketers

This is somewhat of a controversial subject, but businesses around the globe are providing social media training to their employees. It is a trend that is here to stay. But asking your employees to be your marketers will only be effective if your employees have already been made to feel valuable (if you aren't doing that already, you have bigger problems to solve.)

Employees should be encouraged to share something funny or meaningful that happened at work. When consumers see that law firms are just made up of regular people who find meaning and happiness at their workplace, the firm's messaging becomes exponentially stronger. For example, our receptionist shared a photo of her sitting at her desk with our adorable office dog "Ruby." This Facebook post got considerable interaction from people who otherwise would know nothing about our firm.

What you should NOT do is force employees to share bland firm ads on their social media accounts. This will be ineffective and will probably backfire. But what you should do is explain to your employees the importance of human messaging. If your employees feel valued by firm management, they will want to help the firm.

Join the Online Conversations

"Word of mouth" referrals are so important for law firms. A strong majority of potential clients choose a law firm only after consulting with multiple people online or with family/friends. Therefore, the ongoing online conversations about you are extremely important. You need to know what's being said in these conversations; but more importantly, you need to become part of the conversation.

Be active with your own personal social media accounts. Sites like Reddit, which have sub-threads for geographical areas, can be an important place to be active. The same is applicable for Facebook and LinkedIn groups that focus on a particular geographic region. Be active in your geographical area's online community so that you become a trusted name. Comment on people's posts and share meaningful, non-promotional content. When it's time for someone to hire an attorney and they stumble across your name in a Google search, you will have the advantage over competitors because that person has already seen your human side.

Creating "Non-Ad Ads" by Doing Good Things for Others

People distrust corporate ads. In fact, they hate them. People (including me) will do anything to avoid seeing an ad. So your firm's advertising efforts much shift -- we must make content that does not appear to be an ad, but is indeed an ad. I guess you could call them "non-ad ads." (I'm sure someone in the marketing profession has already coined that one!)

You can make "non-ad ads" by creating human-based content through firm activities that simultaneously benefit others. Have your firm volunteer at a charitable event. Share content about it. Raise money for a local charitable cause. Share content about it. Sponsor a little league ball team and also show up in person for one of the games. Share. Speak at a local event about legal topics. Share. Not only are you making good content, your firm is genuinely doing good things for the community.

For example, the two photos to the left highlight our firm's humanness. It shows nursing students at a local university listening to me give a presentation about how to not get sued for malpractice. It simultaneously shows that (1) someone seems to care about what I have to say; and (2) that our firm is giving back to the community.

Our social media post about this event got a good bit of positive feedback and is what I would consider a good example of a "non-ad ad." No one hated the post (I hope), but many people actually went out of their way to look for it, like it, comment on it, and share it to their networks.

Through that one post, I reached a whole new group of people who think I must be a decent lawyer. I even got a good nursing home negligence case out of it. What's more amazing is that the opportunity to speak at the university came through my paralegal (Thanks Sinead!) She felt valued enough by our firm to reach out to her friend, a university nursing professor, to volunteer our firm's attorneys to speak at the event.

Make Sure your Firm's Communication Systems Reflect the Importance of Humanness

A 2016 study conducted by the American Bar Association found that 90% of potential clients who call a law firm never get to speak with an attorney. To make matters worse, a sizeable fraction never even get to speak with a human being. And to make matters completely dreadful, 42% of potential clients don't get a return call within 48 hours. If humanness matters so much, this is unacceptable.

Your firm's communication systems, whether that is the phone system or online inquiries, must reflect the importance consumers place on human interaction. We must pick up the phone. We must return calls. We must reply quickly to online inquiries. Attorneys spend gobs of money on trying to get the phone to ring. When it does ring, make sure the consumer experience is a pleasant one that involves human interaction. Be the most human law firm possible.

These are just some of my ideas that stem from Marketing Rebellion. I'm sure you can think of more for your firm. I hope this article at least gets you thinking differently about how you and your firm can supplement your marketing strategy. If you have any feedback, please comment. But no matter what you may say, I am convinced that the most human law firms will be the ones that thrive.

Bart Siniard is a personal injury attorney with the law firm of Siniard, Timberlake & League, P.C. Based in Huntsville, AL, Siniard, Timberlake & League, P.C. has been consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a "Best Law Firm" in the personal injury category. Bart was recently recognized as a "Top 40 Under 40" personal injury attorney by the National Trial Lawyers association.

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