Estate Planning Marketing: Online Marketing Goals

Posted by Kyle E. Krull, Esq., President
INTEGRITY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

So, you have a website for your estate planning and/or elder law practice. Perhaps your law firm business card, letterhead and printed materials even contain the website address. Congratulations. You obviously appreciate the essential, inescapable fact that you must be “online” for your practice to survive, especially in these challenging times. Nevertheless, you have been underwhelmed by your online marketing efforts.

Well, I have a question for you: What are your online marketing goals?

While you ponder your answer, do you mind if I share mine? I believe they are quite simple. I have but three (3). While simple and brief, the results of doggedly pursuing these goals have been profound.

It’s like 1-2-3.

1. FITS (“Fannies In The Seats”): The focus goal of my online marketing is to “keep a steady stream of pre-qualified, motivated prospective clients coming into my conference room and sitting in our nice, leather chairs.” I cannot help folks, if I never meet them. Period.
2. Visibility: So, Kyle, what’s your “Google Ranking?” Good question. Try this: “Google” Estate Planning Attorney Overland Park Kansas. Bingo! My website is consistently on Google page 1 for that search. Note: It does not happen automatically. Like farming, it takes work. First, you have to prepare the soil (have a website with proper SEO), then plant your seeds (have rich, fresh content) and, finally, harvest the resulting crop (have multiple “calls to action”). Remember: The further from the top your website appears on Google, the less likely a prospective client will find you. Subconsciously, right or wrong, attorneys with websites landing on Google page 1 are regarded as “better” attorneys.
3. Differentiation: There is a lot of “noise” online. No, I am not just referring to the latest on youtube.com video from Lady GaGa. Attorney advertising has spilled over from the Yellow Pages onto World Wide Web. So, how do you differentiate yourself? Remember these “Three P’s”: Personality, Process and Problems.
   
   1. Personality: Everything about your website, from the moment it opens, needs to say “this attorney seems like someone I might like and trust.” If a picture is “worth a thousand words,” then a video is worth the Library of Congress. If I did not have video of myself throughout www.kylekrull.com, then I would not enjoy the many fruits of consistently reaching my “focus goal.” Through rich, professionally produced video, prospective clients see and hear you. They don’t care if you bear absolutely no resemblance to Brad Pitt. But they can see and hear for themselves that you are a regular guy or gal (and probably a warm, caring attorney, too). Don’t forget to showcase third-party ratings from www.martindale.com and www.avvo.com on your website to confirm your competency. Showcase your social media links on the website, too, to include your blog, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. As your prospective clients continue their attorney “search, compare and select” process online, you want to give them as many online avenues to keep bringing them around to you… through all the noise.
   2. Process: Face it. Most folks would rather do “_______________” than meet with an attorney to discuss the tough issues of morbidity and mortality, especially when it is their own morbidity and mortality. At least take some the mystery out of the “process” by providing your written “protocol” on your website. While you are at it, provide your initial confidential questionnaires online for them to download, complete and return to you before that first meeting. In short, taking the time to let folks “know what to expect” will differentiate you from other attorneys. Don’t believe me? Visit the websites of your local peers.
   3. Problems: Are you trying to attract other estate planning and/or elder law attorneys to your website, or pre-qualified, motivated prospective clients? Is the purpose of your content “legal education” or “motivation to take action”? This is another area in which you clearly can differentiate yourself in the marketplace. Since I want to meet my “focus goal,” all of my content is written with the end reader in mind. Who is that “end reader”? It is Mr. and Mrs. Jones who want to make (or update) their Will and Trust, so they can protect everyone they love and everything they have. Accordingly, the content is going to highlight the many problems that can result from a failure to make appropriate legal arrangements. In other words, I am not writing for publication in the National Law Journal, at least not in my online marketing communications.

Teaching Point: If you are serious about your online marketing, then be sure to set specific goals. The ESSENTIAL Solution® is a comprehensive marketing system, tested and proven effective in my own law practice. Let us know if we can help you have an ever more profitable and enjoyable estate planning and/or elder law practice.