The Power of Demand Generation for Lawyers and Law Firms

A holistic marketing strategy delivers the best ROI. Period.

by Jim Fitzgerald, founder of Big Voodoo Interactive

Lead generation is dead – at least as a marketing strategy unto itself.

Chasing leads with “secret marketing techniques” is not enough for a sustainable business strategy for lawyers and law firms, particularly in the ultra-competitive personal injury space. Firms that only invest in types of advertising that produce quick results are missing out on long-term success. In short, while lead generation still matters, it's only one part of the puzzle.

Attorneys need to invest in a holistic marketing strategy built around demand generation. Creating demand for legal services is critical to lower overall costs and build sustainable long-term success.

What is demand generation?

First of all, let's clarify what demand gen is not. Demand generation is not about getting people to pay for services they don't need or want. Instead, it's about educating people about their legal rights and options, helping them understand why they might need an attorney, and making sure the firm is top of mind by delivering this information if and when their services are required.

In contrast to lead generation, demand generation is concerned with the entire marketing funnel, from awareness to consideration to conversion. Let's take a look at those three elements in turn.

Awareness: educating potential clients and being an authoritative source of critical information

In many respects, the awareness phase is the core of demand generation and why it's distinct from lead generation. Potential clients in the awareness phase don't necessarily need a lawyer – yet. However, they do need to know their rights and what situations would require them to call an attorney, because such situations often move very quickly when they occur.

Just as importantly, the awareness phase includes building brand awareness for the individual law firm. Social media presence, community involvement, scholarship programs, and numerous other marketing channels can keep lawyers and law firms top of mind for consumers. The goal is that if the consumer ever needs a lawyer – or knows someone who is – then the firm will feel familiar when they are are ready to seek counsel.

Consideration: turning potential clients into prospective clients

Consideration is the middle section of the traditional marketing funnel. In the consideration phase, the potential client needs an attorney – but they may not know that yet. The goal is to move the potential client down the funnel to the point where they are ready to call an attorney.

What they do know is that they have a problem. For personal injury attorneys, some examples of search terms during the consideration phase include "What should I do after a car accident?" or "What does it mean if I have stomach pain after an accident?" In workers' compensation law, the equivalent searches might be "Do I have to report my work injury?" or "Can I get workers' comp even if the injury was my fault?" Notably, these search terms still aren't explicitly seeking an attorney, but the consumer clearly needs an attorney to answer those questions.

As the potential client moves down the funnel and gets closer to the conversion phase, searches may start to mention legal services, such as "Do I need a car accident lawyer?" or "How much does it cost to hire a workers' compensation lawyer?" Addressing those concerns is critical to help potential clients move to the final phase: conversion.

Conversion: signing up new cases

In the conversion phase, the potential client is now ready to contact a law firm and speak with an attorney about their potential case. At this stage, search terms may include comparative or qualitative language such as "Best car accident attorneys near me" or "How to choose the right divorce lawyer." This is also where targeted paid advertising, such as pay-per-click (PPC) and social media ads, can help drive more business.

Responsiveness is critical in the conversion phase. Firms need to be reachable by a variety of methods (phone calls, online contact form, live chat) and respond to inquiries rapidly. There are no retakes with intakes – making a strong first impression on that first point of contact is essential because otherwise, the potential client may move on quickly to the next firm.

Maintaining visibility during the awareness and consideration phase lays the groundwork for the conversion phase as well. If a prospective client has been on your website previously through an article during their research, it’s likely your site will be shown during subsequent, more targeted searches.

Lead generation vs. demand generation

The key difference between demand generation and lead generation is that lead generation is focused on the bottom half of the funnel. Lead gen is all about getting people who have a case and are looking for an attorney to convert. Demand gen is a broader strategy that includes people who are still in the research phase and even those who don't currently need a lawyer but are only one event away from requiring legal advice.

Put another way, lead generation focuses on prospective clients – people who know they need an attorney and are actively looking for one. Demand generation focuses on potential clients – people who have a potential legal case but aren't sure what to do next and may not even be aware of their rights. Prospective clients are more likely to turn into actual clients quickly, but the pool of potential clients is significantly larger, and there's less competition to reach them.

The effects of lead gen and demand gen on ROI

Lead generation is immediately attractive to attorneys (and businesses more broadly) because it offers short-term returns. If you target the people who are ready to hire a lawyer, then you will start signing cases that much sooner.

The problem is that the return on investment is not very high, particularly in competitive practice areas where leads are expensive. Indeed, lead gen-focused strategies tend to break even (at best) because of the high cost per lead. Moreover, marketing agencies that focus on lead gen typically do not build fundamentally sound websites and do the basic "blocking and tackling" of maintaining a firm's web presence, which can lead to penalties and long-term losses.

Focusing on the fundamentals of demand generation and putting in the work required to build a sustainable marketing strategy is essential to avoid these pitfalls. This means emphasizing long-term growth over quick fixes and taking a holistic approach that considers the entire marketing funnel. In other words, no tricks, secrets, or silver bullets will magically result in more leads. Creating a strong demand gen engine that generates quality leads and positions your brand for sustained success takes a concerted effort.

