High-quality client leads are the lifeblood of any law firm. New clients keep the doors open, and your long-term growth assured. But an occasional check-up to your lead generation efforts or processes may reveal areas of improvement that could have serious results—especially if you’re not considering the virtual possibilities.
Answering how to get with the lead generation program and streamline the process for your law firm starts here.
This article will take you through the lead generation funnel, delving into virtual lead generation strategy and opportunities to help boost your conversion rate, increase your bottom line, and capture your target audience.
Let’s dive in.
Optimizing The Lead Capture Funnel Phase by Phase
If you are wondering how to generate leads for law firms, you may be aware of the sales funnel and how it functions. Creating a more efficient sales funnel starts by examining the lead funnel itself. By going phase by phase through the lead capture process you can learn more about how to optimize your own systems and find more profitable potential clients. If you are looking for more answers to questions like “what is lead capture?” and “how can lead capture benefit my practice?”, check out our guides to learn more.
We’ll touch on the high-level essentials of the funnel and offer digital strategies to implement at each stage to help improve the online lead generation process.
Top of Funnel: Awareness
For a consumer to become a qualified sales lead (and eventually a client), introductions must be made.
Is your law firm’s name being seen by new people regularly? Are you expanding your reach to new audiences? Or are just the same old names seeing your advertisements over and over again?
Here are a few avenues to explore to ensure your law firm is maximizing awareness:
- Social media – If you want people to know about your law firm, you need a social media presence. Update your social media pages regularly with pictures, general advice, or even client appreciation to increase exposure to users. You can also pay for targeted ad space on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social sites so that you can ensure your brand is seen by the clientele you’re looking for.
- Pay-per-click – Sponsored search (aka paid search, search engine marketing, or sponsored listings) can put your law firm’s website at the top of Google’s or Bing’s search results whenever someone searches for a few actionable keywords such as “divorce lawyer near me.” Sponsored search is easy to set up, and with the pay-per-click model, you won’t be caught paying for advertisements that lead nowhere.
- Review sites – When it comes to awareness, word-of-mouth marketing still reigns supreme in the digital world. Solicit reviews from trusted clients and interact with customer reviews on sites like Yelp, Avoo, or Laywers.com. This will improve your visibility on review websites to increase awareness.
As you build your awareness campaign, be sure to frame your messaging as an invitation rather than a sales pitch. You want to inform the potential lead of your expertise and lead the way to learn more through the next phase.
Middle of Funnel: Consideration
At this stage, you’ve caught a potential lead’s attention, and they’re itching to learn more about whether your firm can be the key to their legal questions.
Your website is the most powerful tool you have at this stage, so be sure it’s set up to turn consideration into action.
Consider the following:
- Your website design is the welcome mat. Take the time to evaluate your website—does it look professional at a glance? Is it easy for a user to find what they’re looking for?
Here are a few ways you can optimize:
- Ensure the website design is polished and modern.
- Create a clear menu the user can easily navigate.
- Install chatbots to help visitors find answers should they need them.
- Create trust. The potential client has walked through the door, now you need to ensure the visit is a positive one to establish a sense of trust with the user. Ask yourself:
- Is the text on the page clear and understandable?
- Are the pictures high-quality images of your firm (and not stock photos)?
- Does your law firm’s website have a client testimonial page?
- Is your About page up to date with information about your accomplishments and experience?
- Do you have an up-to-date blog that can help answer a visitor’s questions in a high-level way?
Bottom of Funnel: Action
Remember that getting someone to your website isn’t your end goal. Whether it’s leaving their contact information, booking a consultation, or signing up to receive a general guide to a certain legal specialty, make sure the next step you want your target audience to take is clear and easily completable. Place these calls to action in strategic places around your website to help improve the level of qualified legal intake for your practice.
For example:
- At the end of blog articles, install questions or free consultation sign-up forms. Content marketing, including blogs, helps the potential qualified lead understand their legal situation at a high level, but by the end of their reading session, they may have more specific questions about their case. Help them ask their questions with inbound lead forms.
- On your About page, add an appointment creation form so that once the marketing qualified lead has gotten to know you virtually, they can immediately set up an in-person meet. An appointment creation form can also be implemented on a specific landing page on your website.
- Throughout the site, add live chat or chatbots that provide an easy answer to questions that pop up in the visitor’s mind.
To make the most out of each potential lead, be sure to ask for information that can help you identify high-quality marketing leads.
Turn Leads into Clients with Alert
Alert can help you attract more qualified leads to your law firm. Our services include 24/7 phone calls, text messages, and live chat for law firms, all performed by real people. We can also help with client intake so that your clients receive the answers they need as soon as possible.
We know that you didn’t get into this business to answer calls, respond to inquiries from potential clients, and record their information. Let a qualified legal call center like Alert handle these tasks, so you can get back to what you do best.
Sources:
Law Practice Today. Twitter for the Reluctant Lawyer. https://www.lawpracticetoday.org/article/twitter-reluctant-lawyer/
Law Practice Today. LinkedIn for the Reluctant Lawyer, Part I. https://www.lawpracticetoday.org/article/linkedin-reluctant-lawyer-part/
Lyfe Marketing. Email Marketing ROI: What is the True ROI of Email Marketing? https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/email-marketing-roi/
