Lawyer Advertising, Small Law Firms

Most Lawyers Suck At Online Marketing

If you're going to take the time to be online, then take the time to do it right. Be yourself, meet people, have conversations.

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Yesterday, Kevin O’Keefe put up a post about a recent survey that found people select lawyers in much the same way as they have for the past 100 years. People didn’t rely on a Google or some referral database. People relied on existing relationships during their search for an attorney. That is, people asked around to friends and family for a referral to an attorney that they trusted.

While this survey was geared particularly towards lawyers, it’s nothing new really. A couple years ago, I made a post about some large-scale research conducted by Forrester Research that looked at trust in online marketing. This was an online survey, and Forrester took the time to note:

Respondents who participate in online surveys generally have more experience with the Internet and feel more comfortable transacting online. The data is weighted to be representative of the total online population on the weighting targets mentioned, but this sample bias may produce results that differ from Forrester’s offline benchmark survey.

So these were people who were ideal potential online clients. People who have experience with the internet and feel comfortable in making online transactions. So how did these savvy online consumers rank trust in advertising and promotions across the board:

People, particularly savvy internet users, barely trust social media posts, website ads, or mobile apps.

There is some potential for trust there, something in the nature of 10-15 percent. Compare that to the highest ranked category of trust, recommendations from friends and family. Seventy percent of people trust recommendations from people they know. I’d imagine this would be even higher if it was in-person recommendations and not online ones. So where should a lawyer spend their time and energy in trying to build trust again?

That’s not to say that blogging, social media, and other online activity should be written off. O’Keefe quotes a piece from Gyi Tsakalakis on the survey, which I want to highlight as well:

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You see, the web helps us create, nurture and solidify relationships. You have probably heard somewhere that you need to market your practice on the internet. But you misunderstood how the internet works in the context of building relationships. This is part of the reason why there are so many lame law firm Facebook pages.

So much of what lawyers do online is lame. I’m inclined to call it stupid-ass bullshit, but Staci probably won’t let me say that here (or will she?!). [Ed. note: You’re welcome, Keith. 🙂 -SZ] I’m constantly bombarded with horrible pitches from marketing firms about so-and-so lawyer is available for comment on some story. Or a lawyer will friend or follow me online and then immediately spam me with requests to like their firm page. There is often a constant push of “sell sell sell” among many lawyers online.

Ultimately, blogs and social media allow lawyers to do two things: display expertise and build relationships. Neither of which are advertising in the sense that you’re forcing them in front of people’s faces. Displaying expertise should be old hats to lawyers as that is the traditional means of law firm promotion: speak at conferences, join social groups, author articles and papers relevant to your area of practice, etc. The same is true with blogs and social media, it just moves at a faster pace.

But relationships are slow. They take time. You can’t force relationships online, anymore than you can in real life. But, as can be evidenced in the surveys and research above, real relationships are what you need if want to become a trusted source for referrals from people you know.

Instead of Google Adwords, or aggressive sleaze-tweeting, or flawging, if you’re going to take the time to be online, then take the time to do it right. Be yourself, meet people, have conversations. It’s a slow burn, but it’s one that actually works.

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Keith Lee practices law at Hamer Law Group, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. He writes about professional development, the law, the universe, and everything at Associate’s Mind. He is also the author of The Marble and The Sculptor: From Law School To Law Practice (affiliate link), published by the ABA. You can reach him at keith.lee@hamerlawgroup.com or on Twitter at @associatesmind.

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