The legal industry in the United States includes over 47,000 law firms. It is a competitive market, and one way you can stand out is through law firm branding. Building a brand for your law firm is an ideal way to raise awareness of your unique services, attract new clients, and build loyalty to your company. Creating a brand identity for your law firm may seem more elusive than tracking website visitors and crunching marketing numbers, but branding is foundational to every other marketing strategy. If you have not gotten started on law firm branding, now is the perfect time to begin.
What is Law Firm Branding?
Law firm branding is an assortment of perceptions and expectations that consumers have about your law firm. Your brand’s message communicates who you are and what you offer. Every time a client sees your brand, they will connect it with what they know about you: your website content, social media posts, professional services, and the feeling they got when they first walked in or clicked on your website. Law firm branding connects emotions with reality, and when done right, it becomes a positive, accurate reflection of who you are.
Why Law Firm Branding Matters
When people love a certain brand, they share and boost its reputation even further, and the same premise that fuels consumer brand loyalty at the store can expand your law firm’s brand. Creating a brand is important for a variety of reasons.
Law Firm Branding Supports Your Marketing Efforts
Strong brand signals assist a solid SEO strategy. Your familiar brand tells users and Google that you are recognizable and reliable. Law firm branding helps to establish your expertise, authority and trustworthiness (EAT), which are desirable SEO traits that boost your credibility in the eyes of Google. Searchers tend to click on something they have seen before, and potential clients are more likely to hire a law firm through familiarity and trust.
Law Firm Branding Defines Your Company Mission
A defined brand reminds everyone on your team who you are and what you are good at. It gives team members, who are responsible for different tasks, a common theme to work toward. When your law firm is presented with challenges, decisions, and opportunities, you can ask, “Does this mesh with our brand?” and act accordingly.
Law Firm Branding Sets You Apart
Finally, law firm branding allows you to set yourself apart from competitors. Law firms have a tendency to regurgitate the same taglines and phrases in their advertising campaigns. Your unique core message via your law firm brand sends a distinctive and consistent message to potential clients.
5 Steps to Creating Your Law Firm’s Brand
Branding is crucial, but like any other important endeavor, it doesn’t occur instantly. Invest some time at the beginning, scrutinizing your law firm’s goals and particulars. Confirm that you and your colleagues are clear about what services you offer to your potential clients, then whittle that down into your distinct “brand message.” Finally, assess the following points before you solidify your branding.
Start Early
It is never too late to begin law firm branding, but the earlier you start, the easier the process may be. When you first launch your law firm, you can choose a fitting URL, domain name, and law firm title that can all tie in with the brand you would like to create. All of these will be the first and most frequent representations of your brand, so choosing wisely is crucial. Whether you select a reserved, lofty name, or an edgy, aggressive name for your law firm ties in with our goals and the clients your company aims to reach.
Clarify Your Target Audience
Some law firms say that their target audience is anyone who pays the bills, but this mindset would result in a pretty expensive marketing strategy. Instead, narrow down your true target audience, and your branding will be more effective. One easy way to begin is to examine who your best or favorite law firm clients are and decide what qualities they have in common. This step will help you build a profile of your law firm’s ideal client and help you define your target audience.
Condense Your Core Message
Distilling your core message is crucial, and does not include general statements such as, “We care; we can help; please contact us today.” A core branding message reflects your law firm’s personality and is genuine, fresh, concise, and grabs the attention. Getting this step accomplished may require a few brainstorming sessions. When finished, your brand’s core message should be uniquely different from other law firms, and stay in line with your firm’s position and marketing strategy.
Present Your Brand Consistently
Finally, you need to present your brand to the world through a logo, color scheme, website, and social media presence. Marketing experts caution to follow all of the steps and tweak them if necessary before rushing out with your brand. Hiring a professional may help if you are stuck, or if you need confirmation along the way. Once you solidify your brand, present it consistently. Because attention spans are tinier than ever, offering a steady, familiar brand is all-important if you want your target audience to remember you. Once they are familiar with your brand, they feel safer with you and feeling safe leads to a sense of trust. Potential clients will gravitate toward hiring a law firm they trust and know.
Law Firm Branding Best Practices
Now that you have solidified and polished your law firm branding, here are some helpful tips:
- Engage with your target audience. Keep connecting with potential clients, colleagues, and the community to stay in step with the market and keep your law firm growing.
- Stay consistent. Ensure that every website page, social media platform, community event, and ad campaign contains evidence of your brand.
- Let your brand soak into everything. Your office, customer service, emails, and client interaction should all reflect your brand.
- Branding is a team effort. Include all of your staff in your branding message and ask for ideas of how to improve the way you communicate it.
- Listen to your clients. The optimal way to determine if your brand message clicks with potential clients is to listen to the feedback, reviews, and communication from clients and make changes if necessary.
- Always keep advancing. Law firm branding must be consistent, but markets change and you may need to adjust accordingly. This does not mean you need to alter your brand with each new trend but watch for ways to adapt to a changing market.
This Week’s Digital Marketing Action Steps:
Law firm branding starts with looking inward at who you are as a company, then it looks outward at who your law firm is trying to reach. Creating a law firm brand requires an initial investment of time and effort, but there are rewards at the end of the tunnel. After creating your quality brand message and sharing it consistently, you may be able to enjoy the benefits of increased client loyalty and more business for your law firm.
- Take time this month to really look at your law firm branding, whether it meshes with who you are as a company, and the image you are trying to portray.
Annette Choti graduated from law school 20 years ago, and is now the CEO & Owner of Law Quill, a legal digital marketing agency focused on small and solo law firms. Law Quill is the only legal digital marketing agency that provides unique, SEO-optimized content, pre-packaged content, and courses for lawyers to learn SEO themselves through Law Quill Academy. Annette used to do theatre and professional comedy, which is not so different from the legal field if we are all being honest. Annette can be found on LinkedIn or at annette@lawquill.com
