Law Firm Marketing Strategies: Traditional VS Digital

Users increasingly find businesses to use and products to buy via search engines online. Thus, spending on digital marketing only continues to increase. A question has arisen as to whether the marketing world will soon do away with traditional tactics and let digital strategies take over. Sure, many law firms are moving toward predominantly digital marketing plans but that’s not to say traditional marketing is vanishing anytime soon. Is one marketing approach really better than the other? What is the difference between the two anyway? Can a law firm reach a happy medium working with both traditional and digital marketing strategies cohesively?

TRADITIONAL MARKETING

Law firms have used traditional marketing strategies for many years, usually including more tangible items like print advertisements in newspapers or magazines, business cards, direct mail, newsletters, and flyers. Television advertisements and radio commercials, billboards, and even word of mouth also fall under the umbrella of traditional marketing methods. The cornerstone of any traditional marketing approach is to focus on making your business top-of-mind and building personal rapport with clients.

DIGITAL MARKETING

Digital marketing continues to evolve with each passing day, and is comprised of online platforms such as websites, social media channels, YouTube videos, email marketing, and online advertising. The focus of digital marketing is to share content online to help people find your law firm and contact you.

KEY DIFFERENCES:

Traditional Marketing

1. Pushes information about law firm services out to potential clients.
2. Law firms reach out to clients.
3. Real world communication.
4. All marketing pieces are for use offline and can be kept.
5. People get it. This method has been used for so long now it’s easy for any audience to understand.
6. ROI is challenging to track, but more immediate.
7. Focuses on being more informational.
8. More interruptive form of communication that can feel forced.

Digital Marketing

1. Efforts are more focused on generating interest and trust from potential clients.
2. Clients reach out to the law firms.
3. Little to no human-to-human connection.
4. Online ads could be seen once and then easily forgotten.
5. Relies entirely on Internet users.
6. Provides long-term ROI with much higher conversion ratios.
7. Focuses on being more entertaining and educational.
8. Encourages a more interactive form of communication.

IS THERE A HAPPY MEDIUM FOR LAW FIRM MARKETING?

Both traditional and digital marketing strategies can be powerful when used properly. It is obvious that as technology continues to advance, marketing efforts will become even more geared more toward online platforms. Yes, it’s nice that with digital marketing your audience can choose how and when they receive your content, and your law firm should have an increase in ROI and conversions. However, many people you want to reach aren’t always on their computers or phones and still prefer human interaction. The fact is in order to be successful these days real world promotion is still needed. Ideally, in order for your law firm to succeed in its marketing efforts, both digital marketing and traditional marketing should be used in tandem. For help with your traditional and digital law firm marketing efforts, contact the legal marketing experts at Stacey E. Burke P.C.