What is Guerilla Marketing?
Before we dive into guerrilla marketing for lawyers, let’s explore what it is. The term ‘Guerilla Marketing’ was first coined by the American business writer and author, Jay Conrad Levinson, in 1984. He came up with the idea of having a marketing and advertising strategy that was not only creative and witty, but also cost-effective.
His book, also named Guerrilla Marketing, has been so influential, it is required to be read in MBA programs across the world. Guerrilla marketing is all about coming up with new and interesting marketing and advertising ideas for your company and the services/products you offer.
Creativity is at the heart of guerilla marketing, utilizing humor, imagination, and unconventional methods to target customers/clients. The plan is to always come at your target clientele in the most unexpected ways, leaving them curious and interested. This form of engagement creates more buzz and excitement as compared to conventional marketing, making guerilla marketing more effective.
Does Guerilla Marketing Work for Lawyers?
You will be surprised to know that the most effective marketing campaigns in history were initiated and completed with very little funds. Guerilla marketing is all about marketing on little to no budget. What you lack in finances, you make up for it with ingenuity.
The goal is to surprise the audience in a way that generates word of mouth; something that gets them talking. Thanks to social media, this can be done much more easily and quickly than before.
So, does guerilla marketing work for lawyers, the answer is a resounding YES! Although most advertising campaigns focus on products rather than services, guerilla marketing can be shaped to cater to law firms.
Even lawyers need to market themselves to spread awareness of how they can offer advice and representation in legal matters, and by now you’re probably sick of being bombarded by legal SEO companies sending you an endless wave of emails touting search engine optimization as the only way to grow your firm.
So why not utilize the most powerful form of marketing there is?! Marketing for lawyers does not have to be expensive. Even though you can throw as much money as you want at your firm’s marketing campaign, there’s really no need to.
With the world going digital and the power of social media within your grasp, you can get a lot more outreach with much less money. It has become crucial to harness the power of the internet into guerilla marketing so as to target your specific audience.
How to Start Your Guerrilla Marketing Initiative
In order to get started with guerilla marketing, the first step is not to worry about your finances. As mentioned, you don’t need a huge budget. All you need is to prep your mind and let your imagination go wild so you come up with the most creative marketing ideas.
The most successful guerilla marketing campaigns require thinking outside of the box. You need to do something that sets you apart from the rest. Of course you have to stay within the confines of the law and make sure it’s not something offensive.
So, if you want the world to know about how good a lawyer you are, here are some ideas to get you started:
- Visit Community Events, Conferences & Workshops
- Get Involved Locally
- Create a Referral Program
- Leverage Social Media Marketing
- Partner with Law Firms Complementing Your Practice
- Capitalize On Your Travels
1. Visit Community Events, Conferences & Workshops
One of the best ways to get people’s attention is to give them your time. By volunteering at events, workshops and conferences, you can give the attendees an idea of your expertise. Depending on the type of event, you can share strategies and offer helpful information. Let them know that you have an active online presence such as a website, Facebook page complete with pictures and information related to your law firm.
You can also give out media kits to the attendees containing your credentials, bio and your law firm’s mission. This info can be vital for them to understand what you specialize in and whether you can help them with their specific legal issue.
2. Get Involved Locally
Build your network by getting yourself involved in local events. If there are no events coming up, why don’t you host one of your own! Get a fundraiser campaign for a good cause or having a canopy at the county fair. This is the best way for you to get the attention of the local ‘movers and shakers’.
By being a part of such organizations and boards, you will be assisting them with your knowledge and skills as a lawyer. This is something that is greatly treasured by everyone. Remember NOT to give a sales pitch during these events as people respond more positively to valuable information.
3. Referral Programs
Quite similar to affiliate marketing, you pay someone for sending business your way. You have an arrangement with referrers who know about your work and when they meet someone who needs your specific services, they send them your way. This does not cost you money as you only pay the referrer when you actually get paid from that particular business. The ideal people to get referrals from are your fellow attorneys at law.
For instance, you work with criminal law cases but don’t handle divorce law. However, there are times when criminal cases require divorce attorneys. You can take advantage of this by making an arrangement with another lawyer to send referrals your way and vice versa. Create a guide and send it to your local attorneys so they can send those referrals your way.
4. Leverage Social Media Marketing
Social media is the largest guerilla marketing platform today. By riding the social media bandwagon, you can reach more people than any other platform. There are always people on Facebook and Twitter looking for lawyers to handle their legal battles. There might be someone on Twitter right now who was charged with DUI and is looking for an attorney who can take on his/her case.
If you are a divorce attorney you can get the attention of someone who might be going through a tough marriage. With more than 2 billion social media users, it would be foolish to not take advantage of this medium for marketing your law firm. You can create your profiles for free, followed by posting information on various legal issues where you and your fellow lawyers can help.
