56 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | FEB 2022 DoNot be Afraid toGoLocal A recent 2021 survey highlighted that the second most successful channel for bringing in leads to law firms was Google Local Ad Services. This emphasises the importance of ‘going local’ with marketing. Too many law firms become blinded by the lure of channels that offer national advertising when they should be focusing on their doorstep. In the same survey, Google Ads also ranked as the channel that most law firms were looking to remove from their marketing strategy in 2022, and I would wager that this is because the majority of them are targeting nationally when their client base is local. Local marketing does not mean ‘pop a flyer through some doors in your local town’ (although it could). Most of the services that you may use already – Google Ads, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and email – can be specifically targeted at a local audience. Here are a few top tips to help you go local: Localise your website. Kill two birds with one stone and add local information to your website by adding a range of local keywords and information that will appeal directly to your target local audience. For example, instead of ‘Best Divorce Lawyer’ use ‘Best Divorce Lawyer I North London’. Websites are still the channels delivering most leads for law firms in 2021, so set your website up to appeal to your target local audience. This will also massively help with local SEO, which can be vital to helping your local marketing strategy. Get on local listings. Get out there and claim all the directory listings you can. Many of them, like Google My Business, are free and offer an invaluable source of information and reviews. Again, although Google and Trustpilot may be national, 59% of people use them as source of information when deciding on services. Other sites to consider are Yelp, Yellow Pages, Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Foursquare depending on your location. Claim your space, fill it out correctly and ask your clients to submit nice reviews. Those local reviews will have a great influence on other potential clients, and referrals and word-of-mouth marketing are still some of the strongest channels available to your business. Localise your paid advertising. If you are using any form of paid advertising, you have to start targeting better and more locally. So much money is wasted by law firms by paying for clicks from people who are located hundreds of miles away. All the major paid marketing channels such as Google Ads, Facebook and Twitter offer phenomenally detailed local targeting options that you need to use. Figure out who your local target audience are and select them when you build your audience. But do not stop there. Write your copy and design your advert for a local audience. Mention your location in the ad copy and include it in the snippets. Add your telephone number. All of these will encourage more people near to you to get in touch. Too many law firms become blinded by the lure of channels that offer national advertising when they should be focusing on their doorstep.
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