Digital Marketing, Web Design
This post is a contribution from our friends at Crisp Video.
With 1.3 million attorneys currently practicing in the United States and 35,000 hopeful law students graduating annually, to say that the legal industry is crowded is a gross understatement.
The legal industry has an overabundance of attorneys all marketing themselves for similar skills, and while their background and education may differ, their end goal is the same: to run a successful business, represent clients, and practice law. So how do you stand out?
Legal video marketing, when done right, allows you to differentiate your law firm from your competition, generate high-value cases, and consistently bring in new clients. There are three basic types of legal video that we recommend if you’re just starting your legal video marketing strategy.
More advanced video marketers know that there are countless types of videos you can use to drive traffic to your site and convert visitors into clients, but the following legal video types are tried-and-true ways to ramp up your content marketing and set yourself apart from your competitors:
THE LEGAL BRAND VIDEO
A legal brand video is the ultimate conversion tool for attorneys – it is designed to communicate what sets your firm apart from your competitors and makes you unique. These videos fit into the second stage of the buyer’s journey: the consideration stage, where potential clients know they need an attorney but aren’t sure who to choose.
Effective legal brand videos tell an emotionally-compelling story that your audience can relate to. These videos highlight the “Why?” behind your law firm, not just the “What?” – they tell your story in a way that reflects your brand and clearly communicates why a potential client should choose your firm without explicitly stating so.
What are the benefits?
Producing and implementing a legal brand video is a highly effective way to connect with your audience and drive leads to your firm. Beyond just the economic impact, your video gives your firm a personality, and humanizes an often cold perception of your role within the legal industry.
Perhaps most importantly, your video offers a direct reflection of your brand. And since perception is often reality, distributing a high-quality brand video will boost your audience’s perception of your brand and set you apart from the rest of your market.
How can I use it?
There are countless ways to leverage a legal brand video to grow your law firm. The best way to see results from a legal brand video is to repurpose it across as many platforms as possible.
If you drive engagement to your video, you’ll increase the chance that you’ll convert potential clients and make a substantial impact on your marketing efforts.
Here are just a handful of the many ways you can leverage a legal brand video:
- Embed your video on your firm’s website (above the fold!)
- Include a link to your most recent video content in your staff’s email signature
- Upload your video to your firm’s YouTube Channel
- Upload your video to your firm’s Facebook Business Page
- Include a link to your video on your Avvo profile
To really put the power of a legal brand video into perspective, check out the video we produced for workers compensation attorney John Gibson and his team, based in Texas. Pay attention to how compelling the video is, and how his story weaves into his firm’s unique value proposition.
After implementing his video marketing campaign, which involved a series of FAQ videos in addition to a legal brand video, John’s firm made it to the first page of Google.
THE FAQ/EDUCATIONAL VIDEO
FAQ videos, or educational videos, are short (typically 60-90 second) videos produced with the goal of providing valuable, relevant information to your audience. These videos are based on keyword research that targets high-volume keywords in order to drive traffic to your website.
FAQ videos, because they focus more on information than conversions, fit into the very first stage of the buyer’s journey: the awareness stage.
FAQ videos are attractive by nature thanks to their small time investment and the value (education) they provide. In fact, on websites where educational videos are present, people are 4x more likely to watch the video than they are to read the text.
What are the benefits?
When a potential client comes across your FAQ video, it will be because they’re searching for answers on a specific topic. By providing them with valuable, engaging content, you’ll achieve higher organic search traffic and increased online visibility while simultaneously boosting brand authority.
From a data-driven perspective, including FAQ videos in your video marketing strategy will increase a client’s trust in your firm by 57% and will establish you as an expert within your field.
There’s also a good chance that your video content will boost your organic search rankings as traffic increases to your site.
How can I use it?
Let’s say you’re a personal injury attorney hoping to take on more car accident cases.
