What’s the effect of the new normality to digital marketing? In this article, we’ll explore facts and metrics, and we’ll come up with actionable tips that will help your law firm succeed in digital marketing.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected multiple sides of our life, social, and business, including the way we plan our marketing strategies, we invest in Digital Marketing, and we measure our campaigns’ success. Marketing experts always talk about the four Ps of marketing, Product, Price-, Place, Promotion. These main pillars represent the spine of Marketing; have they changed though with the new normality? In today’s article, we’ll dive deeper into these changes, and we’ll give a fresh approach to the way we measure marketing success for law firms, identifying metrics that count amid COVID-19.  

How is the new normality affecting the four Ps of marketing

  • Product

What is a law firm’s product? Its services, the practice areas, and the cases an attorney can handle. Has your product been affected? Well, most probably it has. People are gradually getting out of home, restarting the economy. If you are a personal injury attorney or a worker’s compensation attorney, however, you might have been impacted by the drop of cars and closed businesses. A lot of companies have shifted their focus to other product areas, and you probably have done the same in your law firm, with family law or bankruptcy cases.

  • Place

It includes way more than just your location. It’s an indicator of how clients engage with businesses. A significant percentage of business activity has been shifted online, minimizing physical contact. We suspect that you have done the same, implementing remote-working to your law firm, and online procedures for your clients, current and prospective.

  • Price

Experts predict an economic recession, and the first signs of contraction are surfacing. Additionally, the majority of courts have been closed, postponing any previously arranged trials. This might have an impact on your law firm, but on the other hand, it’s an opportunity to work on settlements and existing cases. Moreover, several individuals might find themselves with spare time, and the ability to explore cases that occurred to them recently but couldn’t pursue.

  • Promotion

Promotion and marketing are vital parts of any business, and it couldn’t be any different for law firms. Most online lawyer marketing events have been either postponed or canceled, billboards have insignificant value with no people in the streets, and TV isn’t optimized for ROI. It all leads to digital marketing, either law firm PPC or SEO. The real question that arises, is what kind of information are people looking for, and how should these messages be formed? Empathy is a vital component, positive messages and actions are appreciated, andunique, original content for your law firm can increase your traffic.  

Are you ready to understand and adapt to the future of marketing? Now that we’ve covered the basics of marketing, and how they’re constantly changing amid COVID-19, it’s time to move to our tips for how effectively shift your law firm’s digital marketing efforts and measure them with qualitative data that counts.

Brand Awareness

The challenge of building brand awareness has always been around, so it’s not a newly introduced challenge. Today, we have to view it under a different lens. A significant number of people might not require your legal services right now, but there are several steps you can take to stay on top of their minds because sooner or later they will need you. Communicate with your audience with positive messages, showing empathy, and proving that you care for them. You can start at a small scale, from what you’re doing for your people during these difficult times. You can be sure that if you manage to set solid foundations for your law firm as a brand, clients will remember your name, and favor you in the future. 

How can you measure your brand awareness? It’s a complicated process, but there are metrics for it. You can start by reviewing your traffic. Google Analytics tracks direct traffic. Monitoring changes will provide you with an indicator of your brand’s performance. Moreover, you can look at your social reach. If you are creating brand awareness, you should expect people to talk about your law firm. Social media mentions (people who are talking) and reach (how many have seen those mentions) are brand awareness metrics. Finally, don’t forget benchmarking. Who are your main competitors? Research their strategies, identify what they are doing right, and do it better than them. 

Get ready for the long-run with SEO

Organic traffic is measurable and valuable but requires time and effort. Now it’s your chance to create a bilingual SEO strategy for your law firm, in English and Spanish. The May 2020 Google Core Update, is calling for unique, quality content, it’s your opportunity to start creating it. Monitor the audience signals for hints about the new normality and create content about relevant, high intent topics.  

How can you measure your law firm’s SEO success? A first indicator is, again, Google Analytics. Increased traffic is the ultimate goal, and metrics like bounce rate and average time on page will help you identify more information about your SEO performance. Finally, we suggest looking into your keywords and benchmark against competitors. What’s working for you, and what are your competitors doing better? Enhance your SEO strategy with internal linking and keep creating content that is worth the authority to get external links and rank high.

Is PPC still important for law firms?

It is probably as important as ever. Can you keep it going without any changes? This is where you should put your focus. As we previously mentioned, certain practice areas and keywords have increased in importance nowadays. Detailed and precise keyword research is significant for any SEM campaign’s success, but it’s gaining importance. Negative keywords are also a crucial component, and you shouldn’t forget your bids. Google Ads is a bidding platform, and nowadays bids are ever-changing; you don’t want to overpay for leads. Finally, you should carefully consider Ads scheduling. Make sure that you show your Ads on days and times that you are ready to take calls. If you have a limited budget, you could consider consolidating your law firm’s PPC efforts on specific days aiming for top spots within this structured timeframe.

Measuring PPC success is all about leads, but it’s not a quantitative metric. Quality tracking is critical. Optimizing your intake process is the key to increasing your caseload. Calls will eventually come your way, and you want to make sure that you are ready for them. People need to keep seeing your law firm active and not going dark, and they’ll know who to call when they need you. 

 What are our key takeaways?

  • The fundamentals of marketing are in a constant change amid COVID-19. Understanding your law firm’s 4Ps and act accordingly. 
  • Long Term vision is a key component of success. Treat your law firm as a brand, creating solid grounds for brand awareness and future conversions. 
  • PPC in English and Spanish still works, but it’s not the same. Don’t expect the same amount of calls for every practice area. Invest in your internal processes to improve your intake and maximize conversions of valuable leads.
  • SEO in May is dominated by the new Google Core Update. Strengthen your content, your local strategy, and your linking and prepare for an ongoing path to success.