10 Incredible Stock Photos Resources for Law Firms

If you've been doing any kind of marketing for your law firm, odds are that you've used (or, at the very least, considered using) stock photos. And if you haven't, well, it's definitely something to think about!

Stock photos are great for adding flair to your blog posts, social media posts, and website when and if you don't have the resources to produce your own graphics or photographs. But we're not talking about the notoriously terrible stock photos from the early 2000s, here—we're talking about high quality, embarrassment-free, and just plain beautiful photos that will help kick your law firm marketing efforts up a notch (or 5).

That said, if you're ready to bring your firm's marketing efforts into the 21st century, here are 17 perfect stock photo resources worth bookmarking today:

1. Pexels

2. Stockvault

3. Negative Space

4. Kaboompics

5. Fancy Crave

6. StockSnap.io

7. Pic Jumbo

8. ISO Republic

9. Unsplash

10. Gratisography

See what we mean? Stock photos can be a pretty sweet and simple way to spice up your marketing, no matter how big or small your law firm's team is. Do you have any favorite stock photo resources? Be sure to share them in the comments below!

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This post was written by Marissa Vessels, member of the Merus team.

3 Ideas to Add to Your Legal Marketing To-do List

Gone are the days where law firms can gain new clients simply by producing good work. Of course, being a stellar lawyer with a respected reputation is a key factor, but legal marketing is becoming more and more of a necessity when it comes to keeping the client stream flowing.

Surely, you should at least have an informative legal blog for your firm along with basic social media running, and if you don't, that is definitely the best place to start. If you've got the basics down and are looking for something to step up your game, we've complied three different marketing projects that your firm could benefit from.

1. Create Videos

Videos have become one of the most influential platforms for marketing over the past couple of years. They are easily shareable and are a great medium for clearly getting your message across. In fact, a study shows that 78% of people watch videos online every week and 59% of senior executives said that, when given the option to read an article or watch a video, they'll choose to watch the video. So, since no one wants to read the content on your website anymore, why not just film it?

A great place to start is by creating a simple welcome video. This video can be placed on the homepage of your website to give a brief overview of your firm, mention your areas of expertise, and highlight a customer success story. You can also create additional videos that dive a little deeper, for example, creating webinars on interesting topics in your field or making various client testimonial videos to post on your website.

Finally, don't forget to share the videos! Post them on social media, in blogs, send it out in an email blast, and make everyone in your firm share them with their own networks too. Remember, the more interesting a video, the more shareable it becomes; so get your creative juices flowing!

2. Publish a Newsletter

Another suggestion is to start sending out a newsletter. Although this is an age old strategy, it really is a great way to keep in touch with potential clients, current clients, and others in your industry. A newsletter is the perfect platform to promote your firm and the content that you've already created. Recycle or re-purpose your favorite articles and blog posts to share with your audience, include interesting happenings in the legal industry, invite others in the industry to write for your newsletter, and let all of your subscribers know about whats going on with your firm; updates, events, conferences, etc. To keep the newsletter more interactive, you can also incorporate a Q&A or letter to the editor section.  This will allow you to display your vast knowledge and keep people interested in your firm.

3. Build a Referral Program

Last, but not least, get new clients by utilizing the people that have already worked with you! Word-of-mouth is truly one of the most powerful tools. People rely on reviews and referrals when making a final decision about almost anything, and referrals from personal connections are even better! So use this to your advantage and develop a referral program to incentivize your current clients to pass on the word about your practice.

There are tons of other marketing initiatives that your firm can take, these are just a few suggestions. You can also download our Law Firm Marketing 101 guide for step-by-step instructions on how to develop a marketing plan for you firm along with exclusive industry best practices.

What legal marketing strategies are working for your firm? Share them in the comments below!

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This post was written by Alisha Chakravarty, member of the Merus team. 

