Powerful Lawyer Marketing: “Word-of-Mouth, Plus”

A decade from now, consumers of legal services will use the Internet and mobile technology to do it all: research legal issues, find and engage an attorney, even have legal services delivered to them. But when answering the question “Where do clients come from?,” today’s reality lies somewhere between that future world and one where numerous lawyers still resist the Internet. I like to call that in-between place “Word-of-Mouth, Plus.” Today, most people seeking an attorney still get the attorney’s name from a trusted acquaintance during a face-to-face, phone or possibly email conversation. But what they will do next is key. They’ll type the attorney’s name, or the name of the firm, or some combination of the names — possibly with a geographic location — into an Internet search engine. What do they want to know? Perhaps the attorney’s background, or the firm size. Perhaps how long and where the attorney has been practicing, or whether there’s a history of disciplinary action. This is the “plus” part of Word-of-Mouth, Plus. To test this out, I did Internet searches for lawyers whose business cards I’ve collected over the past few months. It was interesting. I limited my focus to the first page of results, because between 75 and 90 percent of searchers never move past the first page. And here’s what I found when I searched for their names. ... READ THE REST

Originally published January 20, 2015 0 2