Beware These 5 Lawyer Marketing Horror Stories!
Watching businesses get into the spirit of Halloween is usually harmless entertainment. But when it comes to your website and customer service, your law firm should do everything it can to avoid looking like a horror movie. To help you survive, I’ve collected a few well-worn film tropes that could mutilate your hard-earned reputation online. Read on, and beware!
- Grainy Film Footage While a low-resolution night vision video makes for great haunting imagery, your clients need to clearly see who you are and what you stand for. I’ve given advice on how to get your best headshot time and again. But your law firm needs to apply that same level of detail to your other on-site imagery. Even something as simple as a cluttered background can push your firm’s image into “found footage” territory.
- Excessive Jump Scares It’s true: fear sells, and your clients may indeed be facing severe consequences if they fail to take action. But a never-ending stream of doom and gloom can leave your law practice sounding inauthentic and manipulative. You should definitely instill a sense of urgency in your audience, but you should also position your law firm as a safe haven for those that take the right steps and contact you.
- Incomprehensible Texts Want to know what strikes fear into the hearts of your clients? Long, boring descriptions of attorney credentials for starters. Meanwhile, passages of opaque legalese might as well be torn from a dusty old book of spells. What a breath of fresh air it is when a law firm stops trying to inflate itself and simply speaks to the needs of their clients. Remember to demystify your legal practice by writing for your audience, not yourself.
- Haunted Houses How many of these does your law firm have: broken windows links, abandoned rooms social media accounts, cobwebs on your furniture blog? It’s all too common for law firms to try out different legal marketing tactics for a while, only to see them become neglected and fall into disrepair. Look, it’s fine if some aspect of legal marketing really doesn’t translate into success for your firm, but be sure to take care of your real estate online. You don’t want to become the kind of law firm people call on a dare.
- When A Stranger Calls This last one is simple: Don’t run in fear of the ringing telephone. When a stranger calls your practice, answer them! That may very well be your next client on the line. I’ll let our white paper, Failing At The Finish Line speak to this concept in greater detail.