6 Marketing Mistakes That Are Draining Your Budget

A smart law firm marketer knows that a carefully developed marketing campaign can not only put your business in front of the right customers, but it can generate a long-lasting buzz that leaves people talking for weeks and months to come. Conversely, a poorly-executed campaign can quickly turn into a major time and resource suck, costing your firm thousands of dollars in easy-to-avoid mistakes. For the savvy law firm marketer who's looking to take their campaigns to the next level, keep on reading for the top 6 marketing mistakes that are draining your budget, fast:

Paying for Followers or Email Addresses

People who choose to like and follow your social media accounts organically are naturally going to be more highly qualified leads and are far more likely to convert when compared to followers that you pay for. The same goes for those who opt-in to your email list: they want to hear what you have to say and, as a result, are going to stick around and act on the promotions you send.

On the other hand, paid lists and followers won't do much at all for your marketing efforts (except, of course, lower your click-through rates and send you number of un-followers through the roof). Perhaps the one exception to this would be promoting your firm's Facebook Page or Twitter account using their respective native advertising platforms. Nevertheless, don't waste your time or marketing budget buying your audience: not only will the sales not be there, but you'll lose your digital credibility as well.

Ignoring Feedback and Reviews

Feedback and online reviews are your bread and butter when it comes to digital marketing -- especially for businesses like law firms, in which the services are highly personal and involve face-to-face interactions with clients. If your law firm isn't listed on B2C review sites, you're missing out on a valuable opportunity. Even worse: if you're not paying attention to what clients are saying on those channels, you are absolutely costing your business money.

If you haven't already, claim your profiles on websites like Yelp (or whatever the equivalent product is for your industry), and set up email notifications for new reviews. More importantly, you should take the time to actually respond to any negative comments or reviews that you get, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, or a designated review site. Showing that you care about your clients' experiences and that you own up to your business mistakes can do nothing but highlight your firm in a positive way.

Not Including Contact Information on Social Media

Nothing's worse than drawing followers to your social media pages, only to lose them due to a lack of opportunity to convert! For example, if your Facebook fans click on the "About" section of your profile, they should be easily be able to find your firm website, phone number, and an email address so that they can reach out to you with minimal effort. Not having these critical details in an easily accessible location can cost you valuable sales opportunities with individuals who are highly interested in learning more about the services you offer. Not to mention that potential clients are more apt to go with the company that does make their contact info easily available, as opposed to taking the extra clicks and Google searches to find your office's phone number.

Not Paying Attention to Your Competitors or Industry Changes

Not sure what competing companies are blogging or tweeting about? Stop turning a blind eye to the marketing strategies of other businesses in your niche. Of course, it's never acceptable to copy the content or strategy of another firm (because you'll never be innovating; you'll just be marketing one step behind your competition), but it does pay to understand what successful businesses are doing and why they're making their marketing decisions. Similarly, if you notice that something isn't really working for your competitor, it's probably best to avoid implementing that specific tactic in your own marketing strategy.

One of the best ways to generate top-notch, industry-specific content is to (1) find what's working for others, (2) figure out how you can make a better version of that content, and (3) turn it into a lead generation strategy. For example, if you notice a competitor is garnering a lot of attention over their new eBook, perhaps you could attempt to create an eBook of your own, distributing it through a gated content channel that allows interested readers to offer you their email address in exchange for your content. No matter how you choose to go about implementing borrowed strategies, it's important that you always add your own flavor in your firm's marketing.

Not knowing your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Don't have a customer acquisition cost measurement model in place? You are missing out on valuable, decision-making data. Through a combination of tools like Google Analytics and Excel sheets, it can be relatively simple to determine your firm's CAC and, in turn, make informed media buys. (Hint: The easiest way to do this is to divide the # of dollars spent on client acquisition by the # of new clients you received during a given time period.)

Even better: if you have your marketing analytics tools set up to measure customer acquisition cost per channel, it becomes pretty easy to take the guesswork out of your marketing strategy. Facebook generated $0 of revenue last quarter? Maybe it's time to look into another channel. AdWords is driving $10,000 of revenue per quarter? You should probably look into ways to continue that growth. Without a solid understanding of your CAC, it's easy to waste money by investing your marketing dollars into channels that aren't producing clients.

