2022 ONLINE LEGAL MARKETING TRENDS

The Practitioner Editorial Team

Every lawyer has their own unique story of why they chose law as their career and profession. Then, not long after entering the legal profession, attorneys learn that in addition to providing client representation and legal services, the practice of law is a business. If attorneys and law firms want to stay in business, they need to keep abreast of the legal marketing trends that will give them the best chance in attracting new clients and keeping their law firm profitable.

In today’s competitive market, attorneys and law firms need to evolve their marketing strategies on a continual basis if they want to attract new business and grow revenues. Gone are the days when superior legal skills and "word of mouth" marketing were enough to keep clients happy and drum up new business. Further, traditional "word of mouth" marketing has disadvantages which limits its effectiveness, whether for a local business or one that covers a large geographical area. For instance, "word of mouth" spreads slowly. That is, it takes time for your clients to spread the word about how great your law firm is to other people. The cold hard reality is that many clients, unlike the customers of other types of businesses, are hesitant to discuss their experiences with a lawyer or law firm, regardless of how great the representation and legal service was, because it opens the door to questions about why the client needed a lawyer in the first instance. Many clients keep information about their legal affairs confidential and share on a need-to-know basis. Another disadvantage is that the number of clients that a "word of mouth" marketing campaign can attract is limited by the number of your clients. Thus, if your business is new, it may take several years to build a large enough client base for traditional "word of mouth" marketing to be effective.

Moreover, a recent research poll found that fifty-seven percent of clients look for a lawyer without seeking out a referral, and more often than not, clients use the internet to search for an attorney. This means that clients find you through the internet and if you want to find clients you need a strong online presence.