Personal injury lawyer marketing is intimidating if you’re not aware of the most efficient methods and have a clear strategy for how you’d like to reach potential clients. It’s not rocket science, but any marketing for your personal injury practice requires a clear plan before you go live with your campaign.
If you’ve been struggling to reach the correct target audience or are ready to take your first shot at deploying your own marketing strategy, the following sections detail the ten most proven methods for reaching, engaging, and driving clients to your website or phone number.
The best part is that you don’t need a degree in marketing or be a tech or advertising professional to leverage these strategies. Each method is broken down simply enough for a first-timer to follow and understand easily.
10 Marketing Strategies for a Personal Injury Lawyer
When you’re planning to deploy a marketing campaign, you need to be aware of three crucial elements:
- What message do you intend to drive home to your audience?
- How am I going to drive this message?
- Where can I find my audience online?
You can accomplish any marketing goal by carefully studying and answering these three questions. After you’re clear on the answers, it comes down to using any of the following ten methods.
1. Purchase Leads
This is one of the oldest methods of obtaining clients in any industry and continues to be just as effective today as it was in the past. Purchasing leads entails finding an organization that secures a list of potential clients who express the need for your services or fit the profile of people who do.
A huge market exists for the lead generation sector, so you’ll have many options. This method allows you to purchase highly targeted leads – in this case, the target is anyone looking for personal injury services or people who could benefit from them.
Companies drive leads in various ways and sell them, typically allowing you to choose the information you want (name, email, phone number, address) along with characteristics of the types of people you’re looking for. This is a great way to lighten the load since you’re solely paying for the service and receiving a list of warm leads. However, you must remain in compliance with American Bar regulations.
According to the American Bar Society’s rule 7.2, any lawyer can legally purchase leads, assuming they follow a specific set of rules. The agency selling the leads must never mention the law firm by name or comment on the quality of their services in general or compared to other firms. They must also disclose that a law firm is purchasing the leads to provide leads but not paying for the marketing agency to mention them specifically.
For example, an agency running an ad to obtain leads may create a headline that reads, “Do you need the assistance of a personal injury attorney in the area?” However, it must never make a specific mention, such as “Bryan and Bryan law firm can get you the largest settlement from your personal injury claim compared to other firms in the area.”
2. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is one of the best ways to obtain leads as a personal injury lawyer. Using keywords on specific website pages or blog posts allows this content to rank for said keywords.
If you want to rank your personal injury firm on Google using SEO, you should take a few highly recommended steps to ensure your success. Begin crafting a plan according to the following tips.
First, make sure your law firm is on all local business listings. Google My Business, Yelp!, Yellow Pages, and others are great places to start and help improve your visibility.
Decide on your target locations (local cities you want to market towards) and optimize your current website content. Law firms benefit from leveraging the power of local SEO because services are only available in specific locations.
However, this allows you to target a smaller demographic, often leading to more successful results. If you have headlines that say things like “Why Choose Us for Your Personal Injury Case?” change it to “Why Choose Us for Your (Target City, State) Personal Injury Case?” Optimize for local SEO in this way whenever a chance presents itself. Don’t forget to update page titles, meta titles, and meta descriptions.
Use keywords to target the search intent of consumers in your area. This is done most effectively by crafting blog posts centered around high-intent keywords. Put yourself in the position of someone looking for a personal injury attorney. Obviously, “Personal Injury Attorney In (Target City, State) is a big one, but it also has lots of competition, so you want to be more specific.
Certain terms that might work include:
- Personal Injury Attorneys with Good Rates In (Target City, State)
- What Information Should I Prepare for a Personal Injury Attorney In (Target City, State)
- What Happens During a Personal Injury Case In (Target City, State)?
- Grounds for Personal Injury Case In (Target City, State)
By optimizing your site and blog and going after these keywords, you’ll receive some of the most highly-targeted traffic you can find that needs your services immediately. Now you just need to make sure your website is optimized.
3. Focus On Your Website
Focusing on your website conversion rates is one of the most effective and straightforward ways of improving your marketing efforts. It’s easy to remember the larger and more visible areas of your site.
However, it’s generally the smaller dynamics that drive the most effective change. Instead of using invasive, giant popups to market to your visitors, consider more minor and subtle efforts that are equally, if not more powerful than flashy content.
Scatter multiple CTAs throughout different areas of your website. The header and upper portion of your pages should contain sticky CTAs, including small content blocks with your phone number and address.
Strategically use content to place CTAs in the most effective areas. For example, write a blog post regarding a personal injury scenario, and include a CTA button or a fillable form to capture information from potential clients.
4. Use Video to Connect
Video content to connect with your target demographic is an excellent way to market your firm. You can leverage the power of multiple platforms to post video content, including YouTube, your blog, and other social media (Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
Video is one of the most powerful forms of marketing and is proven to produce a higher level of engagement with the target audience. You could create a YouTube channel with advice, examples of past work, or provide information regarding your firm.
Re-telling client success stories make great content. For example, share success stories regarding certain client cases awarded the decision and funds they deserved.
If you plan on divulging specifics about the case and referring to the clients in a personal or identifiable way, you’ll need their permission. Sometimes you can even have them appear in your video content directly.
Otherwise, you’ll have to say things like, “We represented a personal injury client who wasn’t hopeful because of things they were told by other firms, friends, and family regarding their chances of winning. Because of our experience, they obtained a favorable outcome.”
