Digital Marketing For Black Lawyers and Black-Owned Law Firms From A to Z

Lee Brookes • March 3, 2021

INTRODUCTION

If you haven’t stopped lately to take stock of your firm’s digital marketing efforts, now is as good a time as any. What follows isn’t exhaustive, but it should get you thinking, about what else you need to be doing right now, for your law firm.

A - AUDIENCE

Do you know who your target audience is?

Do you know where they congregate online?

If not... you could be wasting a lot of time and money, promoting your Law Firm on Social Media Platforms such as LinkedIn, when perhaps you should really be focusing on Google, Facebook, and Instagram Ads.

B - BLOGGING

Still a great way to show thought leadership and build communities around specific areas of the law.

C - CONTENT

Understand your audience and what they want or need. Then engage them with interesting and compelling information they can't find anywhere else.

D - DATA

Big or small, it's all important for digital marketing. Use tools to collect, track, harvest and analyze.

Or find someone who can.

E - EMAIL MARKETING

Along with your website, this is the core of your digital marketing strategy. You'll need some kind of CRM and email delivery system. Don't broadcast or promote incessantly. Engage with conversation, links and invitations to connect with lawyers and the firm.

F - FACEBOOK

Maybe not for real business development efforts for most firms, but why not use it for recruiting, community engagement, pro bono and other aspects of your firm and lawyers?

G - GOOGLE

Where all your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) efforts should be focused. And your Google Ads efforts. And don't forget about Google My Business as well.

H - HOMEPAGES

Your website still matters, even if your homepage gets less traffic than other pages in your site. Make it dynamic, not static, and easy to access and navigate on a Smartphone...in other words make it "Responsive".

I - INFOGRAPHICS

These are a great way to communicate complicated information clearly and concisely.

J - JOURNALISTIC APPROACH

You're now a publisher, not a PR agency. Write like a publisher. Distribute like one. And engage your audience in ways that other publishers still don't

K - KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS OR KPIs

Key Performance Indicators For Black Lawyers

Figure out what they are and measure, measure, measure!

L - LINKEDIN

If your lawyers don't each have a profile and aren't connect to one another and their clients, you're missing the boat. And don't forget about firm pages, its publishing platform, special interest groups and other business development opportunities that keep getting rolled out regularly.

M - MARKETING AUTOMATION

Pay attention to your nascent CRM system and some other bits of pieces of marketing technology. Your competitors certainly will, if they aren't already.

N - NEWSLETTERS

Tried-and-true-and-tried-again, but they're still a standard-bearer for delivering content to your audience via email or the web. Just make sure they're high-quality and interesting.

O - ONLINE LISTINGS

Yes, they can be the bane of many marketers. But whether it's Chambers, Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Avvo, Lawyers.com or someplace else, you should keep those listing most important to your firm as updated as possible.

P - PODCASTS

Still an emerging medium, digitally, but one that is gaining ground quickly. Think of it as old-time radio that has been reborn and as a great way to show your thought leadership.

Q - QUALITY

The ballgame for digital content. Everything you do digitally should be excellent, just like your firm's lawyering.

R - REMARKETING

Products you just searched for and travel destinations you've just booked appear in ads on social media and other sites, thanks to cookies. Not for privacy fans, but it definitely helps keep things in front of your prospects on the Web.