“A change would do you good” isn’t just a timeless sentiment shared in an iconic song from musician Sheryl Crow. It’s a universal truth that could not be more relevant in our time of decreased attention spans and increased access to technology…
And it’s a message every change-averse law firm needs to accept and incorporate into the ways they message and reach their clients and target audience.
Video has become an essential advertising platform for businesses of all kinds, and we’re not just talking about businesses with tangible goods to feature in sales ads. We’re talking white-collar, niche service providers. The more highly technical your service, the better suited for video messaging your communications are – looking at you, law firms!
Many professional service firms are now releasing communications to clients, including in-depth client alerts, in the easiest and most digestible format possible: short-form video. Don’t believe us? Seriously, there are some legal pros dropping truths and raking up followers – take a look at 10 attorneys who have taken full advantage of the reach and power within law firm video content.
Why Are Attorneys and Professional Service Firms Turning to Video Marketing?
The bottom line is the data for us (data is our favorite), and video advertising is powerful. Consider that this year alone, Americans spent 23 hours a month on YouTube, and that’s just on their phones. In addition, a desktop or laptop computer user can almost double that amount of time spent poring over YouTube video content.
If you’ve spent ANY time on other social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram, you know firsthand that the 23 hours of screen time a month on YouTube is additive to the amount of time social media users are spending consuming video content.
No matter the platform, you can’t escape the prioritization of video.
Video has proven to be a powerful brand-building tool, ensuring that firms can establish trust and build credibility with established and potential clients through its use. If you are speaking to your target audience in any way, that messaging can be more optimized and promote your firm’s brand better when video content is your medium.
One of the biggest reasons that video is so successful at boosting your ROI and converting prospects is its vast reach and place on every single platform, and half of online users say that video is the most engaging form of outreach (and that number is growing).
We’ll dive deeper into the various video platforms and formats for best practices, but rest assured that this is not a fleeting trend. Video is here to stay, and you’ll likely be seeing much more of it as the platforms continue to prioritize video, pushing your target audience back to your website and ultimately to you for service needs. It’s a no-brainer.
Truthfully, we believe more law firms will look back on video like they look back on the old days of SEO and wish they had started sooner.
Do We Need to Hire Someone for Law Firm Video Marketing?
Most savvy legal marketers have been urging their practice groups and C-suites to think outside of the box and make use of law firm video for a while. While we have seen an increase in the use of video marketing to create law firm videos, we can’t help feeling that there’s a huge opportunity to shift how law firms approach video marketing.
In our analysis of the Am Law 200 firms with YouTube Channels as part of the Law Firm YouTube Index 2022, we found that many firms are making video marketing content to help elevate their brand visibility and engage with clients and prospects. However, the way law firms use and develop video content as a part of their digital marketing efforts feels like an afterthought driven by what’s currently available in a firm’s repository of video content (which is typically webinars).
Over 80% of the Am Law 200 law firms have a publicly accessible YouTube channel. Yet, only a few of them are using a strategic approach to their video marketing content. It’s clear that many firms approach YouTube as a video repository instead of a strategic visibility platform and the second most popular search engine in the world.
So many firms invest heavily in producing video content only to have it never be seen or viewed. Thus, hiring a video marketer to help firms understand the value of utilizing YouTube and other video platforms more strategically is a clear choice.
Furthermore, when it comes to production, we highly recommend law firms invest in the tools and resources to either produce high-quality videos or hire a qualified outside executive producer like our friends at Kates Media.
Law firms are seeing the writing on the wall regarding video marketing. A few weeks ago, Ackerman’s Chief Marketing and Client Development Officer Iris Jones revealed at the Legal Marketing Association Southwest Regional Conference that her firm is investing heavily in video marketing and production – equipping many of their offices with on-site video studios.
For those looking to outfit their own video production studios or learn more about the equipment we use to film our short-form videos and YouTube videos, we recommend checking out our Video Marketing for Lawyers Hub, which provides a full equipment list.