Not Measuring Results

You're still not measuring your marketing results and ROI? Why?! For the absolute beginner, marketing analytics can sound scary, but with a bit of careful planning, it's fairly simple to analyze your marketing efforts. If you're not taking the time to figure out what's working for your firm, chances are that you're wasting your money on a whole lot of marketing fluff that isn't working.

The most simple way to start is by determining the overall goal of your campaign and work backwards from there, developing tactics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for each goal. The bottom line: whether you're using a sophisticated system like HubSpot or a simple Excel sheet in tandem with Google Analytics, measuring your marketing tactics is an important part of being a smart marketer.

Do you have any other glaring mistakes that marketers should be wary of? Leave your experiences and suggestions in the comments below!

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love our marketing guide! Click here to download our law firm marketing guide, filled with 21 beautiful, easy-to-read pages of compelling data, step-by-step instructions, and exclusive industry best practices that will help you scale your firm's marketing strategy in a flash.

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Law Firm Marketing Measurements That Matter

There’s so much data that flows in through analytics measuring systems, but how do you know which data actually matters? Typically, overworked marketers tend to pay attention solely to web analytics (such as page views) and, although those numbers are important, they’re just not an effective measurement of your marketing efforts. That said, it’s time to throw out everything you know about measuring traffic to your website or blog, because we’re about to talk dirty details of measurements that matter.

1. Traffic Sources: The composition of your websites incoming traffic, such as Organic, Paid, Search, Social, etc. Measurable in Google Analytics.

Traffic in and of itself is an important measurement but, for marketing, it’s more important to measure where your traffic is coming from. By taking a look at where and how people are finding your firm’s site, you can determine which content and advertisements are working and which aren’t. This is especially important if you’re paying for advertising, as it’s an easy way to figure out what is and is not worth the money you’re putting in.

2. Conversion Rates: The number of users that "convert" divided by the number of users who visit that webpage x 100. Measurable in Google Analytics.

As much as we’d like it to be, it’s not enough to just get eyes on your page. Your marketing is only effective if your copy inspires people to react to your call-to-action. If you're really interested in optimizing your website and/or blog content, you should be keeping track of how many people subscribe to your newsletter, click on your CTA button, or fill out a form.

3. Time on Site: The average amount of time a user is spending on each page of your website. Measurable in Google Analytics.

How much time are people spending on your site? Using services such as Google Analytics, you can see a breakdown of how much time people are spending on your site from each referral channel. In general, the longer people spend on your site, the more information they’re soaking up. Using this metric, you can tell which traffic sources you should nurture and which sources need some extra love (or less attention) when it comes to boosting visitor interest in your site.

4. Unsubscribe Rate: The number of people who unsubscribed divided by the number of messages delivered. Measurable through your email service.

If you’re using email campaigns as a way to market your firm (which you should be!), it’s crucial to pay attention to your unsubscribe and spam rate. The average email unsubscribe rate across all industries is 0.25%, so if you’re above average in that department, you’ll need to figure out which email marketing faux paus you might be committing.

5. Inbound Links: A hyperlink on a third-party webpage that points back to your website or blog. Measurable in Google Analytics or Alexa.

Keep a close eye on your inbound links as they are a hugely important part of how search engines calculate your SEO status! Although we don’t know exactly how the algorithm applies weight to all on-and-off page factors, we do know that the quality of inbound links matters. You should focus on creating inbound links that come from sites that have a lot of authority (such as .edu or .gov domains) and that are built organically by sharing quality content and ideas, not spammy backlinks.

Interested in 4 more need-to-know marketing metrics that are key for law firm success? Fill out the form below to download our Law Firm Marketing Guide and access all 9!

How to Use the New Facebook Profile as a Marketing Tool

If you're not an avid user of Facebook on your mobile phone, you may not have noticed the updated look of the Facebook profile. These updates include the ability to upload a video 'profile picture,' a 100-character bio, a space to showcase up to 5 featured photos, and the option to highlight select personal details (such as your work experience), all of which are public, regardless of your profile's privacy restrictions. Although the changes aren't unique to the mobile version of Facebook (yep, they're visible on desktop, too), they're definitely featured more prominently when mobile users scroll through your profile.

