Nolo's Legal Marketing Blawg

When it comes to Internet marketing, there's no one size fits all solution.  The effectiveness of any of the tools that I've discussed here at the Legal Marketing Blawg, such as blogs, Twitter or video depends not just on whether your current or prospective clients spend time online but  also where and how they use the Internet.

To understand the importance of how clients use the Internet to your online marketing efforts,   consider the results of an April 2009 study by the Pew Internet Project released last month.  According to the study, 56% of those polled said they have at some point used wireless means for online access - a figure that's significant enough to convince most lawyers to either start or step up marketing measures online.

But the 56% figure doesn't tell the whole story about wireless use.  Turns out that even though African American Internet use via traditional means (such as home or office computers) is much lower than for the general population, African Americans represent the most active users of the mobile internet:

48% of Africans Americans have at one time used their mobile device to access the internet for information, emailing, or instant-messaging, half again the national average of 32%.

29% of African Americans use the internet on their hand held on an average day, also about half again the national average of 19%.

Based on these use rates, you'd be justified in engaging in any type of generic online marketing activities, such as putting up a website or purchasing online ads, if you wanted to attract and serve African American clients.  But given that nearly a full third of African Americans access the web through a hand held device, your online marketing campaign would be far more effective if you invested in those tools which are most compatible with hand held devices.  For example:

-Internet access through handheld devices is usually slower than through broadband wireless and a direct connection.  So a fancy, flash-driven website that may look impressive on a large screen might be clunky and frustrating to someone trying to view it on a cell phone. 

-Blogging can be an effective Internet marketing tool.  But lengthy tomes in small font don't mix with a hand held.  To keep a hand-held based audience engaged, either opt for shorter snappier posts that can be digested in a cell-sized screen or make sure that your blog is mobile compliant.

-Many mobile users frequently access YouTube.  For that reason, video may be an effective marketing option.  Likewise, Twitter offers several different mobile-accessible applications and could also serve as an effective medium to connect with mobile-enabled clients.

Depending upon what kinds of clients you intend to target, there are a myriad of other small tweaks that can make your online marketing more effective.  As I wrote in another context, you need to imagine your audience, or in this case, your clients:

What I mean by imagine your audience is to visualize the individual readers, from those who stumble across your site online to those who dutifully read your updates daily. Where are they reading your blog - in a Starbucks? Their office? At a basement computer after the kids are in bed? Are they dressed in stiff work clothes or wearing pajamas? Using an news reader or catch all site like Alltop to catch up on posts - or do they physically visit the site to get the information?  Printing out your posts in a public library because they don't have a printer at home, or scrolling through them casually on their iphone while riding the subway to a suburban mansion?  By imagining these details, you can refine the form of your post to match your audience's circumstances - for example, enlarging the font or brightening the page if you suspect folks are reading in dimly lit areas, or including an easy print or PDF option if your audience prefers hard copy.

Most lawyers would like to believe that online marketing begins and ends with search engine optimization, that by hiring a good consultant and driving traffic to your site, you'll generate clients.  But all of the SEO in the world isn't going to make a difference if prospects leave the destination once they arrive.  It's not until you understand how your target audience is reaching you online that you can make sure that their experience is pleasant (as opposed to frustrating and confusing) once they arrive.  That way, they're guaranteed to return, or even better, to stick around long enough to decide to give you a call.

Here's the latest round-up on some of the topics covered in earlier posts to be sure that you have up-to-the-minute information on the latest and greatest in lawyer marketing:

1.  Add More Value to Videos By Power Using YouTube.

Back in January, I posted on why lawyers should consider making video part of their marketing portfolio.  In addition to the reasons that I described, Travis Campell, the Marketing Professor offers some ideas for building community and online presence through YouTube -- which means that you'll get more bang for the buck out of any videos you produce.  So what benefits does You Tube offer?  For starters, you can get statistics on viewer demographics and feedback on your video through commenters.  Posting video on YouTube can also help drive traffic to your site and enhance your search engine visibility.

