Summary: Marketing strategies for estate planning attorneys are important and, in this article, we discuss the marketing strategies that estate planning attorneys should adopt to stay ahead in the race.
Estate planning legal services have become a booming business amongst attorneys in the United States. An aging population and the search for financial stability have contributed to the growth of this business in recent decades. However, this wasn’t always the case as only a small population used the services of estate planners in the past. It has always been an uncomfortable topic to discuss in a family and this is the reason more than 50% of Americans still don’t have a will.
However, things have changed over the past few years and the Covid-19 pandemic has triggered an increased desire among people to create an estate plan or a will. People these days seek guidance from attorneys to ensure heirs and beneficiaries receive assets without any hassle upon their demise. Estate planning also reduces the impact of estate taxes, gift taxes, and other tax implications associated with the transfer of assets.
There has never been a better time to be an estate planning attorney. If you are one you need to market your services to stay ahead of the competition. Estate planning has become a competitive territory and without active marketing, you would be yielding space to your competitors. By investing in marketing for estate planning attorneys, you will position yourself and your firm as a trusted source of information and legal advice.
This brings us to the important question – what are the best ways of marketing for estate planning attorneys? As you already know, building trust in the community would require a committed approach. You must explore different marketing strategies. In this guide, we shall share four rewarding marketing strategies for estate planning attorneys.
1 – Market Your Legal Services on Social Media
Utilize social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to share useful estate planning tips and information. By engaging with your audience on these platforms, you can build trust and credibility as an estate planning expert, which will help attract new clients interested in your services. Here are some of the things you must do on social media.
A. Build a Strong Presence on Social Media
80% of attorneys believe active presence on social media is important for their business. It shouldn’t be any different in the case of estate planners. When you set out marketing for estate planning attorneys, you must start by building a strong social media presence across multiple platforms. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. allow you to demonstrate your expertise, connect with new clients, and share inputs on the latest amendments to estate law.
B. Engage With Clients Directly on Social Media
An average Internet user spends more than two hours every day on social media platforms. Naturally, it offers attorneys a fertile ground to engage with new clients. You can explore the options of interacting with new clients on a personal level. To ensure clients find your social media handles you can share relevant information on your handles regularly. It can be a detailed blog on LinkedIn or a short Twitter post announcing the latest changes to law and how it affects estate planning, you will attract high-intent prospects to your handle.
C. Share Tips and Information Regularly
Facebook and Twitter are the best places for estate planners to share information and tips about estate planning with the masses. Estate planning isn’t something people would discuss every day in their lives, and you should try and be creative with your messaging. Keep it short and attract the attention of the viewers. Sharing information on how a new tax code affects estate planning or simple estate planning tips helps you connect with your target audience.
D. Answer Queries About Estate Planning
You must respond to comments on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. As you share your knowledge and tips on these platforms your audience would also post their doubts and comments. You must respond to these and solve their queries to engage with them actively. Such engagements are important as people tend to hire attorneys who respond to their queries. Not replying to comments and queries is akin to not answering a potential client’s phone call or email. Remember social media is a two-way platform and clients expect you to respond.
F. Share Your Experience on Social Media
Sharing your experiences on social media is one of the best ways of engaging with future clients. As an estate planning attorney, you will offer services to clients, host webinars, attend talk shows and take part in events. Share such experiences on your social media handles. This opens up opportunities for engagement and you can get more attendees during your webinars or other live programs.
G. Generate Fresh Leads
Social media is one of the best platforms to generate fresh leads. It is more cost-effective than traditional forms of marketing. People who need estate planning services connect with attorneys who market their services actively. Create forms on your social media handles that let you connect with people who need estate planners. It takes a few minutes to create these forms on social media, but they can generate faster and more qualified leads than other means.
2 – Make Content Cornerstone of Your Campaign
If you have set a foot in digital marketing, you will know the importance of content. For the uninitiated, content marketing is one of the most rewarding strategies for estate planning attorneys to market their services. It is estimated that 90% of businesses use content marketing as part of their digital marketing strategy.
As an estate planning attorney, it is important to choose a content strategy that helps you reach your target audience and offer them value. Here are some of the content marketing strategies you should explore that will help reach out to the new audience and engage with them.
A. Write Regular Blog Posts
It is one of the easiest and most effective content marketing strategies. An informative blog lets you share your expertise in this trade and engage with new clients. By publishing blogs regularly, you will show your authority in this business where people searching for information on estate planning discover your post. It also strikes in the minds of your potential clients as they feel confident in having found the right person to handle their estate planning. Unique content also helps increase the visibility and rank of your website on search engines.
B. Publish Guest Posts on Reputable Sites
Guest posts are like blogs with the difference being they are published on other reputable platforms. Your strategy stays the same where you write informative posts that help in building your authority in this field. Publishing your posts on a reputable website also adds a score to the SEO campaign. It lets you build natural and quality backlinks and increase referral traffic to your website.
C. Declutter Complex Topics with Infographics
The popularity of infographics as a content marketing tool has increased in recent years. They are one of the best means of decluttering complex topics using images and catchy texts. Infographics are rich in graphics, and this makes them visually appealing. They are great for email marketing and direct mailer campaigns as they attract the attention of the target audience at once. Being rich in graphics, they are widely shared on social media and increase your reach.