To better illustrate the changes, here's what the updates look like on the different views of my Facebook profile:

If you use your personal Facebook as a marketing tool for your law firm (or any business, really), here are a few ways that you can use the new features to generate more clients:

Use the details section to display your current company and position.

Thankfully, you can now turn 'off' and 'on' the level of visibility for each individual entry you've created on your profile. If you want to maintain privacy, but show off your law firm at the same time, all you have to do is, from your profile, click on About and then on Work and Education, where you'll then want to navigate to the entry that you want to display publicly. From here, click Options > Edit, change the privacy to Public and click Save.

Pro Tip: While you're updating the privacy of your current position, take a few seconds to Add a Project and then pop a link to your firm's blog, social media accounts, and/or website into the project name/description.

Utilize the bio to write about what you do and why people should care.

Initially, I had planned to just copy and paste my Twitter bio into Facebook, but the 100-character limit complicated things a bit. I definitely had to pare down (a lot), but the bio is a great space to talk about, perhaps, what areas of law you specialize in and even link visitors to your Twitter profile or blog. Whatever you do, this is an awesome opportunity to get creative and a show a bit of personality.

Highlight interesting images and use the captions as a call to action.

This section is particularly obvious, but there are two things you should note. First, when you select the featured images for your profile, you only have the option to choose from photos that have already been uploaded to your account. Second, these featured images do not become 'linked' to the corresponding image that already exists on your profile, meaning that these featured images can have an entirely separate caption. A smart marketer would use this space to, again, link potential clients to relevant content and social media channels that they're looking to send traffic to.

That's all I've got in terms of tips to utilize the new Facebook profile update effectively, but can you think of any other creative ways to market yourself and your law firm on your personal Facebook profile? Let us know in the comments below!

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Paid vs. Owned vs. Earned Media: Everything You Need to Know

Before you develop your firm’s marketing strategy, it’s important to consider the different options that are available to you. In general, there are three major types of marketing: paid, earned, and owned. Alone, none of these avenues really have the ability to drive business in a big way. Together? These three types of media combine to create a powerful trifecta of digital marketing magic.

If you're ready to learn the difference between the three types of media (and how to use them to leverage your firm's current marketing efforts), keep on reading:

1. Paid Media

Yep, it’s exactly what it sounds like: media that you pay for. This could come in the form of banner ads, television commercials, paid content promotion, paid influencers, social media advertisements, newspaper advertising, pay-per-click advertising, and more.

Traditionally, paid media marketing is what comes to mind when most old school marketers think of “outbound marketing.” Now, paid advertising can be really helpful in reaching a wider audience that you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to reach organically, especially if your firm is small or new. But beware! In the modern marketing era, your buyers are more equipped control what they see on their screens through spam filters, ad blockers, and the like, which is why it’s important to focus on relationship building in digital marketing (as opposed to blindly shoving banner ads on every corner of the Internet).

2. Owned Media

Again, pretty obvious. This type of media includes your website, blog, social media channels, and any other media outlets that you have complete control over the distribution of content. So many marketers have fallen prey to the "build it and they will come" fallacy; however, owned marketing in and of itself won’t do much to boost your ranking in search engines and it’s existence alone won’t get eyes on your pages. Instead, you need to create engaging and compelling content that focuses on bringing in inbound links and traffic to your website based upon a clear value that you’re providing to your target audience.

3. Earned Media

Earned media is hands-down the absolute best type of media your firm could ask for! Ranging from mentions on Twitter, blog posts and other types of inbound links, to reviews, newspaper articles, and so much more, earned media is essential to your firm’s social media strategy. In essence, this type of media focuses on the fact that someone completely unrelated to your firm is willing to put their reputation on the line by vouching for the quality of your business. It’s modern word of mouth marketing, except it’s high-speed and the potential for virality is limitless.

So, what does this have to do with my law firm?