2.  Should You Hire An SEO Expert?

My first post for this blog described some do-it-yourself SEO tips.  But if the DIY approach doesn't get you the results that you need, should you consider hiring an expert?  I've posted, more generally, on issues to consider when hiring a marketing consultant and now, lawyer marketing expert Larry Bodine shares advice on hiring an SEO expert.  My favorite tip of the post? 

Type the vendor's own targeted search terms into Google and see how well they do for themselves. Type in "law firm web consultant" or "law firm SEO consultant" or "law web marketing consultant" into Google. If they can't get good rankings for themselves, move on.

3.  Social Media and SEO.

Six months ago, when I posted about do-it-yourself SEO, I didn't focus extensively on social media, largely because its impact on SEO wasn't fully recognized or acknowledged at the time.  That's since shifted, as Duct Tape Marketing writes, noting, "It has become extremely difficult to achieve any measure of success for important keyword phrases without the use of social media."  As a result, any business attempting to optimize a site should add a blog and podcast, participate in Twitter and optimize profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn at the very minimum.

You've probably heard the saying that bad publicity is better than no publicity.  But that's not necessarily true in this cache-and-carry-on-forever Internet age, where Google continues to shine light on your darkest hours long after the controversy has died down. 

As a result, more than ever, lawyers must be vigilant about our online profiles -- in an an Internet age, our online reputation invariably precedes us.  Increasingly, clients are turning to the Internet to find lawyers.  And even those clients who locate lawyers through offline sources like newspaper ads or personal referrals routinely turn to Google to ferret out additional information.

To complicate matters further, there's now myriad ways for disgruntled clients or colleagues to disseminate unflattering information.  From lawyer rating sites to individual blogs to newspaper articles that remain online and uncorrected long after an unflattering incident has passed, it's never been easier to drum up dirt on anyone.

So what's a lawyer to do?  We're all familiar with ways to harness the power of Internet to attract business; indeed, I've posted on many of those techniques here in my blog.  But today, I'll focus on the flip side: how to use the Internet to avoid losing business as a result of rumors, criticisms, or other negative information that resides online.

1.  Guard Your Reputation As Zealously As You Represent Clients

Perhaps the most important step that lawyers can take to avoid fallout from negative information is to continuously and vigorously monitor their respective online reputations  If that sounds time-consuming, it doesn't have to be.  Over at Hubspot, you can find out how to monitor your social media presence in just ten minutes a day.  Tips that apply to lawyers include:

1. checking Twitter for chatter about your company and using search tools like TweetDeck or TwitterSearch to monitor conversations in real time
   
2. setting and then checking Google Alerts for your name or those of cases or client matters you're working on
   
3. looking for questions to answer on LinkedIn (answering questions can increase positive search engine visibility), and
   
4. using Google to track other social networking sites and, in particular, blogs, where a colleague may have criticized a posting or commented negatively on the way in which you handled a case. 

In addition to these general social networking sites, lawyers should regularly monitor sites like Avvo which allow clients to post ratings and opinions, and other similar sites where clients are permitted to comment or review lawyers.  And don't forget to keep an eye on sites like LinkedIn, where colleagues can post testimonials.

2.  If You Find Something Positive, Reinforce It

Of course, lawyers are most interested in dealing with negative information and I'll get to that issue in a moment.  However, even when you find positive comments, you should respond with a thank you.  Clients and colleagues who take the time to praise something you've done can serve as your greatest allies if you ever need to undertake damage control against unfair criticism or unflattering commentary.  Take the time to cultivate your own personal vigilante group who can go on the offensive for or with you.

3.  Dealing With Negative Information

So what can you do if you uncover negative or unflattering information about yourself?  First, depending on the information and the site where you found it, ignoring the information might make the most sense.  As this Freelance Folder post suggests, when the comments are clearly from a source that's not credible, you are probably best off ignoring them rather than drawing further attention. 

Continue reading "Is Bad Publicity Better Than No Publicity? Not Necessarily in an Internet Age" »