7 Steps to Promote Your Law Practice with Video
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Dak Prescott - photo by Tim Heitman, USA Today Sports.
I like football, I’m a Texan – it’s a mandate! But, I left the Cowboys after the Landry & Jimmy Johnson eras, and have enjoyed a bit of schadenfreude at their losses since. (I now root for the Packers – but that’s a whole ‘nother blog.) Dak Prescott could change all that. He has the “it” factor and I believe he could surprise a number of people who downplay him based on “rookie QB” statistics. A strong quarterback is only part of the strategy – the Cowboys will need to surround and support him in order for him to shine and help them excel.
Similarly, many business owners in professional services spend significant time focusing on business structure and operations, yet still neglect the value of a solid marketing strategy – including neglecting to significantly spotlight and leverage appropriate online tools.
To borrow a baseball metaphor: If you build it, will they come?
Photo: GoldenChairTravels.com
If a house sits in the middle of a forest (ie the content that sits on your website), yet no roads are built to reach the house or the roads are poorly maintained, plus no one is motivated to visit – will they come? If you invest in web content yet ignore social media platforms as ways to tell your story and interact with prospects – what motivates prospects to reach that “website in the wilderness”?
Obviously today, you should have a digital marketing strategy within your comprehensive business marketing strategy. And for 2017, you ought to think seriously about how you will leverage video. Mary Meeker oversees KPCB’s Digital Growth Funds and famously projected that by 2017, “74% of all internet traffic will be video.” How will you boost your practice with video?
First, as you can see in this graphic, several steps should be in place prior to designing your use of a particular online platform. It is optimal that whoever helps you develop the tools within your marketing and communications strategies fully understands those two efforts – to ensure your brand, your message, your image across interaction points – will be seamlessly coordinated.
Next, you should outline the purpose of the types of videos you will create based on the personas of your target groups of prospects. In my post regarding video and compliance with the bar rules, I mentioned three attorneys who demonstrate three purposes. Additionally, larger firms leverage video to highlight culture, diversity, pro bono, and more.
Shawn Tuma – educate your audience on a change in the law or important recent outcome.
R. Shawn McBride – promote your knowledge and skills, especially helpful for bolstering your (move) into a new field.
Bryan Wilson – create a memorable image for brand/name recognition.
Fish & Richardson – search “Fish and Richardson” in YouTube and you’ll find a list of videos that speak to the firm’s culture. Such videos would appeal to prospective staff and attorneys, as well as prospects researching the firm or an attorney.
Haynes & Boone – search YouTube for “Haynes and Boone” and you find a similar list addressing culture and diversity, as well as their oft-lauded Holiday Video Cards.
Speaking of Holiday Video Cards…have you considered using video to connect with clients this season? Here is my recent post on the subject.
Use video to showcase your knowledge.
- AILA Quick Take -- Team with someone in a client industry, or feature them. The AILA video uses of “bookends” to introduce and close a presentation. It also demonstrates a video concept that can be anticipated prior to a court decision, thus the script can be drafted in advance and edited when the decision becomes public. Such commentary video could be for your general audience, or targeted to a niche.
- Affinity Consulting presentation - Share slides, CLEs, and other educational presentations. The Affinity video demonstrates the re-purposing of a slide presentation.
Flip Cat collaborated with SyncLab media to produce this example video spotlighting firm culture and attitude.
Now that you’ve seen a few examples, you may have ideas for formatting your strategy. Keep this quote in mind as you plan:
Rather than using video exclusively as a storytelling mechanism, think of it as a tool for storymaking, in which consumers get to take part.” – Kim Larson, Global Director of Google BrandLab
Also, consider the Call To Action you will place at the conclusion of your videos.
Summarizing:
- Coordinate your video strategy with your overall marketing strategy.
- Base the types of videos you will create on the types of personas (prospects) you want to reach.
- Balance the style of videos among: knowledge showcase, culture, educational, outreach, promotional, etc.
- Balance the means of video among: professional, raw, and video obtained from outside sources.
- Create your own branded YouTube account.
- Work from the point of view of storymaking - an ongoing story of the evolution of you and how you benefit your clients through your unique services.
- Add a call to action when appropriate to the theme of the video.
Here are some additional resources related to video and marketing:
7 Best Articles for Lawyer Video Marketing – from Law Firm Suites, March, 2016.
Relevant marketing statistics from the National Law Review and The Rainmaker Institute, October, 2015.
Hubspot article and infographic on the power of video to explain your value proposition, June, 2016.
Launch your video strategy now. Contact Flip Cat today!
