“Hey! Our Partners are finally on board with creating law firm videos!”
We’ve recently experienced an influx of attorneys and firms come to us with requests for help in adding short-form video to their traditional marketing approaches, and we couldn’t be more excited to hear it!
We totally understand the hype. Video is overtaking the way we network, build relationships, and even gain and share valuable information with our existing clients and generate leads with prospects.
In fact, 80% of the AmLaw 200 firms have a publicly available YouTube channel and are investing heavily in incorporating video in their law firm marketing. Why?
Social media platforms don’t lie. Video improves SEO and search rankings, helps firms engage with prospects and clients, establishes credibility and can build a thought leader within a firm quickly and efficiently. So, what’s the downside (there’s always a problem to solve)?
The problem is a lot of lawyers think adding marketing videos is costly and difficult. But when social media channels regularly and overwhelmingly push every type of video, from how-to videos to personal experiences, it’s actually costly and cumbersome to exclude video from your online marketing efforts.
But high-quality video is actually the most effective marketing channel for most of our clients at By Aries. The ROI on professional videos is enormous, and the potential to repurpose what you create from just one video concept into video based for other channels is nearly limitless. Plus, it’s nowhere near as hard as you think to get started.
So, ready to learn how videos produced for law firm marketing can be done effectively? Great, let’s jump into 4 actionable tips to boost the profitability of your efforts!
Tip #1: Don’t Copy Other Law Firms; They Are Doing Video Marketing for Lawyers and Firms Wrong or Poorly
A lot of attorneys and firms come to us because they see their competitors create videos, and they want to do it too. The problem lies in the fact that most law firms are doing video online the wrong way.
How do we know this, you ask? By Aries just spent the last year in tandem with professional video editor and producer, Kates Media, reviewing the Am Law 200’s YouTube video content. After careful analysis, it’s become clear that many firms are doing firm and attorney video marketing very poorly, and sometimes entirely wrong.
Want to understand what we mean? You can download a copy of the report and review it for yourself.
If you think your clients want videos that talk about your law firm’s prestige or history, you’re wrong. Clients and potential clients want informative content that’s answering their questions. This is the foundation for one of our most successful campaigns, FAQ Fridays, which allows us to answer common questions we field from clients and prospects.
FAQ videos perform phenomenally and lay the groundwork for your target audience to seek your expertise on their most pressing issues. What is it that your prospective clients want to know? That leads us to our next tip.
Tip #2: Your Law Firm Video Marketing Strategy Should Start with Search
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. And TikTok, the one website that has overtaken the king of all search engines, Google, as the most trafficked website in the world, is prioritizing search results. What’s the significance and how does it pertain to you?
So, if you want your law firm video to work – you need it to be seen. The only way your firm and lawyer video will be visible and gain traction on social media platforms is if you create videos that your prospects and clients actually want to watch.
The way to make videos easier for the algorithms to promote to your clients is to grasp for what your clients and prospects are searching. Get inside the minds of your clients and prospects, and do some searching online to see what results and terms are most used.
Answer their questions with an engaging video that includes a call to action and points to specific web pages on your firm website or requests online engagement from your audience. This is the right strategy to boost visibility to your prospects, who might not even realize yet that they need a lawyer.
Our next tip is to…
Tip #3: Your Videos Should Directly Reflect Your Clients’ Needs
We see a lot of law firms and lawyers invest heavily in video only to make video marketing content that feels like corporate fluff. Your legal practice focuses on real issues, and so should the video on all of your social media accounts.
Although the “corporate fluff” video content is beautiful, it has the opposite effect of what you’re hoping to do with your video marketing and is just background noise that interferes with that your audience wants to hear.
We’ve been on many panels with in-house counsels and heard their biggest concerns. They need law firms that understand their businesses and operate less like cost centers and more like value centers. So, when your firm produces a video that showcases its beautifully designed New York office in the most expensive part of Manhattan, what message are you really sending?
Your video is not sending the message that you’re chic and cutting edge, you’re sending the message you’re expensive. As clients across the country are operating on leaner spend in preparation for a potential recession, they aren’t thinking about which law firm has the prettiest office, they are thinking about which law firm understands their business and needs.
In lieu of flashy legal marketing that highlights your swanky digs, create video that addresses a particular legal matter your prospects would find informative, create explainer videos on a legal process your audience wants to understand. This type of video makes your firm an approachable authority that sees and understands its clients’ needs.
You may already have created a backlog of blogs which answer burning questions. Convert your target audience on Facebook and the likes into website visitors by sharing videos that give a quick overview of a blog post or attorney article on your website. This is a great opportunity for legal firms to increase the value on valuable content they already have.
Speaking of clients… use their satisfaction to your benefit by creating video testimonials. Many clients are happy to allow you to share their success with your firm via video. Quote your clients and have an attorney explain exactly how well you alleviated your clients’ concerns. This brings us to our next tip…
Tip #4: Effective Video Marketing for a Law Practice Should Focus on Human-to-Human Relationships
Video marketing is one of the fastest and most effective ways to instill a personal touch and help acquaint your prospects and clients with you. Yet, a lot of the video content that firms produce is repurposed webinars, fluff pieces showcasing their offices and locations around the world, or text graphics on branded backgrounds that feel inauthentically cold.
Remember how we mentioned that clients want to work with lawyers they know, like, and trust? Successful video marketing should focus on bringing forward the lawyers who do the work via rich storytelling that’s engaging with the audience and utilizes video marketing platforms, like YouTube and LinkedIn, to build relationships and deepen connections. Even Facebook and Instagram are prioritizing short-form video. Every platform is just as hungry for a strong story as are your clients and prospects, so don’t only think of this as creating YouTube videos.
So how can you illustrate your firm’s values and commitment to providing excellent service in a strong story? Market your firm with a focus on lawyer video marketing. One way to do this is with “day-in-the-life” video content. Humanize the legal industry. Show new clients and prospects your approachable and committed associates and partners, and allow them to provide personal background and connect with your audience on social media channels and your law firm website with candid interviews.
Don’t forget to focus on the content your clients crave to guide your interview questions. Set your attorneys up to offer advice and engagement on specific issues your potential clients face.
This type of footage coincidentally also performs really well when it comes time to recruit new laterals and associates too. Remember, a law firm is only as good as its lawyers, so invest in video production that will showcase their humanity and optimize client connection.
While lighting, sound, and all the technical elements of video production are important, video marketers will tell you authenticity will be the marketing tool that bridges the gap to your business development and marketing goals with videos.
If you want to build rapport with your prospects and clients and stack your deck with very effective recruiting tools, it’s better to grasp the skills necessary to create effective video content now rather than later when it’s too late.
It’s clear that video marketing won’t just be a luxury that some lawyers use to develop business. It is quickly becoming an everyday part of marketing that clients expect to see.
Continue to check back in with us for more coverage on videos and other effective tactics to include in your ongoing strategy for success!
