Your law firm has updated all of its digital assets, you’re posting regularly on social media channels, adding content to the website once a week, and scheduling your Q2 e-newsletter to go out. Now what should you do in terms of marketing?? Below are four innovative ways to promote your law firm you may not have tried… yet.
HOSTING A FREE CLE EVENT
Every attorney needs Continuing Legal Education (CLE) hours in order to remain in good standing with the bars of his or her various states of license. For example, the State Bar of Texas requires at least 15 CLE hours per year for attorneys, while New York requires at least 24 hours every two years, and Florida 33 hours every three years. While each state has its own rules concerning CLE hours and event accreditation, the bottom line is: attorneys NEED CLE hours.
A great way to gain exposure for your law firm is by hosing a free CLE event. Pick a topic your attorneys are “experts” on, invite other non-competing attorneys outside the firm, legal industry vendors, and other experts to sit on various panels, and then invite every attorney you’ve ever met to attend. Most attorneys have a limited amount of time to attend events, so aim for an extended lunch hour or ideally an afternoon session followed by a happy hour. Mondays and Tuesdays are generally terrible for event attendance, so look towards the end of the week for your CLE event. Plan for two to three panels at most, with the last presentation as a keynote speaker. Make sure to set out some branded swag at each desk or chair (see ideas below), and if your panelists approve, send an email post-event with the presentations attached to reach even those who didn’t attend.
Not only does an event like this increase awareness of your law firm brand, it can also generate great referral sources and help establish your attorneys as authorities in certain practice areas. Including a networking happy hour at the end is always a great idea, and provides an opportunity for your firm members to mix-and-mingle with other attorneys.
EDUCATIONAL VIDEO MARKETING
We’ve discussed video marketing frequently (including our recent discussion on video editing platforms), because it’s the hottest trend in digital marketing. Video content should involve more than just “selling” your firm, though. Utilizing video as an educational tool can reach online users who aren’t interested in buyingsomething…. but might be interested in learning something.
Come up with a list of topics related to your firm’s practice areas. Your videos should answer specific questions, such as “What to do if you’re involved in a car accident” or “Five facts about child custody in Ohio.” These videos should be between 30 and 90 seconds in length. They will make great content for websites, e-newsletters, social media advertising campaigns, and organic social media posts.
BRANDING PROMOTIONAL ITEMS (AKA SWAG)
Law firm branded items don’t have to be boring like the coffee mug sitting at the back of a cupboard. Think outside the box for branded items to hand out to those with whom you interact. Some more creative swag ideas can include: a nice branded notepad, pocket folders emblazoned with the firm’s logos to hold documents in need of signatures, baseball caps or golf balls for your attorneys to wear and hand out while playing the back nine, or you can even be trendy and use fidget spinners or pop sockets. Personally I still have a set of branded whiskey stones in my freezer that I received at an event – these are a popular item among scotch, whiskey, and bourbon drinkers.
Always make sure to order swag item samples first to ensure the quality of the promotional items. Generally speaking, the more items you order, the cheaper the items become per unit – but make sure to balance the size of the order with both the needs of the firm and your available storage space.
OFFER SCHOLARSHIPS
With the rising cost of education, more and more students are looking for scholarships to help offset school costs. Offering a scholarship demonstrates the firm’s commitment to giving back and investing in the future.
First, the firm will need to determine the number of scholarships to award, the corresponding award amounts, and the requirements for recipients. Then, you should set up a page on your law firm website detailing the specifics, along with the application requirements and pertinent dates (application deadline, award announcement, check issue date). For example, the firm might decide to award two $1,000.00 scholarships to women studying pre-law, or one $2,500.00 scholarship to a military veteran in Nashville.
Promote the scholarships on your law firm’s social media channels, e-newsletters, and submit them to colleges, universities, and/or other educational databases where scholarship seekers can search for opportunities. Notably, any link to your firm’s website for a .edu domain is worth its weight in gold.
WANT MORE IDEAS?
As a boutique marketing firm focusing exclusively on the legal niche, we plan events, create video marketing campaigns, design cool branded swag, and set up scholarships pages for law firms among other ways to promote your law firm. Find out how we can help promote your law firm in new and unexpected ways today.
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