If your law firm is focusing on content marketing (which you should be), it’s crucial that you combine all three types of media in order to garner maximum traction on your marketing campaigns. For example, it doesn’t hurt to run a Pay-Per-Click advertisement to get more Facebook “likes,” but if you don’t have compelling content to engage your new audience, you’re not making any kind of impact. Sure, you’ll have increased your audience, but if it’s not an audience that’s going to be interested in your services long term, it doesn’t do much good. On the other hand, if you can run a Pay-Per-Click campaign (paid) using a landing page that facilitate conversion (owned) with content that people will want to read and share (earned), you’ll strike gold.

Interested in more great tips for building a law firm marketing plan that's sure to drive clients to your door? Fill out the form below to download our free Law Firm Marketing Guide for 21-pages of tips, tricks, graphs, and resources that will help you market like a pro.

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5 Need-to-Know LinkedIn Hacks

Ah, LinkedIn... that [almost] incomprehensible social network that you know must serve some kind of purpose, even though you can't totally figure out what that 'purpose' is. Given that it's quickly rising in popularity (and currently the 3rd most popular social network in the United States), it's shocking that we all know so little about LinkedIn's extensive feature set! So, in an effort to reduce some of this confusion and help you beef up your social networking skills, today I'm sharing my top 5 need-to-know LinkedIn hacks:

1. Export your LinkedIn contacts.

Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to have the email address of the person you met one time at that one thing who said they'd be willing to put in a good word for you with a potential hire? Good news: totally possible. If you're interested in downloading a .csv export of your contact's First Name, Last Name, and email address, all you have to do is sign into LinkedIn, click over to this link, choose your export format, and click 'Export'. Boom - now you can email your contacts to your heart's content!

(According to LinkedIn, the feature will only continue to be available for a short period of time, as they work on beefing up their protection against those who continuously scrape the site for spammy initiatives, so be sure to export your contact ASAP.)

2. Customize the URL for your public profile.

Are you interested in making your LinkedIn easier for important people to find? Of course you are. One of the best ways to do this is to create a custom profile URL that's easy to remember, such as linkedin.com/in/JohnDoe. In order to customize your URL, all you have to do is click here, find the "Your public profile URL" section on the right side of the page, and type in your desired URL.

3. Download the Pulse App and stay up-to-date with industry news.

LinkedIn is quickly becoming a major platform for people to publish their professional work (and I would argue that it's also quickly becoming my favorite place to read interesting and relevant content). The Pulse App makes it easy to stay on top of the most important stories, cutting through the clutter of the desktop version and bringing you only the most need-to-know information. Within the App, you can not only view a curated list of recently-published articles, but you can also search through the various publishers and people that you follow in order to find your own must-read content, fast. Click here to download the Pulse App!

4. Utilize Open Profile messaging to send messages to people that are outside of your network.

If you've ever wanted to send messages to people you don't know, then this feature is for you! LinkedIn has a feature called Open Profile, which allows Premium members to turn on (and off) the ability to receive messages from people outside of their networks. For us, this is an opportunity to message those people!

In order to send an Open Profile message to a member who has the featured enabled, you should be able to click on "Send an InMail" in the section near the top of their profile. If this option isn't available, click on the Down Arrow to pull up a new menu and find the "Send InMail" option.

5.  Make searching simple by using Saved Job or People searches.

Do you find yourself searching for the same few bits of information over and over again on LinkedIn? Maybe you're keeping an eye out for other lawyers in your area or you're looking to hire a new Paralegal. If that's the case, Saved Searches are a definitely time saver for those that are using LinkedIn to network or find a job. In order to save a search, all you have to do is conduct a normal search by entering the criteria that you want to filter by and then click on "Save Search" in the upper-right-hand corner of the page.

Now, in order to pull up your saved searches at a later time, all you have to do is click on the cog (it's next to the text that says "Save Search") and select "Saved Searches." From here, you can view, edit, or delete a saved search with ease.

And there you have it: my top 5 need-to-know (and totally useful) LinkedIn hacks! Do you have any other great tips that I missed? Let us know in the comments below!

P.S. If you don't follow MerusCase on LinkedIn, be sure to connect with us! ;-)

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Twitter News Roundup

Have you been missing our Twitter news roundups over the past few months? If so, we're back with the latest news on the Twittersphere, in 140 characters or less!

