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At the foundation of intellectual property is a belief in the importance of original, fresh ideas. There is no one who understands that better than the intellectual property attorney. This belief often bleeds into the culture and branding of the intellectual property law firms that empower attorneys to protect the ideas and inventions that help propel our society forward. Due to the scope of intellectual property law in the United States, it is often necessary to cast a large net and draw attention from a large audience to your law firm website. To accomplish this goal, implementing effective and well-informed intellectual property law firm marketing strategies is imperative.
Why Is Intellectual Property Law Firm Marketing Necessary?
If you have found this guide you understand that marketing is crucially important to the success of a law firm. The practice of marketing has been in use for hundreds of years, but the current digital age has amplified the necessity of it. As more and more intellectual property law firms take to the web and market their services to a growing audience, the competition has become stiff. It is necessary to market your intellectual property law firm in order to stay relevant in the digital age.
Your future clients are searching online for their legal counsel and making judgments about which attorneys they can trust to successfully represent their case based on Google profiles and websites. Content marketing offers an incredibly valuable way to set an intellectual property law firm apart from the rest of the competition, attract new client relationships, and expand the business.
What Are Clients Looking for in an Intellectual Property Law Firm?
To understand intellectual property law firm marketing is to understand what your consumer is looking for. What qualities does a law firm website possess that motivates the client to hire one firm over another? Who is your target demographic and how can you most effectively connect with them?
In the intellectual property space, the target clientele is quite different from that of other practices, such as family law or immigration. More often than not, intellectual property attorneys are representing researchers, businesses, or teams of experts in a specific field. The typical client is looking for the following qualities when searching for an intellectual property lawyer online:
- Industry expertise. Your clients are experts and expect you to be as well. Showcase your firm’s history, accolades, and other accomplishments directly on your law firm’s website.
- Commitment to excellence: Experience is necessary, but the client must be able to trust that you have the skill and knowledge to fully represent their case. One way to demonstrate this at first glance is by upholding quality in every aspect of your intellectual property law firm’s marketing content. Is all of your written content accurate, eloquent, and informative? Does your website include high-quality pictures and/or videos?
- Visibility. When potential clients are looking for a firm, is your law firm’s website one of the top results in their Google search? If a website is not visible, all marketing effort has been done in vain.
When utilized correctly, intellectual property law firm marketing can translate into revenue growth and expanded market reach. These outcomes are the primary motivators that lead IP law firms to implement new marketing techniques into their current practices.
How To Market Your Intellectual Property Law Firm: 5 Methods for Success
Understanding the why is only one half of the equation. What about the how? This is the million dollar question that IP law firm marketing seeks to answer. Marketing your IP law firm is undoubtedly a challenge, requiring a focused strategy and consistent investment into your firm’s content.
After spending years evaluating current practices and keeping up to date on the most recent industry-specific marketing trends, we have compiled a list of the top 8 ways to leverage intellectual property law firm marketing to attract new clients.
#1 – Consider Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) has been a hot topic for the better part of a decade, especially as Google and other search engines have taken on an increasingly important role in the decision-making of consumers. Fortunately, there are different ways that a law firm can optimize their presence on search engines to rank higher and attract the eyes of more potential clients.
Utilizing keywords is an ideal place to start the process of implementing SEO in your marketing strategy. Long-tail keywords can be used to gain more targeted attention by anticipating consumer interest. This is where the importance of written content becomes clear. To better perform on search engines, it is necessary to utilize keywords strategically throughout the written content on your website.
Google’s algorithm values high-quality content. This is a reflection of what matters to potential clients as well, who land on your page in search of answers to their questions. Keeping individuals on your law firm website longer is important to ranking higher on search engines. If a web page is unreadable or loads too slowly, many potential clients will click out of your website and move on to a new one. For SEO purposes, this is a major issue. Be sure to craft clear and concise web pages that are designed with usability in mind.
#2 – Leverage Social Media
It can be easy to assume that social media is reserved for younger audiences who are not in search of a lawyer. This is far from the truth, however, and studies report that roughly seven-in-ten Americans use social media to engage with others and seek information. Social media presents an incredibly valuable avenue for growth. Through social media, intellectual property law firms have the opportunity to establish their brand identity, gain trust from potential clients, and demonstrate their expertise in a given area.
Leveraging social media most effectively can take many different forms, depending on your law firm and practice. Some key ways to get involved in social media include:
- Creating short or long form video content, which can be showcased across platforms including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Utilizing advertising campaigns on Facebook to increase your online visibility among potential clients.
- Interacting with prominent legal thinkers or political figures, offering thoughtful commentary on different topics.
- Establish a presence on LinkedIn that accentuates you as an attorney and solidifies your law firm’s place in the market
The most exciting aspect of social media is that there is no limit to your creativity on different platforms. You can use social media as a tool that suits your law firm’s culture and perspective.
#3 – Establish a Google Business Profile
The number of consumers who use Google to evaluate local businesses and seek information about products and services is continuously growing. More likely than not, your future clients are conducting research on Google before making any hiring decisions. This research is key to their decision to commit to a specific intellectual property law firm.
In fact, in 2020 only 63% of consumers reported using Google to evaluate businesses while in 2021, that number increased to 81%. Under this light, it is easy to seek why maintaining a presence on Google is necessary. For intellectual property law firms, building and maintaining a Google Business Profile offers an ultra-efficient way to showcase your services on Google and attract the attention of the 81% of consumers who are using Google to find your firm.
#4 – Build a Well-Designed Law Firm Website
To attract attention from a wide audience online, it is imperative to build a well-designed law firm website that most clearly and professionally showcases your law firm brand identity. Your website is your opportunity to create a lasting first impression. It is your opportunity to establish trust in your business compared to the competition.
When designing your law firm website, it is important to prioritize quality and user ease above all else. Use high-quality pictures that represent your message. Showcase your practice areas, law firm history, and blog posts in a clear way that is easily navigable. Finally, be sure to list your contact information prominently, allowing potential clients to establish communication with your firm as quickly and simply as possible. These simple practices can make a major difference in the success of your intellectual property law firm marketing strategy.
#5 – Utilize Written Content
Maintaining an informational blog on your website is a fantastic way to generate traffic to your website and establish communication with your potential clients. Many times, before making a hiring decision, clients will seek educational information relating to a topic. In the arena of intellectual property law, this may include insight into how the patent process works or the differences between trademarking and copyrighting. Including concise, high-quality written content on your intellectual property law firm website offers a chance to showcase your practice and build trust with potential clients.
Publishing blog posts sporadically will not achieve long-lasting results, however. For written content to be most effective, a focused and consistent distribution strategy is necessary. Releasing written content on a regular, scheduled basis shows potential clients that you are a credible and reliable source of information. If your IP law firm is producing content on an irregular basis, the impact of your written content is being diminished tenfold.
How LawQuill Can Help with Intellectual Property Law Firm Marketing
No two marketing strategies are the same and it is important to develop a plan that suits your law firm’s goals and long-term objectives most fully. Intellectual property clients have different expectations from their attorneys compared to other practice areas and it is important to adjust your marketing strategy to meet industry trends and the needs of potential clients.
Once you are ready to begin implementing an intellectual property law firm marketing strategy that works for you, consider scheduling a quick phone or Zoom call at your convenience using our online calendar today. We can also be reached via email at support@lawquill.com.
