For law firms, providing prospective clients with the level of attention and follow-up needed to convert them into clients is often a difficult task. For years, marketing automation software has been an invaluable tool in marketers’ toolsets but is still making inroads in most law firms.
This article will dig into why your firm needs marketing automation and how it can set you apart from the competition in building trust and converting potential clients.
Why Do You Need Marketing Automation?
In the past, law firms had to rely on word-of-mouth and referrals from other law firms as well as publications such as law journals for new clients. Today, with the Internet and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, law firms need to have systems in place and build trust in an automated manner with clients who reach out to them online. A good system will give your firm access to more potential clients and provide you with better ways of following up after initial contact has been made.
Marketing automation software isn’t just about sending emails or updating your company’s Twitter feed; it’s about creating relationships with people who may eventually become your customers.
What Are Some Common Uses For Legal Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation systems are a law firm’s best friend. What are some of the common uses of law firm marketing automation? Let’s take a look at some examples.
Law firms can use their marketing automation to generate new business by setting up automated email sequences based on initial contact from potential clients. This allows law firms to keep in touch with prospective clients and demonstrate their interest without manually sending out an email every time someone contacts them online.
Law firm marketing automation in an integrated system should also include tools like CRM (customer relationship management), which allows law firms to keep track of potential clients and their interactions with your firm. This information can then be used to create custom marketing campaigns tailored to each client.
Another great way to use marketing automation for law firms is through social media. Automated posts can be scheduled to go out on a law firm’s Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn accounts regularly, helping to keep your firm’s name in front of potential clients.
By automating these processes, law firms can free up time and resources to focus on more critical tasks, like providing quality legal services to their clients.
What System Should I Use For Legal Marketing Automation?
There are a lot of legal-specific marketing automation platforms out there – Lawmatics, Clio Grow (Clio bought Lexicata and rebranded it), and more. Although these systems are legal-specific, they’re notably less powerful than the competition, and in many cases they don’t integrate well with the other systems you use.
For that reason, we recommend Hubspot. Although Hubspot is used in many different industries, we’d wager that it’s got more law firm clients than even the dedicated “legal solutions”.
At LegalScapes, we use and recommend Hubspot. Through working with many law firms implementing Hubspot, we’re able to provide templates for best practices for your practice areas, from campaigns to sales process to email newsletters. Some firms use these as-is, while some customize them heavily and build out the resources with their own voice and process.
How To Get Started
The best way to get started with a legal marketing automation platform is to pick one feature that could help your firm, and get that set up fully while ignoring the rest of the functionality. Once you get your feet wet with the first function of the platform, you can start building out additional ones that can help your firm.
Where do we see most people start? Here are a couple of the most popular places…
- Reputation management (requesting and responding to reviews)
- Landing pages for ads (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc)
- Integrated calendars for scheduling a consultation
- Chatbots for your website
- Lead magnets (e.g. How To Choose The Right Personal Injury Attorney)
Marketing automation is a central piece of the services LegalScapes provides to clients. If we can help you, schedule a consultation either by chatting with us with the button in the bottom right, or you can schedule directly on our calendar from the button below!