5. Use a Referral System
Attorneys may use a referral system in one of two ways. The first is by receiving referrals from other lawyers that may not provide the area of practice the client requires. This is legal, assuming both parties follow these rules:
- Both attorneys must split the responsibility of the client’s representation.
- The client agrees to the situation, including each attorney’s fees, which must be confirmed in writing.
- The total amount of fees is within reason.
- The attorney must recommend an attorney based on who they believe will provide the most appropriate services and the highest chances of success.
These referral/collaborative situations exist where a single event requires two types of legal practice. For example, someone could potentially file sexual assault charges against someone. This would need a criminal attorney, but there’s also a case for personal injury.
Lawyers may receive referrals from non-lawyers, like clients and others. However, the lawyer may not provide payment as a form of compensation. However, if you’re interested in pursuing this avenue for marketing reasons, you can still give them gifts, dinner, or a public thank you or mention it in the press.
6. Email Marketing
Email marketing is tricky and often goes along with purchasing leads. First, Bar Association rule 7.1 states that a firm may never make false or misleading service claims. Rules 7.2, the same set that governs buying leads, also pertains to email marketing.
These rules state that your personal injury practice may not use cold emails. Any potential client you solicit for your personal injury services must already know your practice’s existence. Being aware of your practice could be as simple as browsing your website.
In the case of paid leads, the consumer has already stated they would like more information regarding a personal injury attorney, so technically, you’re not soliciting them – they’re requesting more information. The best way to engage in email marketing is to set up a lead magnet or general form to obtain information about potential clients.
Because they’ve technically been on your website, they know your firm, so you’re legally allowed to engage in an email marketing campaign.
7. PPC (Pay Per Click Marketing)
PPC marketing is one of the most leveraged forms of marketing for personal injury lawyers. Pay per click stands for any form of advertisement that charges you a specific price each time a potential client clicks on your advertisement.
One of the most common forms of PPC marketing is via search engines like Google and Bing. By choosing specific keywords (similar to how SEO works), your ad surfaces at the top of a user’s search engine result for the keywords you bid on.
You can control your ad spend by limiting the highest dollar amount you’re willing to bid on a certain keyword or term. You’ll spend far less money on advertising if you choose what is known as “long-tail keywords.”
Long-tail keywords contain a broad term with additional information attached regarding intent. For example, “personal injury lawyer” is a broad term with a high cost per click. However, choosing something like “best personal injury lawyers for car accidents” likely has less competition, leading to a lower cost-per-click and targeting consumers with specific intent.
When you find clients with this high level of intent, they’re usually already committed to spending money. You just need to convince them why spending it with your firm is a better option.
8. Vehicle Advertising
Advertising on vehicles is a great way to capture the attention of individuals who are out driving on the road and might not have an opportunity to consume other forms of your content. A potential client noticing your information on someone’s vehicle also builds a great rapport, as it shows that local drivers have no reserves regarding vouching for your firm.
You have multiple options for this form of advertising, including:
- Wrapping a company vehicle with your firm’s information
- Wrapping your vehicle
- Asking a co-worker to wrap their vehicle
- Finally, paying an organization that finds people to place advertisements on their vehicles could give you a broader platform.
9. Social Media
You should never underestimate the power of social media. If you’re strategizing personal injury lawyer marketing, it’s pretty much mandatory that you have some social media presence. If you don’t, it’s time to kick that door down.
Social media platforms are a great place to share success stories, provide short legal reminders via posts or stories, or discuss recent events in the personal injury space. This is also a great way to repurpose old content.
Generally, all blog posts you create for your personal injury law firm should always be shared across your social media accounts.
10. Networking, Development, and PR
Networking, developing your firm’s voice, and your public relations image are extremely powerful ways to market your legal services. Take advantage of businesses close to you or those with whom you might already have a decent relationship.
Ask them if you can place some advertising mediums in their business, like business cards or flyers. Ensure them that you’re willing to do the same in the form of client referrals or website mentions.
Partner with local law firms that specialize in practice areas you don’t. Refer your clients to them and vice versa, building a long, healthy business relationship.
Finally, sponsoring worthy causes local to your area is a great way to boost your marketing efforts. Help a local charity that assists a worthy cause or offers to pay a portion of someone’s medical bills in a tough spot. This doesn’t just raise awareness for your firm but also builds trust and promotes a great rapport with the locals.
Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing: The Bottom Line
Personal injury lawyer marketing can happen in the form of a complex, multi-week, or month campaign or be something as simple as a handshake deal with a local merchant. More money doesn’t always equal better results for your marketing efforts. Sometimes the best way to drive awareness of your firm and convert new people into clients might not cost a dime.
As we said earlier, it comes down to answering the three essential questions what, how, and where. After receiving your answers, you can plug them into nearly any campaign you’d like and reap the benefits.
Personal Injury Attorneys Marketing FAQs
How do you target personal injury clients?
A personal injury attorney must identify their target audience first. After putting together a client profile, options include SEO, PPC, referrals, and other forms of targeting potential clients.
How do you advertise a personal injury law firm?
The following list contains a small sample of your options:
An optimized website, Referrals, SEO, PPC, Public relations, Working with other local businesses, Email
How do lawyers attract new clients?
Although a large number of methods exist for advertising for lawyers, the two primary methods are referrals and reviews.
Why do personal injury lawyers advertise so much?
The primary reason that personal injury lawyers advertise so much is because of the fact that many people who suffer events that are potential grounds for a personal injury suit aren’t aware of their options. Marketing and advertising help spread the word.