2021 is going to be a year of changed landscapes in many senses. One thing that consistently shifts and must be part of your legal firm’s strategy is tracking marketing trends in your niche. We’ve taken a look at what some of the top legal marketing focuses were in 2020 and have extrapolated out their impact on 2021.
Legal marketing trends to watch for in 2021
We recommend assessing how your law firm’s team or marketing agency can best implement these to attract more valuable customers in the upcoming year. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the trend-setter we base these studies on in 2022!
Client-Focused Marketing
Buyer personas have always been a big portion of the best law firm marketing companies. Put simply, this is when you create a realistic representation of what your ideal clients look like, and figure out how to appeal to them via multiple marketing channels. As more marketing is done online and via smartphones, it is apparent that prospective customers are able to be more selective than ever. This is also due to the fact that you can get legal representation from non-local sources for many cases – this means there is more competition and you need to focus on your top demographics more.
Searcher Intent
Also known as audience or user intent, this is working to understand what your potential clients’ goals are in a search and then create ads, landing pages, and other content geared towards attracting clicks. An example of this would be learning that someone who searches for a ‘motorcycle accident attorney near me’ is often looking for a free consultation prior to representation. In making a consultation the forefront of your landing pages and targeted ads, it will allow you to cut to the front of the line for SEO purposes.
SEO
While this is a broad field, it will still dominate the trend-focus of 2021 as more businesses become savvy at it. Search engine optimization is the way in which you calibrate your website to rank on the front pages of sites like Google, Bing, or any phone-based browser. With over 50 percent of all leads generated via search engines in 2020 and 85 percent of phone users creating browser searches every day, SEO is the name of the game at this point. Because it is a zero-sum practice (the 1st ranking site on Google attracts over 33 percent of the clicks), focusing on having strong SEO is a clear goal for 2021 and beyond.
User Experience
User experience is the perfect partner to strong SEO when looking for high conversion rates. Similar to searcher intent, you need to be able to profile how your customers interact with your site and what behaviors arise as a result of your layout/requests/site quality. There are great tools like Hotjar that maps out the pattern in which users interact with your site. Similarly, Google analytics is the classic way to see where users go and how your pages are converting into different actions. The bottom line is you should be able to objectively go through your site and have other people test it for you and think “I would book my own service.” From there, the data should back that sentiment up.
PPC Campaigns
Paid ads are one of the most effective ways to generate leads and conversions, and this will only be reinforced in 2021. With organic SEO becoming a competitive priority in every industry, the quality of paid ads is rising as well. This means you have to have a marketing team savvy enough to create quality ads and analyze their efficacy.
Legal marketing firms often will run A/B tests for months on end before coming to solid conclusions about their data internally, so the sooner you get acquainted with what platforms you feel comfortable advertising on, the further ahead of your competition you’ll be. We recommend starting with the most common ad spaces in Google, Facebook, and Instagram, but it is also advisable to see what newer platforms you can establish your niche in. Most of all, don’t be afraid to commit a proper budget to paid ads- they have been proven to return value over time when done properly.
These trends are important for a new year of marketing your legal services, but we also advise seeing if there are any niche-specific or region-specific trends you can capitalize on. Law Tigers has made a name for ourselves by creating authoritative content on motorcycle rides, biking culture, and travel to the places we love to ride.
Get Your Firm Ahead With Law Tigers
With decades of experience in as a legal firm and lawyer marketing agency, Law Tigers has the know-how and results to help our partners succeed. We work with many different types of law firms to create best-practices in a niche industry and would love to help bring your practice to new heights.
If you’re interested in learning about the Law Tigers way for a better 2021, reach out today – we’ve got your back.
