When you begin practicing law, the single most important thing you are looking for is client inquiries. Whether it's online, by phone, or through the front door, you want potential clients to seek you out for their cases.
So you advertise. You work hard to develop a campaign with a consistent logo, coloring, slogan, and all the essential marketing characteristics.
Soon it appears to begin paying off. The phone is ringing, the inbox is full, and the waiting room is steady. But you start to realize that many of these contacts have been wasted. They are seeking legal help in an area where you don't specialize, and you are not able to help them.
How can you avoid this? It takes a long process of building a reputation as a quality firm, the way that Myler Disability has done. And that all goes back to that marketing campaign, and the process of targeting it to people who will need your services. Just like the basics of journalism, it goes back to who, what, where, when, and why.
Who Are The Clients, And Why Do They Need You?
The first thing you need to know is who your potential clients are. That's the only way you can tailor your marketing to methods that will find them. Consider your area of specialty and give yourself a quick demographic sketch of your client base. If you do deed search work, your market is people in search of homes. If you do estate planning, your market is usually going to be older folks. Whatever your market is, you need to know who they are before you can go any further. You can also do what Myler Disability does and solicit inquiries online.
What Are The Clients Doing?
Now we need to know something about what your clients are doing all day. Senior citizens in search of help with a will are usually not fighting rush-hour traffic on busy freeways, because they're retired and avoiding those areas. People who are disabled may be making doctor visits or going for therapy. You get the idea. You have to know what they are doing before you can proceed to the next step...
Where Are The Clients?
The things that people are doing will determine where you can find them. Someone who is unable to work due to an injury will probably be at home most of the time. On the other hand, aspiring home buyers are at work during the day but often cruising neighborhoods in search of a home when the clock out. All of these location-related characteristics will help drive your campaign.
When Are The Clients Looking?
Our last step before assembling the campaign is to determine when we can reach clients. Online lawyer search systems are available 24/7, but other techniques need to be time-specific. Again, people who are on the job during the day will miss television ads that air with the noon news or during afternoon talk shows. But that's exactly where you'll find people who are off work, or who have retired. Once you know who, what, and where, getting when will be the final piece of the puzzle.
So let's take it from the top. If you specialize in SSI cases, your clients are people who are out of work due to illness or injury. They need you because the process of filing a claim is difficult and complicated. Most of these potential clients are at home, where television ads can find them. They will also visit medical facilities, so you could consider billboard placement and sponsorship opportunities in those areas.
The important thing is not to waste your money on a wide campaign that will bring in lots of interest that yields little actual case volume. Once you master the W's of client identification, you can assemble an effective, efficient marketing plan that will bring them to you and generate billable hours.