HOW TO: Avoid Online Marketing Turkeys (and Stop Sabotaging Your Firm)
There's always a reason for lagging results with an online marketing campaign. If the problem is external, such as a lack of engagement from the audience, that's one thing. It is a completely different issue if you're the one who is sabotaging the efforts. Do the statements below look familiar to you? If so, it's time to reevaluate.
You ignore your firm's website.
Take a long, hard look at your website. Do you see anything that needs to be changed? Is it search engine optimized? Does it convey the essence of your firm and its personality?
Website evaluations are a way to determine exactly what works within your website to attract clients — and what falls short. An audit will cover keywords, content, search engine optimization, the linking strategy and your social media presence. So where does your site need the most help? Consider this type of analysis as a critical piece of your marketing plan — it can help identify where the site needs attention in order to reach potential clients and make an impact. Sometimes it may be a simple issue to fix (such as an incorrect page name), but other times it may require more attention.
You have no time to write your blog (or update any social media content).
You have a blog, but it's time-consuming to continuously come up with fresh, new content. What it really requires is a different viewpoint as to the value of the ongoing listening and engagement between your firm's brand and its clients. Which common questions are your clients asking? That's where you can start sourcing for ideas. Don't give up if you have a small number of followers in the beginning — everyone has to start somewhere.
You don't know how to measure online success.
Establish what your goals are for measurement of online success — is it customer acquisition? Or is it yearly revenue generated through social channels?
You may view awareness, SEO ranking and building thought leadership as the primary objectives. For example, say in January 2012 your website ranked eighth on GoogleTM when a relevant search for your area(s) of practice and office location was performed. As of early November 2012, your ranking increased to third, based upon the same search parameters. That is considered a "win" by most firms.
We know you need to run your business, but conversely you do feel you should be more active online. It may make sense to entrust a legal marketing professional to walk through your options to help you solve these common problems and objections.
Either way, these issues have to be addressed. To learn how to avoid online marketing turkeys and help your firm succeed during the holiday season, contact a LexisNexis Law Firm Marketing Specialist today.
Also check out these previous posts:
Leave a Comment
