Every time I discuss a call to action as it relates to law firm marketing, attorneys get nervous. Lawyers think including a strong call to action in each marketing piece means giving the reader the “hard sell.”
That’s not the least bit true.
A call to action is important, in fact a call to action is necessary, simply to give the reader logical next steps to follow in the process of improving his condition. I make the argument to lawyers all that time that NOT including a call to action is irresponsible.
Let’s think about that for a second…
![Law Firm Marketing Call To Action]( "Law Firm Marketing Call To Action")
You write an article and you get the audience concerned and even excited about their current situation. The prospective client now feels compelled to do something to solve his problem.
But wait, he doesn’t know what to do.
Why?
Because you have not told him.
You’ve only done half the job.
You have committed marketing malpractice. You raise an issue with someone who needs help and you have given him no way to relieve the anxiety he now feels.
I am going to help you solve this problem. Here are the three types of calls to action you can include in your law firm marketing.
Educational Call To Action
This is the most common type of call to action you can include in your law firm marketing. Simply put, this is offering another free resource to your audience of prospective clients. The educational call to action is a way to help a first time visitor to a website get to know you a little bit better. It is designed to help someone who has just discovered you realize how intelligent you are and how much credibility you have in your field.
Some examples include:Adding links to other articles at the end of an article on the same topic.
Adding a link to a podcast or video that can be viewed without the use of a password or additional information.
Including a document as an attachment to an article for the reader to save on his computer.
The phrasing of this call to action is:
“Follow the link below for my free resource titled: ‘Report Name Here’ There is no information required to receive this free resource.”
The Opt-In Call To Action
The next type of call to action used in law firm marketing is the opt-in call to action.
You use this to get your prospective client to demonstrate his interest in you and in your services by exchanging his contact information for a valuable resource.
This resource can be in the form of a free report (downloadable on your website or via email) or a free video (downloadable or made available via DVD). The key is to make the resource available only after the prospective client has given you his contact information.
I use a FREE CD as my opt-in call to action.
Here is the example and the phrasing along with an offer to receive my free CD.
If you would like to receive my free CD titled: “Five Secrets of Million Dollar Lawyers,” click this link: Dave Lorenzo Please Send Me the Law Firm Marketing CD Now!
The “Hard Close” Call To Action
This is the call to action most attorneys are familiar with. It also is the one that makes them cringe.
Simply put this is where you ask the client to call you for help.
This works when you have already primed the client with free information and he is convinced you are the best option for him. Typically, if you have used the other two types of calls to action, the client will reach out to you on his own.
The only time the hard close call to action makes sense in law firm marketing is when you follow up with someone who has received a free report or other complimentary information product from you. At that point you should have built up some credibility you can then ask them to come in to speak with you about their problem.
Too often I see this call to action used prematurely on a website or television commercial. The client is just not ready to call you yet and by asking him to do so, you are scaring him right into someone else’s office.
How to Determine Which Call To Action To Use
So how do you know which call to action to use?
Simply think about the relationship stage you are in with the prospective client.
If he is on your website, you probably want to use an educational call to action to offer him more resources and build up your credibility.
If your prospective client is watching you speak at an event, the fact that you are on stage in front of him and were introduced by someone in authority, gives you high credibility. In this case, you can offer your prospective client a free report as the opt-in call to action.
Finally, at the end of your free report, you can use the hard close call to action to get the client to call you for an appointment. This is appropriate because he already trusted you enough to request additional information. Now he is ready to solve his problem.
This concept – multiple calls to action – is something that requires practice. Take some time and re-read this article. Then give some thought to your marketing sequence. Design the sequence from the client’s perspective. This will help you determine which call to action is appropriate at each step along the way. Continue Reading...
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You write an article and you get the audience concerned and even excited about their current situation. The prospective client now feels compelled to do something to solve his problem.
But wait, he doesn’t know what to do.
Why?
Because you have not told him.
You’ve only done half the job.
You have committed marketing malpractice. You raise an issue with someone who needs help and you have given him no way to relieve the anxiety he now feels.
I am going to help you solve this problem. Here are the three types of calls to action you can include in your law firm marketing.
Educational Call To Action
This is the most common type of call to action you can include in your law firm marketing. Simply put, this is offering another free resource to your audience of prospective clients. The educational call to action is a way to help a first time visitor to a website get to know you a little bit better. It is designed to help someone who has just discovered you realize how intelligent you are and how much credibility you have in your field.
Some examples include:Adding links to other articles at the end of an article on the same topic.