Demand generation is a strategy for sustained long-term growth. A broader awareness and consumer education strategy takes hard work and time to pay off, but the long-term return on investment is also higher because the cost per lead is relatively low. In short, law firms need a holistic, 360-degree marketing strategy to achieve long-term success.

The elements of successful demand generation for law firms

Again, demand generation is a holistic strategy, so it requires a comprehensive approach. Every element of a firm's digital presence has the potential to either support or undermine demand generation. These fundamental elements include:

Website

A law firm's website is the core of its digital marketing presence. The website informs consumers about what the firm does and, more importantly, how its services can help them. The website should inform consumers about the firm's physical address and phone number, which helps to build trust with Google. It should also feature case results, testimonials, awards, endorsements, and other concrete information that strengthens credibility.

Website content needs to be properly weighted toward the firm's key practice areas. The content must also be high quality since Google holds legal websites to very high standards. Effective law firm websites use a mix of "evergreen" and timely content that aligns with every stage in the customer journey, including awareness (e.g., "know your rights if you're in an accident"), consideration ("what to do after an accident"), and conversion ("why you need to call an attorney right away after an accident").

Law firm websites also need to be properly optimized for both mobile and desktop search. This includes not only having high-quality content that targets key search terms but also having a responsive design, fast load times, and other key factors that Google uses to rank websites. Legal search is highly competitive, so there is little room for error. A well-optimized website also serves as a vital support for other advertising efforts such as pay-per-click (PPC) and social media marketing.

Local SEO

Optimizing for local search is critical for demand generation and lead generation. This starts with optimizing the firm's Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly Google My Business, with the correct address, contact information, opening hours, and so on.

Maintaining your GBP is foundational to an effective demand gen strategy. Obtaining five-star Google Reviews from satisfied clients plays a pivotal role in local search. It's also essential for firms to publish posts on the GBP profiles (ideally at least once a week) to show Google that the business is active and make the firm more visible to potential clients.

Attorney directories and awards

Attorney directories play an important role in demand generation for a few reasons. First, consumers do make use of directories to find the legal representation they're looking for, so having a presence is important. Second, having a directory listing generates a citation for the firm's name, address, phone number, and website (NAPW), which improves Google's trust in the business, as well as an authoritative backlink that sends search authority to the firm's website.

The key, however, is quality over quantity. There are many low-quality directories out there that can actually result in penalties and long-term losses. However, a highly authoritative directory can be a massive boon to a law firm's demand generation in several ways.

The demand generation power of the Law.com Lawyerpages

Law.com's Lawyerpages are the definitive demand generation tool for lawyers and law firms. Law.com is the single most authoritative domain in legal search. That means citations from Law.com to an attorney's website have the highest value in Google's eyes. It also means that Google sees profiles and listings on the Lawyerpages as a reliable indicator of a firm's trustworthiness. Moreover, the organization of the Lawyerpages is built to reach consumers at every stage of the funnel.

High-quality expert articles

Legal articles featured on Law.com are intended to reach consumers at the awareness and consideration stages, explaining their legal rights and options and helping them understand the benefits of speaking with an attorney about their situation. Articles on the Lawyerpages attract regional and national audiences via organic search and drive long-term growth by bringing in a steady stream of well-qualified leads.

A sponsored article on the Lawyerpages strengthens the firm's credibility and authoritativeness in the eyes of Google and consumers.

Conversion-oriented listings and Power Profiles

While articles are intended to help generate demand at the top of the funnel, listings and profiles convert users at the bottom of the funnel. Featured listings make it immediately clear to consumers who highly qualified attorneys are in their area, what practice areas those attorneys can help with, and, most importantly, why they can trust our verified lawyers to handle their cases.

Even a claimed listing or premium listing can drive business, but the flagship product – the Power Profile – offers significantly greater revenue potential. A Power Profile is essentially a mini-website within the Lawyerpages that gives consumers a conversion-oriented snapshot of what the firm does and how they can help.

Built with a deep understanding of legal consumers

Law.com created the Lawyerpages in partnership with Big Voodoo Interactive (BVI), the industry leader in legal search rankings, particularly in the ultra-competitive personal injury space. Big Voodoo's track record includes placing the vast majority of client websites on Page One of Google, including firms in top markets such as New York, Houston, Boston, and Chicago.

In a space crowded with generalist agencies that get one legal client and assume they're now experts, BVI has put in the time and effort to truly understand the legal market and develop robust demand generation strategies that work for law firms. They build fundamentally sound websites that drive long-term growth, and the Lawyerpages are built on those same fundamental principles.

Contact us today to upgrade your demand generation

Again, the only way for law firms to drive long-term growth is to invest in demand generation, not just lead generation. While demand gen is a long-term strategy, investing in a platform that has already done the groundwork can lead to faster and more sustainable results. In short, there has never been a better time to invest in your firm's presence on the Lawyerpages.

If you're ready to upgrade your firm's marketing strategy, contact us today to learn more.