Digital Marketing
Does your website brand best reflect your firm?
Even if your focus isn’t contract law, consider this:
“A brand is the contract between a company and consumers.”
Who said this? Simon Clift, former Chief Marketing Officer of Unilever, a multibillion-dollar global powerhouse with over 400 high-performing, distinct brands.
Branding is the perception – mostly intangible – about your firm. Branding is the emotional connection that sets you aside from your competitors. It’s an unspoken promise to clients that you will meet or exceed their expectations.
We appreciate that attorneys are experienced in asking questions, but to help your law firm stand out from the crowd, here are four questions for you.
What Makes Us Different?
To establish a strong brand for your website, you first have to identify what makes your law firm different from the competition. Take our company, Postali, for example. There are many full-service marketing agencies, but we focus exclusively on helping law firms grow their business. This niche focus and other characteristics are what make us different.
How to Identify Your Unique Qualities
Discovering what makes your firm different from your competitors begins with telling your story.
Here are a few prompts:
- Why did you become a lawyer?
- What gets you fired up?
- What can people expect when they hire you versus another attorney?
Once you identify what makes you different, clarify your brand with invaluable details that solidify your marketing niche:
- Are you the only local firm that has a bilingual staff?
- Do you help connect clients to other resources that they may need, such as victims advocacy groups?
- Do you give clients their lawyers’ cell numbers for faster, more open communication?
- Are you focused on a few areas of the law, or do you have a large practice area?
Branding for Solo Practioner Criminal Defense
What is Our Tone & Voice?
Your brand’s voice is what you say to your audience, and your tone is your unique way of saying it. This includes your choice of words, personality, and emotional tone. Once you identify your tone and voice, you’ll use it for everything that communicates your firm to the public, from website copy to digital billboards.
Finding Your Brand’s Tone & Voice
Is your tone prestigious or down to earth? (Think Tiffany versus Fossil.) What phrases would you use? Even the choice to use contractions or not is part of your brand’s tone. There are no right or wrong answers. However, your brand’s tone should be authentic for you.
- Do you prefer minimal and straightforward branding language, like Apple? Apple is famous for breaking down the barriers between consumers and technology. They explain complex issues in ways that people understand without talking down to their audience.
- Is your tone self-confident and assertive, like Harley-Davidson? Harley-Davidson uses bold, self-assured, and patriotic language to sell not only motorcycles but a way of life.
- Do you want to come across as friendly, positive, and relatable, like Coca-Cola? Coca-Cola is one of America’s oldest brands that retains its market leadership through upbeat, down-to-earth language.
What Is Our Target Audience?
We often recommend to lawyers that they use various methods to attract their target audience. One of the most valuable tools in your marketing campaign is web content. While you have a specific audience in mind, you still begin by casting a wide net to capture as many eyes as possible to your site. (We call this funnel marketing, and you can read more about it here.)
Your existing clients are a wealth of marketing information that helps you reach new cases. You can learn a lot about your target audience’s demographics and preferences when examining how, when, and what works best.
How to Attract the Right Audience for You
- Who is visiting your site the most – gender, age, geographical location?
- How do they find your site – hashtags, social media, or organic search?
- What do they use to find you – phone, tablet, desktop – and is your site optimized for all three?
Google Analytics and other digital research tools help you expand your reach. At Postali, we team an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategist with a content developer to infuse your website with the most commonly used search terms.
What Does Our Audience Need?
Unlike other professions, most people don’t think about hiring a lawyer until they need one. Your brand must effectively communicate the benefits of your firm to the people most likely to hire you.
You might be a personal injury lawyer, criminal defense attorney, or practice another area of law. Your target audience has different needs, but ALL potential cases share these characteristics:
- Pain points – How can you provide a solution to their problem?
- Goals – What does my audience need or want to achieve?
- Results – What evidence can you share to prove you are uniquely suited to meet their need?
How Your Website Can Boost Your Brand
Branding is that deep, emotional connection between your firm and your audience. Your brand’s tangible elements–– logo, colors, design — either strengthen or weaken this emotional bond.
Your website’s design, content, functionality, and accessibility play a tremendous role in reaching and retaining cases. According to an Association for Computing Machinery survey of health site visitors, 94 percent responded that website design influenced their first impression. Respondents also spent considerable time looking at the logo before moving on to the menu and other content.
Do You Have Questions About Our Branding Questions?
We’ll help you find the branding solution for your firm. Postali is a full-service marketing agency that creates award-winning websites for solo practitioners and mid-sized law firms. We help lawyers in multiple aspects of their practice, including call tracking & voice services, full-scale photo & video production, press & media relations, content marketing, SEO, and paid search marketing.
If you’re interested in learning more about our legal marketing services, reach out at hello@postali.com to start the conversation or follow us at @Postali.
Not sure where to begin?
Get started with a marketing audit.