Uber sued for £198m by Canadian taxi drivers

Uber sued for £198m by Canadian taxi drivers: http://t.co/xKF9DlKaqY

— MerusCase (@meruscase) July 24, 2015

"The drivers are seeking C$400m ($307m; £198m) in damages and an injunction to stop the taxi-booking app from operating in the province of Ontario.

The action alleges that services like Uber X and Uber XL have created an "enormous marketplace" for illegal transportation in the city." (via BBC)

 Assessing the Legality of Sandra Bland's Arrest

A legal analysis of the Sandra Bland arrest video http://t.co/fpLiGG5uwd pic.twitter.com/qCMz89g9OS

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 23, 2015

"Failure to use a turn signal is technically an arrestable offense in Texas, though it rarely happens, according to Andrea Roth, an expert in criminal procedure who works as an assistant law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Rebecca Robertson, the legal and policy director for A.C.L.U. in Texas, said, “The initial stop should not have resulted in an arrest.” Trooper Encinia could have just handed Ms. Bland a ticket through the window and let her drive away, she said." (via NY Times)

 WWE Terminates Contract with Hulk Hogan Amid Controversy

WWE terminates @HulkHogan’s contract amid controversy: http://t.co/yDQDw0tNtm pic.twitter.com/HWNmtuZnXl

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 24, 2015

"The company confirmed Friday that it had terminated its contract with Hogan, embroiled in controversy over racist slurs he used that were caught on tape, although it didn’t cite a specific reason. In a statement, though, the WWE said it is: “committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employers, performers and fans world-wide.” The company has scrubbed images and mentions of Hogan from its website." (via The Wall Street Journal)

 

 Bill Cosby Team Begins Public Defense Campaign

Bill Cosby's legal team starts a public campaign to push back against news reports http://t.co/T6yUOaC6JC

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 22, 2015

"Bill Cosby’s legal team pressed forward on Wednesday with a vigorous public defense of the entertainer, arguing that while Mr. Cosby acknowledged embarrassing personal details in a legal deposition 10 years ago, he admitted to no crime, a fact they say has been lost in the recent wave of media coverage." (via NY Times)

Conan O'Brien Accused of Stealing Jokes From Twitter in Lawsuit

Conan O'Brien was accused of stealing jokes from Twitter in lawsuit: http://t.co/6vJr8TxPCv

— billboard (@billboard) July 27, 2015

"A San Diego man has filed a lawsuit against Conan O'Brien, TBS and others on the comedian's team for allegedly violating copyright on four jokes.

According to a complaint filed on July 22 in California federal court by Robert Kaseberg, the jokes were posted on a personal blog and on Twitter before making it into O'Brien's late-night monologue." (via Billboard)

We want to know: what's your go-to source for news on Twitter? Did we miss one of your favorite tweets of the week? Share with us on twitter: @MerusCase.

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This blog post was written by Michelle Zhang, member of the marketing team at MerusCase.

How to Make Time for Social Media

By Ruth Carter, Carter Law Firm

A frequent question I get is, “How do you make time to write blog posts and be active on social media?” My only response is to say, “I make time for the things that are important to me.”

I've been practicing law since January 2012, when I opened a law practice right out of law school. I built my firm from the ground up, primarily marketing myself through social media. I’m currently active on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Periscope, and I write for four blogs, including the one for my firm. That said, about half of my new clients find me through the internet when they do a search related to a problem they are having and it leads them to one of my blog posts or YouTube videos.

Treat social media like what it is: networking.

Half the job of being a lawyer with a solo practice in an eat-what-you-kill position is to keep new clients coming in the door while simultaneously working on current clients’ projects. I probably spend at least half my time each work day dedicated to interacting with others online and writing posts. It’s as important to me to be active online as it is to attend networking events, especially considering that social media is an excellent way to supplement the in-person networking you do. It helps keep you top of mind and demonstrates to potential clients that you are knowledgeable, accessible, and helpful.

The easiest way to fail at social media is to make it all about you.