This is the future of big law firm video marketing, which we predict will only become more prevalent with time.
Video Marketing for Lawyers By Lawyers
The Face of Your Law Firm – Who Should Be on a Law Firm Video?
Clients and prospective clients may be faced with difficult choices when choosing their trusted legal advisors, so why not make it easier for them and show them who you are and why you’re the expert. You can create compelling content on various platforms that differentiate you from the competition. Easily and affordably.
Give your potential clients a solid understanding of your firm with an overview of each practice area, the key benefits of engaging your firm for legal services, and to establish the ever-important emotional connection through authentic storytelling. You’d be shocked by how engaged users even become for the simplest how to videos and FAQ videos on what are standard and widely-known processes and practices in legal.
But where are you creating content to go? Why not to the world’s second-largest search engine? Pro-tip: you can repurpose any and all of your YouTube videos to use across platforms – boosting that ROI one upload at a time.
Types of Video Marketing for Law Firms
YouTube Video Marketing
What YouTube is
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and a database of user-uploaded video content, and best yet… it’s a free platform, YouTube was bought by Google so it’s no wonder that Google prioritizes video in its search engine.
How YouTube is Used
YouTube is a creator’s platform. Individuals and corporations upload millions of videos every year to YouTube’s native platform in the form of entertainment, educational videos, movie trailers, music videos, video and TV show clips, shorts, and documentary films.
Many businesses and professionals use YouTube as a content marketing platform. Since YouTube has such a robust search functionality, it is a vital discovery tool for many professionals, allowing them to reach new audiences and potential clients.
How to Do YouTube Video Correctly
Many professionals mistakenly believe that uploading video content alone will help them build an audience. But using YouTube correctly to market your content requires planning and a strategy.
The most important part of your YouTube strategy is ensuring your content is searchable on YouTube. This is where Google’s “People also search” functionality and paid tools like Answer the Public, Aherfs, and Ubersuggest can be helpful. Some of the most informative and value-packed videos a law firm or lawyer can make are FAQ videos optimized for search.
Once you have a searchable phrase, you’ll want to see how hard it will be to rank for those keywords using a tool like Tube Buddy. Tube Buddy can be a great tool for understanding the competitiveness of your law firm video content and ensuring you have an optimized description and chapters.
In addition, a tool like Tube Buddy can help your firm identify your thumbnails’ effectiveness, track competitors, and help you identify what type of content to develop for your audience. Remember, video marketing aims to develop business and generate awareness for your firm, so catering to what your key prospects and clients want to see is key. Tools like Tube Buddy helps make this easy for marketers.
How to Build an Audience on YouTube
Building an audience on any social platform requires consistency. We’ve found that consistency on YouTube is best achieved by batching content development. We recommend batching every phase of YouTube content development to ensure success. Maintaining a regular filming schedule can help ensure you stay on track of your filming goals and produce sufficient content to keep your YouTube channel thriving.
The first thing you should know when you start building a brand is how to market the services you offer effectively. The same holds true for the video marketing industry. You must know who will become the most likely clients before creating a law firm video. We’ve covered client personas before, if you need a refresher.
At the end of the day, the key advantages of a YouTube channel are that if you play to the YouTube algorithm, you will grow your audience and niche and therefore your client base quickly.
Lawyers on YouTube
Not to harp on it too much, but we really do understand how reluctant firm leadership can be to try something as what they see as new. Thought leadership and ground-breaking is usually reserved for the courts and filings, but there are plenty of lawyers blazing the trails on video marketing, and here are a few of our faves to spark your creativity and give you the “OK” to think outside of the marketing box… even if your biggest competitors haven’t YET done so.
For examples of Big Law firms doing video marketing well, we highly recommend downloading our Law Firm YouTube Index 2022 where we showcase the top 25 firms using law firm video most effectively as a part of their digital marketing strategy.
For a few firms outside the Am Law 200, we recommend checking out the following channels:
These are just a handful of some effective law firms and attorneys creating professional videos with impact, but YouTube is just one piece of the video marketing pie.