D. Establish Your Authority with E-books
Though blogs and guest posts help in establishing your authority in this area, none do it like e-books. Experts who are into marketing for estate planning attorneys sign praises about the effectiveness of e-books. In this marketing strategy, you should choose a certain topic on estate planning and create a detailed e-book that covers every aspect of the subject and allows the intended person to decide based on what they read. Use stats, data, and graphics to explain complex topics in your e-book.
You can also judge the effectiveness of your campaign based on the number of e-book downloads. They also help you separate a high-intent prospect from a casual visitor on your website. Not everyone would download an e-book but those who do are looking for estate planning attorneys.
E. Nail it With Video Content
Did you know an average Internet user spends about 24 hours every month watching YouTube videos? Videos thus serve as a perfect medium to reach out to a new audience. Videos are often the missing element in a content marketing campaign, and you should take them seriously. They allow you to explain complex topics that may not be possible with blogs. You will be able to build trust among your potential clients by communicating in an interpersonal way. Videos have longer shelf life compared to other content marketing strategies and keep generating leads for years after they are published.
3 – Mix Digital with Community Campaigns
We are a digital marketing agency, but we stress getting involved with the community. Marketing for estate planning attorneys without offline campaigns can restrict reach in the community. As an estate planning attorney, you must dedicate time to community campaigns. This plays a complementary role to your digital campaigns as it allows you to physically meet potential clients who may have found you online or vice versa. These activities establish strong relationships in the community. Here are some of the things you can try out.
A. Make Presentations in Local Forums
Local clubs and organizations regularly conduct awareness campaigns on various subjects including estate planning. These are intended to help people understand the importance of estate planning and its legal implications. You can make presentations at such events and be part of panel discussions. Participation in such events lets you get closer to the community and engage directly with people who need such services. It is the most logical thing to do as clients are more likely to work with an attorney with whom they have interacted in flesh and blood.
B. Volunteer for Non-Profits
As a person, you know the importance of giving back to the community. Non-profits need the services of estate planning attorneys, and you should volunteer for such causes. Offering cost-free legal consultancy or helping an organization with fundraising is the type of cause you should get involved with. If a family is passing on their wealth to a noble cause you can offer free estate planning services. This would help you build a strong reputation in the community and give you an immense sense of gratification.
C. Networking With Other Planners
Networking and interacting with other estate planners is the best way to market yourself and improve your skills. When you interact with other financial advisors and estate planners you will stay updated with the changes in the law. It will help you build connections in the professional community and create scope for collaborating with other estate planners in the future.
D. Sponsor Estate Planning Events
Sponsoring an estate planning event in a local community is a creative form of marketing for estate planning attorneys. You can team up with a local body that promotes awareness among people on legal rights and other important issues. You will be raising awareness about estate planning, and this will help you generate fresh leads.
E. Partner With Realty Agents
Realty agents are resourceful when it comes to generating leads for estate planning attorneys. These people work closely with clients who invest their money into properties to earn returns in the future. You can partner with them to generate leads among their clientele who would need estate planning services.
4 – Spend on Advertising
More than one-third of people begin their search for an attorney online. The Internet has become the go-to source for people who need legal services. This isn’t surprising when people have access to information at their fingertips. Having your website is the first step to marketing your services online but a website alone won’t help you leverage this trend. You need to spend on advertising and digital marketing. Here are some of the areas where you need to spend to increase your online footprint.
A. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
This is the first step to increasing your online discoverability. Search Engine Optimization improves the rank of your website on the search engine and drives more traffic to your landing pages. It involves on-page and off-page strategies that include posting keyword-rich content, creating backlinks, and improving the usability of the website. These strategies help your website rank high and create more scope of engagement with your audience.
B. Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay Per Click advertising or paid search marketing is the perfect complement to your other digital marketing campaigns. These online ads appear on top of the search results based on the keywords users are searching for. Estate planning attorneys have benefitted from this marketing strategy as it is a low competition niche as compared to several other benefits. Every dollar spent on PPC is accounted for and it delivers immediate results in terms of targeted traffic to your website.
C. Business Directories
As an estate planning attorney, you can take advantage of online business directories. This is one of the first steps to setting up your digital footprint. You don’t even need a website to post your contact details and areas of expertise. Directories like Google My Business lets you reach out to potential clients in a cost-effective way.Similarly, you can post your information on local business directories that attract traffic from the community.
D. Social Media Ads
Social media ads are a great way of reaching out to new audiences. As an estate planner, you can connect with potential clients by placing your ads on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can build relationships with people who need estate planning services now or shall need these in the future. Irrespective of your budget you can set up campaigns that would be targeted toward the geography or community where you are likely to find your potential clients.
E. Email Marketing
Email marketing is an important cog in the wheel of your overall digital strategy. As you generate leads using social media, SEO, and other digital campaigns, you must nurture those leads. This is where email marketing helps as you will be able to share additional information and tips about estate planning that converts a high-intent prospect into a paying client.
Final Thoughts
Estate planning is a booming business and at the same time a competitive one. Marketing for estate planning attorneys is important to remain relevant and ahead of your competitors. To increase your reach in the community you must invest in digital marketing. It is cost-effective and lets you connect with potential clients, while establishing your authority in the industry. Being active on digital platforms leaves a lasting impression on the minds of your target audience.
If you need a partner specializing in marketing for estate planning attorneys, Cyrusson is here to help. We are a full-service boutique digital agency with a focus on managing campaigns for lawyers and law firms. As a part of our service, we offer end-to-end digital solutions starting from web design and development to SEO, social media marketing, and paid search marketing.
Call us for a free consultation and we shall help you increase your online footprint and generate fresh and qualified leads.