You should never treat your social media like a digital billboard. The purpose of social media is to interact with people, not to talk at them. With print ads and billboards, it’s a one-way communication whereas, online, you get to be part of a rich community. With digital marketing, you can say so much more than, “Have legal problems? Call me!” Instead, you get to talk with people (including prospective clients) about local issues, current events, and topics related to your practice areas. These interactions allow you to be more of a real person instead of just a persona. Given that people hire people, you can use your online interaction to form and maintain relationships with others so they will be more likely to think of you when they, or someone they know, has legal issues.

Start small and go where your audience is.

Did I start out being active on six social media platforms? Absolutely not. I started with one and I’ve been continuously building my social media presence of the past six years. If you only have time to do one thing, at least to start, write a weekly blog about a legal issue related to your practice. Moreover, make writing that blog post a priority – no matter what. Maintaining a blog shows that you are active online, can speak to your audience’s needs, and if you set it up properly, it will help with your search engine results. It’s not hard to learn, but you do have to be diligent for it to be effective.

The more time and effort you put into your social media, the more you’ll get out of it.

Prior to the internet and social media marketing, most lawyers likely viewed promotional activities as one-and-done events: they sponsored an event or they bought an ad in the yellow pages or newspaper and waited for the phone to ring. These events didn’t require time or energy on an ongoing basis. With social media marketing, lawyers must be active on a regular basis; it may be less expensive in terms of money, but in terms of time, its a much greater investment. Granted, at the end of the day, social media marketing comes with a strong pay-off for those who do it well.

Yes, you do have the time.

I love Gary Vaynerchuk’s video on “hustle,” the most important word for entrepreneurs. (Warning: this video contains profanity so it may not be appropriate in the workplace or around children unless you have ear buds.) In this video, he reminds the audience that everyone has time; your just priorities dictate how you use it. If you think that you don’t have time to be active on social media, take a look at where you are spending your time. If you’re watching 3 hours of TV every night or if you have time to go drinking with your buddies, maybe you should redirect some of that time in order to interact with your contacts.

Ruth Carter is a licensed attorney in Arizona with a practice that focuses on intellectual property, social media law, business startups and contracts, and flash mob law. She is the owner of Carter Law Firm and Of Counsel at Venjuris in Phoenix. Ruth was selected for the American Bar Association Legal Rebels in 2012 and the Phoenix Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 2013. She is the author of three best-selling books on the legalities of guerrilla marketing and social media including The Legal Side of Blogging: How Not to get Sued, Fired, Arrested, or Killed.

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Law Firm Blogging Best Practices

Surprisingly (or not), blogging has become one of the most important parts of social media and digital marketing for all kinds of businesses. In fact, 46% of people read blogs more than once a day and 82% of marketers who blog daily have acquired a customer using their blog. That said, if you don’t have one already, your firm absolutely needs a blog.

Here’s how you can get the most out of the time you spend blogging:

Always include at least one image or graphic in each post.

There is nothing more intimidating to a reader than a giant block of text! Adding a featured image is a great way to play to readers’ love of visual content, which is essential to moving readers to engage in social sharing. Moreover, if your law firm has a Pinterest strategy, it's important to understand how to integrate that strategy into your blog posts (trust us, it makes a huge difference). We love this post from Wired for learning more: This Is the Perfect Pinterest Picture, According to Science.

Put as much effort into your titles as you put into your content.

Titles are key when it comes to posting great blog content that you want people to read. They should be direct, concise, and attention-grabbing. The best titles are accurate, offer a clear value, and are optimized for SEO. For more tips, we suggest reading over HubSpot's blog post on writing kick-ass blog titles.

Write the way that you speak.

You don’t want to come off as overly stuffy - it’s a blog, not a legal document. Make your content easily digestible, interesting, and relevant to your target audience. One of the most popular content formats is the "listicle," otherwise known as an article written in list form (much like this one). Breaking up your content with easy-to-skim headings is a great way to ensure that your readership can quickly find the part of your article that they're most interested in.

Maintain a consistent editorial calendar.

Few things are worse than a blogger who doesn’t, well, blog. Take the time to plan out an editorial calendar so that your idea pipeline never runs dry and so that the frequency of your posting is consistent. After all, consistent publishing is paramount to maintaining a readership that comes back day after day. Why? First of all. readers will always know what to expect and when they can expect it. If readers are continually trying to figure out when a new post will be on your blog, they'll eventually get tired of being disappointed by your empty homepage. Second of all, fresh content is one of the many keys to making friends with search engines, which you can learn more about in this handy blog post: Why Fresh Content is Essential to Your Website's Success.

Quality is more important than quantity.

You don’t always have to write long content. Although 1,500 word posts are ideal, blog posts that are between 200 and 500 words can be just as effective for engaging visitors as long as you're providing a clear and obvious value. This also applies to the idea that you don't need to post every single day in order to have a successful blog. Daily posting is a great way to grow your blog quickly, but if you're not providing valuable content, you're actually doing yourself more harm than good. That said, whenever you post something, you should always ask yourself, is this post worth my readers' time to read? If not, it might not be worth your time to write, either.

Ask questions and engage with your readers.

We mentioned that you need to be conversational when using social media and blogging is really no different. Have a conversation, be interested in your readers, and inspire them to interact with your blog. This means every post should include a strong call to action at the end and you should genuinely aim to create content that is going to improve your audience's lives in some way. If you’ve been successful at getting people to comment on your blog, don’t stop there! Blogging is about creating a mutual trust and community with your readership, so be sure to nurture those readers and make sure they know that you’re appreciative of the time they took to read and comment. 

Interested in more blogging and marketing tips for your law firm? If so, there's so much more where this came from!

Fill out the form below to download our Law Firm Marketing Guide, which is filled with 21 beautiful, easy-to-read pages of compelling data, step-by-step instructions, and exclusive industry best practices that will help you scale your firm's marketing strategy, fast.

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3 Reasons You Need a Blog to Get More Clients

Do you know anyone who doesn't take to the Internet in order to make a decision? Whether it's somewhere to eat, a new pair of shoes, or - you guessed it - choosing a lawyer, the Internet is a completely normal part of the modern decision-making process. Optimizing your presence on the Internet is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using search engine and social media marketing to acquire new clients!

Despite the obvious importance of the Internet for consumer decision-making, did you know that 70.6% of lawyers don't blog (ABA)? This means that only 29.4% of lawyers are cashing in on the benefits that a blog can provide to their firms. Don't be part of the 70.6% -- here's why your law firm should be blogging!

1. Build credibility with clients before you even meet them.

When clients peruse your website, chances are they aren't going to be looking at the nitty-gritty technical details of the work you do. Potential clients are going to be looking for 3 things: (1) ideas and stories they can relate to to and understand, (2) indicators of your success as a lawyer, and (3) the answers to any initial questions they might have. That said, you want to make sure that your firm is producing content that sends the right signals.

Attention-grabbing content comes in the form of client success stories, an "Ask a Lawyer" series, and, in general, anything that makes your firm sound as if you're the right choice for a potential client. Having a blog gives you a place to display all of this information that may not be a perfect fit for your website.

2. Make friends with search engines.

All those buzzwords you hear marketers throwing around? Terms like, "search engine optimization," "inbound marketing," and "bounce rate?" Well, the importance of those ideas are completely applicable to lawyers, too! Having a blog puts your firm on the Internet in a whole new way. It allows more pages, more keywords, more opportunities for someone to land on your content, and more chances to squeeze information from these potential clients.

Every single day, millions of Google searches are conducted. Why not use these millions of searches to your advantage? If you have something important to share with the world, use your blog to turn that content into new clients.

3. Power your own social media.

Social media is one of those marketing tools that is really difficult to get away from. Truthfully, if social marketing isn't part of your strategy, your opportunities for growth are incredibly limited -- it's like a new take on word-of-mouth marketing for the modern day.

What good is social media and related marketing efforts if you don't have any content to share? Although sharing others' content is important, that doesn't do a whole lot for generating interest for your firm. Through blogging, your firm can expand the type of content you produce and, in turn, use that content to power social media and drive more interest to your work.

Does your law firm have a blog? Leave a link in the comments below -- we'd love to check it out!

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