5. Partner with Law Firms Complementing Your Practice
This is a great way to save money while connecting with more clients. Think about other law firms whose services complement yours in your area. For instance, while you specialize in Family Law, you might know some firms in other practice areas such as Estate Planning, Bankruptcy, Criminal etc. By collaborating with such firms, you can avoid considerable printing and mailing costs. And by sharing your own network with them, your law firm also emanates a sense of involvement in the legal community.
6. Capitalize On Your Travels
If your legal business has you traveling a lot, capitalize on it. Get a white box and put a couple of non essential items in it. Put your firm’s branding on the box’s outside, with your name, contact number and website. Better yet, also add a tagline, like “Having trouble with a business deal? Maybe we can help!”. When the box comes out on the conveyor, let it go around a few times before you collect it.
Let People Find You Online
Nowadays, almost everyone goes online to search for people, brands, products, you name it! There are a variety of law firm marketing techniques to employ. By having an online profile, you can let potential clients view your achievements, both educational and career wise. This also gives a sense of trust to the potential client as they know where and how to reach you.
With social media, you have the chance to not only stay connected with your clients, but also gain new ones by being available online for some Q & A. If you are willing to spend some money, you can also post ads on various social media platforms. These ads will be shown to your target audience to capture their attention towards you regarding their legal issue.
What Else Can You Do?
If you wish to succeed in this competitive world, you need to consistently focus on marketing your services. Whether you have a budget for marketing your law firm or not, you need to be consistent in finding ways to grow. It is crucial to keep up with the changes and advances in the world of guerilla marketing. This is the key to not only ensure your survival, but also to give you a competitive edge.
Here are some of the things you can do:
- Have a great search engine ranking
- Post interesting content
- Create informative online videos
- Show-off your reviews
Lawyers and law firms need to utilize each and every technological tool available to reach their target clientele. Let’s get into the details a bit.
Have a Great Search Engine Ranking
As you are aware, if your website is not listed on the first page of the search results, it will not be seen by the majority of the users. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the most important aspect of having an online presence via a website, as it ensures that you can be easily found on Google searches.
Your website needs to be optimized so your website loads faster and has links on other websites leading back to your website. You also need to ensure that you have a web design that is not only on par with today’s standards, but also captivates the visitor into staying and exploring more about your law firm. There are many SEO tools for analysis and reporting you can use to stay on top of your efforts.
Post Interesting Content
Believe it or not but great quality content is what sets your law firm’s website apart in the vast ocean that is the world wide web. By providing valuable and relevant information, you can let your target clients know about your expertise and skills on handling legal issues.
Post informative blogs and articles to drive scores of potential clients toward firm. You can also post as a guest on other law firm websites and have others do the same. This will greatly help in expanding your reach towards new clientele.
Create Informative Online Videos
The days of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on expensive video and audio equipment are long gone. Today, all this can be accomplished with a smartphone, or much cheaper than before professional audio/video equipment. Video has changed how people consume content. Create a short video where you discuss the most common legal issues faced by your community. Expand on that and cover other topics.
Make sure to keep things simple by not going into details. People are more likely to watch videos that are to-the-point and short rather than going on and on about all the legal mumbo jumbo! You can post these videos on your law firm’s website, YouTube channel, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Connect all your accounts so it is easy for users to share and tag your videos across several social media platforms.
You can also create simple yet elegant graphics to work within your video to interest the viewers. Most importantly, do not forget to smile! Animated marketing videos are another great option.
Show-off Your Reviews
Reviews can make or break your game! Nowadays, it’s all about going online and searching for reviews. People hardly ask each other about referrals or their experiences as now they are more likely to read reviews online.
Even anonymous ones are given weight and credibility, so having them posted on your social media pages and website can really boost traffic towards your law firm. Make sure to feature the most positive reviews as they will naturally have a positive impact on the potential client. You can also ask your local community members to write testimonials which you can showcase as well. It’s also critical to monitor reviews to easily spot and remove false reviews that may arise.
Legal Guerrilla Marketing: Sustained!
If you have reached this part of the article it means you have a basic understanding of guerilla marketing for lawyers. Note that there is still a lot more to this form of marketing technique than what has been discussed here. For now you have a solid grasp of what it entails.
There is no one way to utilize guerrilla marketing for your law firm. You have to stay on your toes and wait for the most opportune moments to come up with something that is interesting and engaging.
There are chances you’ll probably end up using all of these, or perhaps some of these methods. The best way to go forward is to personalize your guerilla marketing campaigns to suit the needs of your law firm.
Author Bio: This post was written by Devin Schumacher for SERP Co.