LinkedIn Video Marketing
What Is It
You know LinkedIn. In fact, you’re probably most comfortable on that platform, and it’s an incredible space to include video online.
LinkedIn is a B2B professional networking site that’s recently shifted its focus to video allowing the cross-posting of video content from various platforms and even introducing micro-video introductions via its LinkedIn profile.
Everything Lawyers Need to Know About LinkedIn
We could give an entire seminar on the powers of LinkedIn – no really, we mean it. We actually offer LinkedIn training for professionals, but we’ve also created an entire hub for lawyers who want to harness the professional powers of LinkedIn. Check it out!
Facebook Video Marketing
What Is It
You likely know Facebook, the social platform that allows users to create free profiles to connect with friends, family, colleagues… and engage with businesses online.
Though younger generations are migrating towards more video-centric platforms, like TikTok, Facebook is still supreme amongst a more mature demographic, and it includes video.
How It’s Used
You’ve probably noticed a few variations of video on your Facebook feed. Like the other big names in social media, Facebook utilizes an array of video, including:
- Linked Video
- Native Video
- Facebook Stories
- Facebook Live
- Facebook Video Ads
Whether you link video content from your firm’s website to convert Facebook audience into your firm’s website visitors, upload video as native files to live on your firm’s page on Facebook, or step out of the box to use the live video feature or the time-sensitive stories feed, Facebook is a tremendous and changing platform that’s making a real push for video.
How to Do It Correctly
There is quite a lot of power behind Facebook’s targeted ads if you want to invest the money in promoting certain videos, but we strongly suggest doing some old-fashioned trial and error with your videos prior to paying to play on Facebook.
Create a few different types of videos that all coordinate with your marketing strategy and upload them in various ways – natively, stories, lives, etc., and see what kind of response you get. Use this data to inform the types of videos you want to create in the future or which videos perform well enough to promote with ad money.
How to Build an Audience
Facebook is a more relaxed platform and is a bit less buttoned up than your average LinkedIn audience. This platform is a great place to have more fun with your video content and grow your audience by showing your law firm’s more fun side. Check out a few ways to grow your audience here.
Instagram Video Marketing
What Is It
How did a photo app wind up on our video marketing platform list? Well, you can thank the ever-changing algorithms and focus on aesthetics for that. Instagram is an app designed for mobile users, and it’s well-known for its artistic appeal.
As one of the biggest content-focused apps, Instagram has lead the pack of social platforms in creativity and offers various options for video now. Instagram’s user base is enormous, and the platform provides a unique opportunity to target your audience and flex your digital prowess.
Don’t worry if your video skills aren’t quite Spielberg level – you can always create video cover pages that fit nicely with your law firm’s existing Instagram grid (ask your gen Z marketing colleagues about the importance of the grid and get ready for a dissertation).
How It’s Used
- Instagram Stories
- Instagram Video Feed
- Instagram Live
- Instagram Reels
Instagram Stories
These are the time-sensitive videos you see at the top of your social media platforms – the click-through kind meant to be short and sweet and disappear in 24 hours.
These are great ways to feature behind the scenes content, day in the life style, and to re-share posts and videos from other accounts. You can even opt to save your time-sensitive stories to your firm’s highlights on its Instagram profile.
This is also a great way to utilize Instagrams engagement features on stories – try asking your audience a question with a poll or some trivia with FAQ videos – you’ll be amazed by how many responses you receive on videos that feature educational content. Pro-tip: use a direct link to your website on the law firm video your use in stories to help Instagram users become firm website visitors.
Instagram Video Feed
Your IG video feed in your standard native video upload, and videos up to 60 seconds can be posted to live on your firm’s profile. These posts can include tags of people and businesses, garner likes, promote engagement with comments, and you can share these posts to your stories, as well.
