Bankruptcy attorneys help those going through tough times file bankruptcy and start fresh. Many lawyers in this field are actively looking for new and better ways to market and grow their law firms.
If you’re looking for the most effective bankruptcy law firm marketing strategies and tactics, then check out the most popular, high-ROI methods recommended by us below.
PPC Ads
When people hear the term Pay-per-click advertising, they usually think of Google Ads. Google is the largest online advertising platform globally, followed by other giants like Facebook and Microsoft. Lawyers can take advantage of this advertising channel to effectively and profitably generate more calls and inquiries for bankruptcy matters.
One of the reasons for PPC’s popularity and success is its financial model. Instead of paying for a fixed advertising period or a given quantity of air-time, PPC advertisers pay for each click. Clicks are bought and sold through auctions with other advertisers bidding on the same keyword/search.
Depending on your law firm’s goals, its marketing strategies and existing lead generation methods, different online ad platforms can help drive results for these different PPC strategies.
Google Ads
Google search ads (formerly AdWords) has been Google’s primary advertising offer for years.
Their advertising platform is loaded with useful features for creating ads along with implementing an ad strategy to help businesses attract and generate new business.
For Bankruptcy law firms, being able to hand-pick the keywords and searches that are most likely to drive new business is the most basic example of the power the ads platform gives you. You can also customize the ad schedule (time of day and days of week), which devices you bid on (e.g. mobile, tablet and desktop), geographic locations where ads are shown and where you send prospective clients to after they clicked on your ad (landing page).
Google Search Ads has been and remains one of the most effective marketing methods that bankruptcy lawyers can use to sign up more clients. We wrote an article about Google Ads for Bankruptcy Attorneys and the top tips for optimizing your PPC Search ad campaigns to generate leads.
Facebook Ads for Bankruptcy Attorneys
Facebook Ads are very popular, but commonly less associated with the term PPC. Nevertheless, Facebook serves as an effective way to generate leads and new business when properly used to create and run ad campaigns.
Unlike Google, Facebook offers very different features and targeting parameters for online advertising. It works very differently from search ads and so your PPC ad strategy for Facebook will look entirely different than for Google.
FB ads allow you to place ads in front of people and make them an offer designed to grab their attention and get them to take action – if they think the ad’s offer will help them.
As a result, clicks on Facebook are typically much cheaper than Google AdWords (search ads). However, they’re also less targeted, since most people seeing your FB ads won’t need legal services from a bankruptcy lawyer. This means that the strategy and approach your law firm uses on Facebook will be unique to other PPC advertising products.
Lead Generation Services
Perhaps a simpler and more hands-off approach to signing up more clients is using a lead generation service. Many exist, especially for law firms and solo attorneys, including FindLaw and Avvo as well as general lead generation websites like Thumbtack, that have categories for legal services.
Google also has a new lead generation service, called Local Services Ads. These are increasingly appearing in the search results, either replacing or in conjunction with the traditional search ads (AdWords).
One trade-off with lead generation services is that you pay per lead and not all leads are qualified. In some cases, you can dispute charges for certain leads. Google Local Services Ads for instance, records calls made through their service for charge disputes. However, sometimes you’ll be left holding the bag if the call or lead is considered “relevant” from the lead vendor.
Attorney Search Engine Optimization
If you’re looking to become the go-to bankruptcy law firm in your area, then there is no better way to get a virtually unlimited number of clients and leads than through SEO.
The reality is that an incredible number of potential clients are searching for a lawyer online, using a search engine like Google or Bing.
There are two places on the search engine results page you want to appear:
- Local Map Pack
- Organic Web Results
Ranking for these different parts of the search engine require different SEO work and activities. Yes, many of the activities that will get you in either part of the search results overlap. However, there are certain things that will get you ranking in one or the other.
If you think SEO is the right fit for your firm, check out our SEO Tips for Bankruptcy Attorneys to learn more about this law firm marketing strategy.
Our objective for all of the law firms we work with is to get them ranking for as many keywords as they need – whether that means getting them a handful of clients every month or dominating page 1 for all of their keywords and getting them ranked in both the local map and web results.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is constantly changing and evolving, but it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. So bankruptcy lawyers should take advantage of the wonderful marketing opportunities offered by social media.
Developing and executing a social media marketing strategy involves knowing how you’ll target and engage with your ideal clients. Many strategies can utilize and benefit from the following tactics and types of content:
- Share and promote articles from your blog
- Talk about common issues and tips that clients commonly face
- Post reviews and testimonials from past clients
- Share success stories of people who have gone through bankruptcy and started over
- Create and promote lead magnets on social media to build an email list of leads
- Host webinars that deals with a specific type of bankruptcy (i.e. Chapter 7 or 13) and answer common questions and issues that people facing the potential of bankruptcy should know about
Like many marketing strategies, results from social media marketing won’t come overnight. The key to winning new bankruptcy clients from social media requires time and a cohesive strategy.
Websites for Lawyers
Your website is arguably your law firm’s most valuable marketing asset. All roads lead back to your website, whether it’s from a Google search, social media or a potential client was referred to you and they search for your site online in order to get in touch with you.
It’s better to have one, than not. Even when your business is heavily or entirely reliant on referrals.
However, not all attorney websites are created equally. All roads of online marketing lead back to your website, so it has to do several key things very well:
- Inform your audience. Tell your visitors and potential clients who you are, what you do and who you help. Publish rich, high-quality content that tells them about yourself, your firm and the bankruptcy process for both Chapter 7 and 13.
- Compels visitors to take action and call. Most people rather not go see a lawyer, but if their problem is big or painful enough, it’s in their best interest to do so. Use effective copywriting that tells them how they can file for bankruptcy, relieve themselves of the burdens and obligations of debt to start fresh.
- Optimized for search engines. Even if SEO isn’t your firm’s primary focus, you can still benefit from search engine visibility by optimizing your website and the content on it. This alone might give you an edge in search results and generate a few more leads per month, without ongoing search optimization work.
- Track, measure and report results. An important aspect of managing and growing any healthy business is tracking and measuring results. Integrating analytics and tracking tools with your website will allow you to know who converted and how they found you. Tools like web analytics and call tracking can be integrated to help get the most out of your website and the valuable data that it’s capable of collecting.
When we audit law firm websites, it’s surprising to see the number of improvements that can be realized just by doing work and installing some of the fundamental tools that should have been incorporated into the site before it was launched.
Online Marketing for Bankruptcy Attorneys
Law firm marketing is very competitive. According to the ABA, there are over 1.3 million actively licensed attorneys in the United States. There is no shortage of lawyers. Rather, because of the competition, some firms feel the pressure of competition and find a shortage of potential clients. If you’re looking to generate more leads and clients for your bankruptcy law firm, then leverage the power of online marketing with the strategies and channels mentioned above.
