Real estate transactions, disputes and issues occur on a daily basis. Most people don’t understand how the law works in regards to their property matters and need a lawyer to assist. You’re available to help, but the problem is you’re not finding enough clients, or potential clients don’t know how to find you.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the best marketing ideas and tactics for real estate law firms to get your phone ringing and inbox chiming with fresh new leads and clients.
1. Build & Develop Relationships in Your Professional Network
Your professional network is one of the most powerful client acquisition tools in your marketing arsenal. Building and nurturing relationships can take you and your law firm a ways in terms of attracting new real estate files and clients.
Networking with real estate agents and other lawyers that practice other areas of law can grow your practice. Both lawyers and agents servicing the real estate market can benefit from each other. Remember that the best referral sources are business relationships built upon reciprocation. So refer clients to agents and when other legal matters arise and your clients seek your advice, refer them to lawyers that specialize in that type of matter that you trust.
Referrals are one of the best ways to generate a lot of new clients without having to comb through a mountain of leads. In large part, this is because they won’t just refer clients to you but they’ll be able to qualify them on your behalf before you get in contact with them.
Aside from agents and other attorneys, network with other business professionals in your local community. While it isn’t always as obvious where great leads will come from as with other lawyers and realtors, it will help broaden your name recognition in the community and become a go-to authority for property and real estate law matters.
2. Hire a SEO Professional to Dominate Your Local Search Presence
Search engine optimization is one of the most potent forms of online marketing available today. It has matured a lot over the past several decades and many law firms have taken advantage of it. It’s very effective for attracting new clients and generating a flood of new leads. While it’s not always the case, real estate law tends to be less competitive than other practice areas so it can be less costly for a property-focused law firm.
Great SEO results require a thorough understanding of how the search algorithms function and how they decide what to place on the first page.
There are many different search keywords and terms that real estate attorneys can target to maximize the number of leads they receive. Your organic search strategy and keyword targeting can also be refined to focus on specific types of property matters that might be more valuable to you.
Check out our article on Real Estate Law Firm SEO to learn more about it and see if it’s the right fit for your law firm.
3. Create a Website with In-Depth Evergreen Content
Whether you’re incorporating an online marketing strategy or focusing on your referrals, a professional website is a must.
Filling out your website with organized information about you and detailing your services as well as the types of real estate legal matters you assist will help grow traffic and increase conversions. If you’re using SEO in your marketing strategy, every additional page of helpful content you produce increases your online search visibility potential and opportunity to attract leads.
If you’re focused on referrals and other forms of marketing your law firm, then it can help referrals that visit your site confirm your services and ability to help them – leading to more conversions.
Creating a solid foundation of resources for the different types of services and real estate legal matters that you deal with can have magnetic effects for attracting new clients.
You can write on topics such as:
- Purchase & Sale Agreements
- Commercial Purchases
- Commercial Leases
- Landlord-Tenant disputes
- Boundary Disputes
- Foreclosure
- Eviction
- Deed Preparation
- Deed Transfer
- Owner Financing
- Eminent Domain
This list of topics is an example of what your website’s content manifest could look like, but certainly isn’t exhaustive. Ideally, each of the topics above would have its own page discussing the matter in detail. Each page can include FAQs that can enhance the page and therefore your site’s visitor experience.
4. Blog about Your Real Estate and Property Law in Your State and Areas You Serve
When it comes to promoting your firm online, content marketing is very powerful. It also overlaps with different types of online marketing strategies, including SEO and social media marketing (more on that below).
Home and property owners – both existing and soon to be – are constantly searching for information relating to their transactions, looking for answers about deeds, disputes and much more.
Publishing content that answers these questions can grow the amount of online traffic you produce to your website and convert into leads. While this traffic won’t have the same conversion rates as an SEO strategy that targets high-value, transactional keywords, it’s nonetheless a potent approach to online content marketing.
All of the topics mentioned in the evergreen section will make for a great starting place for developing a list of sub-topics and ideas for articles and posts. Focus on providing free information to your target clients and make sure that every article you publish addresses or answers property law questions, issues and common problems.
Write articles that focus on targeting your local market. The primary geographical level to focus on will be your state, since most property owners and related parties will search for legal information based on the state. In some cases and if applicable to your practice, you can also produce content based on counties and municipalities where property law and building codes and regulations will change.
5. Grow Your Audience and Network Social Media
Social media is an incredible way to grow a business in the modern age. Depending on the type of network you choose to use (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) you might develop a different strategy and approach.
- For instance, LinkedIn is a business-first social network designed primarily for professionals.
- This can be an excellent way to grow your network of referrals and relationships with other realtors and attorneys.
- Offer them free information in the form of tips, share articles with your commentary and opinions, broadcast updates on what you’re working on, invite them to events you hold and publish your blogs and articles to drive more traffic to your website.
Using social media as a professional’s networking tool can also be powerful for nurturing your relationships in a more broadcasted and automated manner. This can assist in keeping you top-of-mind with important business connections and propel your word-of-mouth as a result.