To create a strategy around your FAQ video, you would begin by executing keyword research to identify which car accident-related keywords are most popular in your area. Some keywords may include, “how do you determine fault in a car accident?” or “what happens after I get in a car accident?”
You would then produce an FAQ video that answers either or both of those questions, and optimize the video by embedding the same keyword in the tags, titles, and description. We’d also recommend including a short call-to-action at the end of your video which would encourage viewers to reach out if they’re searching for help after a car accident.
Here’s an example of an FAQ video we produced for Texas personal injury attorney Greg Herrman, of Herrman & Herrman.
After implementing his video marketing campaign, which involved a series of FAQ videos in addition to a legal brand video, Greg’s firm saw a 35% increase in cases.
THE CLIENT TESTIMONIAL VIDEO
While FAQ videos and brand videos put you in the spotlight, client testimonial videos are produced with the idea of letting your own clients speak for you.
Testimonial videos allow potential clients the opportunity to see what it’s really like to work with your law firm by featuring past clients who get the chance to tell their own story and discuss their experience with your team.
Client testimonial videos are typically much more emotional than other types of legal video because clients often relive the experiences they went through before seeking representation from your firm.
What are the benefits?
Testimonial videos fit into the final stage of the buyer’s journey: the decision stage. At this point in the journey, a potential client has narrowed down their list of options and is now trying to decide whether they’re ready to work with your firm.
Client testimonial videos aid in this decision making process by increasing social proof – which plays into a psychological phenomenon whereby people rely on the past experiences of others to make judgments and decisions.
Social proof is the reason why online reviews on Google or Amazon are such a powerful selling tool, and why sites like Yelp play a huge role in deciding where we’re going out to dinner this weekend. In fact, 70% of Americans will trust a review from someone they don’t even know, and 63% of Americans are more likely to purchase something from a website that includes customer reviews.
When a past client calls you trustworthy, compassionate, and thorough, it carries more weight than if you had said those things about yourself.
How can I use it?
Because testimonial videos fall into the decision stage of the buyer’s journey, you need to incorporate them into the bottom of your sales funnel.
You can embed testimonial videos where you typically include client reviews, link to them in follow-up emails with prospective clients, and publish them across your social media channels.
All of these strategies complement one another and will enhance perceived brand authority while simultaneously increasing the chances that a prospective client will make the decision to work with your law firm.
Veterans Disability Benefits attorney John Berry and his team, based in Lincoln, Nebraska came to Crisp with the desire to produce a series of testimonial videos that would boost brand authority and add social proof to their website. His client was able to reinforce how invested the Berry Law Firm team was in his case while also offering a very real perspective on how difficult it can be for a veteran to seek out benefits after serving.
Check out the full results from John Berry’s video marketing campaign in his case study, found here.
How to Make Legal Video Marketing Work for Your Firm
Legal video marketing is a high-impact strategy that can increase traffic to your website, boost brand authority, and generate a consistent number of new cases for your law firm.
However, to truly see a significant impact from your legal video marketing, it’s important that you’re leveraging the right types of videos in the right places. For instance, sending a testimonial video to a website visitor who doesn’t yet know if they even need an attorney may not be an effective selling tool.
Legal video is most effective when implemented in tandem with a host of other marketing strategies, including content marketing, SEO, and an aggressive internal follow-up system. But as we’ve previously stated, if you do it right, you’ll set yourself apart from the competition and become the obvious choice in your market.
If you want to learn more about how you can leverage legal video to grow your law firm, you can download our free eBook here.
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Michael Mogill is the Founder and CEO of Crisp Video Group, a national legal video marketing company that produces high-quality and engaging legal videos for attorneys all over the country. Crisp Video is consistently recognized for creating engaging legal videos that help attorneys see a 2 to 10 times increase in average case values. By simply bringing in higher-value cases, attorneys who produce videos with Crisp Video see an average return on investment of 300% and routinely double and triple their revenue — sometimes within just 6 months. He has been featured in Forbes, Avvo, ABA, PILMMA, The Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
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