Web Client: Move Beyond Referral Marketing

All lawyers have marketed their law firms in the same fashion since time in memoriam.  The idea was always to build a personal referral base via business networking, and that the rest would take care of itself.  Even as the world around law firms has changed over time, that one constant has not changed.  But now, if a new report is to be believed, other modes of client acquisition may be outstripping this tried and true option. 

The 2019 Clio Legal Trends Reports indicates that fewer potential law firm clients are seeking referrals from other attorneys or affiliated professional service providers.  In fact, the study indicates that legal consumers are more likely to ask family members for a referral.  And, more than half the time, a legal consumer performs independent research to locate the right attorney. 

Of course, most of those preferred mechanisms do not align with how attorneys work to acquire and convert leads.  In fact, the traditional preference of finding other lawyers and ancillary professionals is the worst of those relayed options.  Lawyers, then, who want to market to modern legal consumers are active in their communities (to leverage family-based referrals) and use content marketing and social media (to attract legal consumers relying on independent research conducted via in-app search focused on long tail search queries.) 

The point, though, is not to abandon traditional referral marketing techniques; it’s that you shouldn’t place all your eggs in that one basket.  The present and future of law firm marketing is omnichannel. 

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Need to expand your horizons when it comes to marketing?  We can help. 

Through a unique partnership between the bar association and Jared Correia's Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, National Creditors' Bar Association members now have access to experienced law practice management consultants at a special discount rate.  To get started, visit Red Cave's NCBA landing page, and start running your law practice like a business.