Instagram Live
Instagram Live allows users to stream directly to their followers and appear at the top of the platform feed with the Instagram Stories. Law firms can make use of Live to demonstrate interesting yet commonplace processes such as entering court, packing up for big depositions, attending continuing legal education, or prepping for an event.
The Live feature is to promote authenticity and build genuine connection with an audience. Going Live presents risks of the unknown or inadvertently including information or scenery a pre-recorded video wouldn’t, so take caution when going live and make sure people around you know they’re on live streaming video!
Instagram Reels
This is Instagram’s response to the explosion of TikTok, and it’s a super short and sweet way to do video marketing. Instagram’s Reels are 15-30 second clips created on the app or from an upload from your phones library.
We like to use Reels by repurposing TikTok content or creating a very short hype video or succinct overview of a broad topic and direct viewers to our website for the full breakdown of the topics we cover.
How to Do It Correctly
As we mentioned, Instagram is made for mobile users, so portrait mode is key when filming for Instagram. Try to avoid turning your camera/phone landscape.
Like TikTok, you need an engaging hook to grab viewers’ attention, and it’s best to look “Instagram pretty” when you do.
What About TikTok for Law Firm Video?
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it one hundred times:
TikTok is for business, and TikTok is for lawyers!
We know this is a lengthy overview of what your law firm should be including in your marketing strategy, so we’ll save you some time and skip right to the chase on this section and tell you literally everything you need to know about using TikTok to promote your law practice:
TikTok for Lawyers: The Ultimate Guide to Marketing with TikTok for Law Firms
Listen, we know TikTok is new and still feels like the wild, wild west to some more traditional firms, but what if we linked this popular short-form video platform to a widely-accepted marketing concept most every member of firm leadership wants to know more about: SEO!?
Do we have your attention now? We had Attorney At Work’s attention on this subject. Check out the SEO for TikTok article By Aries founder, Jessica Aries, wrote and then try to tell us TikTok isn’t for professional service firms like legal!
Phases of Law Firm Video Marketing Production
We know legal loves a blueprint or formula. You should know the By Aries team’s background is in legal, so we absolutely adore a well-developed plan of action, too.
We’ve outlined below the phases of content development for marketing video to give you a better idea of what law firm video marketing looks like:
- Keyword Research
- Scripting
- Filming
- Editing & Post-Production
- Optimization & Upload
- Promotion
Beyond having a clear batching process for each phase of content development, we recommend having clear call-to-actions that align to your overall channel strategy.
For example, if your goal is to grow your channel, your strategy around your channel on YouTube might be to include subscribers in giveaways and offer them special promotions. Whereas, if your channel strategy is focused on client development, you may include call-to-actions related to downloading whitepapers and guides (like this one) and encouraging your subscribers to learn more about you and your services with special landing pages and offers.
Equipment to Consider
When it comes to equipment, there are so many options out there, we know. That’s why we created the By Aries Video Marketing Hub for Lawyers, which includes recommended equipment for anyone just getting started with the early stages of law firm video marketing.
If you’re looking to generate leads, engage potential clients, boost conversion rates through the right strategy, get a closer spot to the top of search rankings, and promote the benefits of the manner you practice law, then video production at some level must have a starring role in your law firm’s marketing strategy and place on your social media channels.
See How the Big Firms Are Doing Law Firm Video Marketing
Want to know how the biggest names in the legal industry are approaching law firm video marketing… and how you can do it better? We did the heavy lifting and wrapped up all the data in a nice, pretty bow.
We objectively ranked Am Law 200’s YouTube channels based on a weighted scoring of their use of more than 15 accepted YouTube best practices proven to increase engagement and improve ranking in the YouTube algorithm for search, providing you with the blueprint for video success.
Ok, so now you’re convinced of the necessity for law firm video but still need help including this important aspect in an effective marketing strategy for your firm?
Reach out to us to learn more about data-driven legal marketing insight and cohesive strategies to use across your social media channels and email marketing campaigns to engage with existing clients, show up in search engines, and build new business. Honestly, video makes everything more elevated and engaging. Give it a try!