Adding a link to a podcast or video that can be viewed without the use of a password or additional information.
Including a document as an attachment to an article for the reader to save on his computer.
The phrasing of this call to action is:
“Follow the link below for my free resource titled: ‘Report Name Here’ There is no information required to receive this free resource.”
The Opt-In Call To Action
The next type of call to action used in law firm marketing is the opt-in call to action.
You use this to get your prospective client to demonstrate his interest in you and in your services by exchanging his contact information for a valuable resource.
This resource can be in the form of a free report (downloadable on your website or via email) or a free video (downloadable or made available via DVD). The key is to make the resource available only after the prospective client has given you his contact information.
I use a FREE CD as my opt-in call to action.
Here is the example and the phrasing along with an offer to receive my free CD.
If you would like to receive my free CD titled: “Five Secrets of Million Dollar Lawyers,” click this link: Dave Lorenzo Please Send Me the Law Firm Marketing CD Now!
The “Hard Close” Call To Action
This is the call to action most attorneys are familiar with. It also is the one that makes them cringe.
Simply put this is where you ask the client to call you for help.
This works when you have already primed the client with free information and he is convinced you are the best option for him. Typically, if you have used the other two types of calls to action, the client will reach out to you on his own.
The only time the hard close call to action makes sense in law firm marketing is when you follow up with someone who has received a free report or other complimentary information product from you. At that point you should have built up some credibility you can then ask them to come in to speak with you about their problem.
Too often I see this call to action used prematurely on a website or television commercial. The client is just not ready to call you yet and by asking him to do so, you are scaring him right into someone else’s office.
How to Determine Which Call To Action To Use
So how do you know which call to action to use?
Simply think about the relationship stage you are in with the prospective client.
If he is on your website, you probably want to use an educational call to action to offer him more resources and build up your credibility.
If your prospective client is watching you speak at an event, the fact that you are on stage in front of him and were introduced by someone in authority, gives you high credibility. In this case, you can offer your prospective client a free report as the opt-in call to action.
Finally, at the end of your free report, you can use the hard close call to action to get the client to call you for an appointment. This is appropriate because he already trusted you enough to request additional information. Now he is ready to solve his problem.
This concept – multiple calls to action – is something that requires practice. Take some time and re-read this article. Then give some thought to your marketing sequence. Design the sequence from the client’s perspective. This will help you determine which call to action is appropriate at each step along the way. Continue Reading...
I often think about connections, since it is truly at the heart of effective law firm marketing. There are many things that connect us today: country, love of family, love of freedom and honoring all of those who sacrifice to serve our nation.
I am pretty sure that every one of us knows someone who has served – a family member, a friend, or a friend’s family member. Maybe it’s someone you know from work or from your place of worship.
And, to me, this is the tie that binds. Each one of us has benefitted from that service, even if we have only a distant connection to the person who sacrificed some – or all – so we can live in freedom.
There are few things more profound than service to others. Whatever you are doing this Memorial Day, I hope you will join me in thinking about those who have served and who are still serving today.
I would like to think that today, we can all share this indebtedness -- and that those who are the focus of our thanks truly feel a free nation’s gratitude.
This is how the buy-and-hold strategy became popular with investors. Buy a stock today and, because the stock market is rational and efficient, the stock will increase in price over time in spite of fluctuations. This theory has been revised (in the era of mutual funds) to advocate purchasing funds containing stocks of many diverse and profitable companies and holding shares of those funds over time.
When it comes to client attraction and how lawyers get clients, many lawyers subscribe to one aspect of the random walk theory. These lawyers believe that if they do one thing, one time, clients will be attracted to them. They think that by putting information out into the universe, clients will magically (and randomly) be attracted to them.
While this is partially true, there is nothing random about law firm marketing. It is indeed prescriptive.
Here is the prescription:
The attorney puts himself in front of his ideal target audience via:Speaking
Writing
Networking
Each of these three core strategies can be applied on the online or off line.
The attorney makes an offer to generate interest in him/his services. Examples of an offer include:Free report
Book
CD
DVD
Once someone designates this interest, follow-up begins. Here are some follow-up examples:Email newsletter
Telephone calls
Print newsletter
Eventually the object of the lawyer’s interaction will engage the lawyer or ask to be removed from consideration.
The more you experiment with each of these three aspects, the more predictable the response will become and the less random you marketing will seem.
Over time, you will be able to determine who will work with you and when. The key is to get these elements into place as quickly as possible.
Here are some additional resources you will find valuable: