Integrity Marketing

Making Your Videos Work For You

If you’ve made the trip to Kansas City to meet with video specialists James Campbell and Michael Campbell, you have great footage on your hands.  

While it is imperative that these clips are on your website, you can also utilize them on your social media platforms. According to Ad Age, “the number of videos showing up in people’s [Facebook] new feeds has increased by 360% compared to last year.”

To help you get in the game, SocialMediaExaminer.com outlined the steps to take to add video to your Facebook Business Page.  Check out, “#8: How Do I Show a Video in the About Section?” in the link above.

After you are logged in to your Facebook Business page as an administrator, select the “Videos” option.

Here, you can upload your full video file.

Keep it short and sweet. You’ll likely get more engagement on videos clips of 1-2 minutes in length.

Files vs. Links. You may be tempted to just share the link to your video on your YouTube channel.  Statistics show that Facebook’s algorithm shares posts containing videos uploaded directly to Facebook more than links to videos hosted on other sites.

You can upload multiple video files so that you form a “playlist” for your viewers. This playlist could include a video describing your firm and how to connect with your office, a client testimonial, if you have one, as well as educational videos explaining a little bit more about your areas of practice.

Finally, select which of the uploaded videos you want to be “featured” on your main Facebook Business Page.  The video you choose will appear to the left of the “timeline,” where your posts appear on your Business Page.

Video is a key component of our most successful Essential Solution clients.  It allows people to get a real glimpse of what working with you and your company would be like.  Video helps draw potential clients in (as well as deter clients that would not be the best fit for your company!).

If you are interested in learning more about getting video shot with Integrity Marketing, please click here to learn more about our process.

Reference: Social Media Examiner (April 27, 2015) - "Top 9 Facebook Marketing Questions Answered"

Local Listings Need Updating Protocol

I read a letter to the editor in the Kansas City Star recently – the writer was expressing his concern (frustration and disappointment) caused by an online listing for a US Post Office on Pershing Road. You see, it was tax day and the writer had looked up the hours for the post office and took for granted that the online results were accurate. Apparently they were not. The online (local) listing stated the facility would be open until 7pm, when in reality the closing hour set by that particular office was 6pm. [As of the time of this writing, the hours are still listed inaccurately!]

That made me wonder: Who's in charge of YOUR online listings?

Do you have systems in place and someone in charge of keeping online listings up-to-date and accurate? Sure, your team at IMS is here to guide you and remind you of common social media listings used in The Essential Solution® that will require an update in the event of an address change … but what about general office manager duties that are not addressed? These should include keeping track of all local listings that may require a future address update (e.g., online directories, chamber of commerce or local business listings) and listings that may require office or holiday hours to be updated on the fly.

By the way, just as important as knowing where these local directory listings may be, is to be consistent when making these entries. Best practice is to use the same exact address listing as found on your Google+ Local page. This will help in establishing credibility for your search engine ranking (incredibly important for your mobile / local search results).

When your office will be closed for a holiday or perhaps a company-wide vacation, you have someone in charge of changing your voicemail greeting and making sure there is appropriate store-front signage. Right? You must also appoint a team member to be in charge of your Google+ Local page and your Facebook Business page. Just as important as keeping your phone greetings up-to-date, you must take a moment to include updating your business hours on your Google+ Local and Facebook Business pages when and if needed. While not all offices have opted to list this information, it's extremely important that if you do, someone has been delegated the task of keeping it up-to-date.

Have a great week!

- April

Reference: Kansas City Star - Battles, Kurt (April 20, 2015) - "Letters to the Editor: Postal non-service."

5 Current Website Typography Trends (and how to use them!)

If I had to pick one thing that I think really sets well-designed websites apart from the rest, it would have to be typography.  I’m always looking at inspiration for new ways to use and arrange type in digital formats. Recently, I read an article by Patrick McNeil in which he describes 5 current trends in web typography.

Here are those 5 trends as well as my ideas on how to implement them in your estate planning or elder law firm website.

1. Decorative type

Decorative type can be hit-or-miss with people. I think that the correct font used properly can be very powerful in a design. For estate planning attorneys, pick a font with subtle stylization, nothing too quirky or odd. Decorative fonts should also be used sparingly – think about using them in a logo or in a few headlines.

2. Hand-drawn type

I think there’s something about the contrast between hand-drawn type and the digital “square-ness” of a website that makes this trend so interesting and appealing. Again, this is a trend best used in moderation. A custom-designed logo with hand-drawn type could almost mimic a signature for a timeless, classic look.

3. Slab serifs

A slab serif font is a great way to incorporate the traditional, straightforward feel of a serif font but with a more modern, contemporary twist. Like a serif font, slab serif fonts have the little “wings” on the ends of letters, but the wings are more squared-off. I think slab serifs are great for multiple uses on an attorney’s website!

4. Scripts

Script fonts evoke a similar feel as hand-drawn type, but with a higher level of sophistication and elegance. More casual than a serif font, a script font is a great choice for the firm looking for a brand image that is soft, but still polished and professional.

5. Mixed type

The mark of a truly great typographer is the ability to mix and match different font styles with skill. The key to mixing type effectively is maintaining balance between the different typefaces chosen. An attorney website with a good mix of fonts will look professional and well rounded.

Interested in learning more about web typography? Check out these posts for more info:

Typography 101

Don't Be a Wally! Avoid the Wrong Fonts

Design Trends for 2014

Reference: How Design (April 2, 2015) “5 Striking Trends in Web Typography.”

Why Your Next Year of Blogs Will SMASH the Last One

I’ve been getting this question quite a bit from our clients lately:

“Can you give us some better blog photos to use?  These are boring.”

I definitely understand.  There’s only so many articles that go with grandmas in the flowery swimming caps …

I wish I had the eye to be a photographer.  I am absolutely pleased with everything being centered in a frame.  I also have no understanding of the proper lighting elements needed to perfect a picture.  If I did, I would have a blast running around town snapping shots to provide for you to boost your blogs!

Luckily for (all of) us, our good friends at HubSpot already took that task upon themselves.

You’re going to need to bookmark this article by Anum Hussain in your browser, “550+ Royalty-Free Stock Photos You Can Download Now.”  (No really, save it – you’ll thank me later!)

Here you’ll find:

• miscellaneous images,
• corporate / business pictures, and then
• some really great options for the holidays as they roll around.

If you are you thinking to yourself, “This is too good to be true. Nothing is ever really free,” it’s possible we need to get you outdoors to see the sun or at least caffeine to perk up that pout … but after that, you’ll be glad to hear that HubSpot knows all about the concern around using “free” images from personal experience (noted in the article). 

They decided to offer people like you a way around all of those issues and provided free photos minus the hassle.  Thanks, HubSpot!

I think the swimming Grandmas would approve ;).

Reference: HubSpot (April 17, 2015) - "550+ Royalty-Free Stock Photos You Can Download Now"

Facebook Lists Part Three: Excluding Friends

Have you ever wanted to post something to your Facebook page but didn't necessarily want to post it to your entire friends list? Today we'll learn how!

Caveat! No matter what, don't forget you are posting to the World Wide Web. This tutorial is not meant to be a way to teach you to hide posts; it's simply a way to prevent posts from feeding directly to a select group's newsfeed. It does not mean that they will not be able to see your posts. The nature of Facebook is to be a social sharing tool – as such, likes, comments and shares can still be visible in the ticker and/or a person's newsfeed via social association to common friends.

Excluding Posts from Select Friends

1. While logged into Facebook, enter your updated status. OR:
   a. If sharing a blog post or web page, navigate to it in a new tab w/n your browser window (CTRL+T).
   b. Copy the URL and paste it into your Status area.
2. Click on the drop menu to edit who should see this post.
   a. Depending on your default settings, you may need to click More Options.
3. Click custom.
4. Enter the lists you would like to share with in the Share this with section.
5. Enter the lists you would like to exclude in the Don't share this with section.
6. Click Save Changes.
7. Click to Post.
   
   
   

For a complete review on managing your friends lists:

• How to create a friends list in Facebook
• View posts from a friends list in Facebook
• Sharing posts to a friends list in Facebook

Have a great week!

- April

6 Reasons to Post to Your Google Plus Business Page Today

Google is not only a website, it’s a verb as well.  People “Google” over 3.5 billion times per day. Yes, that’s a “b” for billion. If you want to watch a counter try and keep track of the 40,000 search queries per second, click here.

If that’s the case, then that’s a pretty big piece of search engine pie to get in on.

And although Google+ doesn’t really command our attention like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter when it comes to social media, there are some important features G+ offers where the others fall short.

6 Reasons to Post to Your Google Plus Business Page Today

Brett Relander of Entrepreneur provided a quick summary of the advantages of Google Plus:

• growing fan base
• free video capability (Hangouts)
• can speed your search engine ranking increases on Google search
• business pages top search engine results
• ratings and reviews show in search engine results (crucial in a potential client’s customer journey)
• easy way for clients to leave reviews for businesses

Now’s as good of a time as any to share a page of your website or an interesting article you’ve read with your followers.

Don’t remember how?  Keep reading.

How to Post to Your Google+ Business Page (photos below)

• Start by going to google.com/plus.
  You may be redirected to a page that asks you to log in.  You'll need to log in with your Google+ credentials. 
• Click the photo of your face or company logo in the top right corner. Then select your business’ Google+ page.
• If it doesn’t automatically open to your “Post” page, click “Posts” in the navigation under your banner photo and click in the “Share what’s new…” box.
• When you click in that box, you can paste whatever link you want to share.  Then Google will auto-populate an image, if it's available. 
• Delete the link you pasted in the “Share what's new…” box.  Google will still hold the image and link, but you can instead type a blurb to better engage your readers.
• Now you have the option to “Share” to the “Public” and will be taken back to the “Posts” page on your Google+ Business Profile to view your post.

Reference: Entrepreneur (March 18, 2014) - "Why You Should Be on Google+"

Your Most Effective Marketing Tool (and how to put it to good use!)

A recent study found that, for small and medium-sized businesses (like those of our Essential Attorneys), company websites are the most effective marketing tool. In fact, their results show that websites blew every other marketing channel way out of the water! In light of this, small and medium-sized businesses also reported that they are planning to devote more of their budgets to their websites in 2015.

Regardless of your budget, realize that if you aren’t dedicated to maintaining your website, then you’re missing out! Here are a few ways to keep your website up-to-date and effective:

Update frequently

At least once a month, I would recommend going through your website and making sure all information is up to date. Are all of your staff members and attorneys listed on the About Us page? Are old seminar and workshop dates removed and replaced with the most up-to-date schedule? Fill out the forms on your site and make sure the responses are being delivered to an email address that you check daily. Check out this comprehensive list for other things to review.

Go Responsive

In case we haven’t said it enough lately, it’s time to go responsive! In light of Google’s algorithm change, it would really be a shame for your most effective marketing tool to get pushed aside just because it isn’t mobile-friendly. Contact us today to discuss your options.

Schedule a Private Firm Retreat

For a truly personalized experience that will recharge your entire marketing system, schedule a Private Firm Retreat. The IMS team will work with you to evaluate your unique issues when it comes to marketing and branding and come up with a strategic solution. For more information on private firm retreats, call James today.

Make sure you are fully reaping the benefits of your most effective marketing tool – your website.

Reference: eMarketer (April 7, 2015) - “SMBs Put Their Money Where Success Is: Websites” 

Our Spring Workshop Is SOLD OUT!

We’re putting the finishing touches on the Spring Practice Enhancement Retreat and getting ready to welcome the lawyers, paralegals and other team members who have committed to building their practices and profitability.  As you can probably imagine, we’re excited – and so are the men and women who are coming to invest three days with us to that will change so much for them and their law practices.

If you wanted to make the trip this year but could not, give us a call and talk with us about two options – one is waiting until the next workshop is planned – most likely the fall – the other is  a workshop based on your schedule and your team’s needs.  Yes, we can do that, and the cost is still very affordable.  We know it is not easy to get away for three days – but we also know it’s a worthwhile investment in your practice – and your future.

Here’s a quick look at what the Spring workshop will cover:

• Strategy sessions to help you identify what clients and referral sources value most from your firm and what drives their value-indicators.
• Sandblast the marketing myths that are holding you back – use the hard data found in Google Analytics to clarify what is working and what is not on websites from hundreds of estate planning and elder law websites nation-wide. 
• Workshop intelligence – use the E2 Dashboard to manage every aspect of your workshops, including follow-up, which is where most workshop programs run off the tracks.
• Video Marketing – 1 billion users of YouTube – you may not need a billion, but you DO need a video that showcases you as a caring person and competent lawyer.

These are just a few of the highlights from next week’s session – there’s plenty more.  And we’re not even counting the camaraderie and team building that happens when your team spends a few days with the IMS team.  Want to know more?  Give us a call at 877-352-2021 and ask to speak with James to make it happen!

Top 5 Attorney Marketing Mistakes

I came across an interesting article from Forbes recently called “5 Mistakes That Professional Service Providers Make When It Comes To Online Marketing.” What grabbed my attention the most was the opening paragraph:

What do an attorney, accountant and doctor all have in common?

Now this might sound like the introduction to a tired joke that old Uncle Charlie tells at the Thanksgiving table year after year, but the truth is that many professional service providers have something in common –  they have lackluster and underperforming websites …

You see, these professionals (such as yourselves) understand that they need a website. But they don’t always go about it the right way.

Are you making these 5 Attorney Marketing Mistakes?

1. They attempt their hand at it or let their neighbor’s teenage nephew design the site. With advancements in technology, DIY is all the rage. Many attorneys will attempt to build their own sites or have a friend/family member build one for them. What they don’t understand is that by building their site on a basic template to make it “look pretty”, they are doing their practice a huge disservice because the functionality and uniqueness of the firm gets left off the table. Your site will be no better than millions of other DIY sites – and it will get lost in the mix. eMarketer recently reported that websites are the most effective marketing method for small businesses. So don’t skimp when it comes to designing a website for your firm – you have too much at stake to leave this to your nephew!

2. They try to appeal to everyone. “If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll be nothing to no one.” This is so important to remember in marketing. Who is your target audience? What services do you really focus on – and which ones bring in the most revenue for your time? You need to have a focus in your practice AND on your website. Online marketing is competitive, so if you don’t stand out and focus on your strengths you’ll get lost in the mix (again). And clients do not want to sift through tons of information to find out if you can help them. Make it easy by getting to the point of what you can really do for them. In doing so, you’ll actually attract quality clients who need your services.

3. They fail to highlight the specific benefits that they bring to the table. This goes along with #2. You have to define who you really are and why a prospective client should pick you. Afterall, your website is promoting YOU. So, what makes you so great? Why should this client work with you instead of your competitor down the street? Dig deep and show people what is unique about your firm. Online payments, referral programs, firm events/workshops, testimonials – these are great ways to explain more about your firm’s sweet spot.

4. They fail to include a call to action. What good is a website if it doesn’t even work? Gah! It doesn’t matter how snazzy the site is, if someone doesn’t know what to do when they get there then it’s just a pretty face on the web. What is your goal with the website? To get visitors in for a consultation? To get them to sign up for a workshop or seminar? Make the call to action clear and prominent on the website. The easier the user-experience, the better. Your clients don’t have time to sift and search, and they will move on to someone else’s site in a matter of seconds if they can’t figure out what to do.

5. They don’t build a mobile site. We cannot ignore mobile marketing any longer. The number of mobile users (think smartphones, iPads, etc.) is substantial and still on the rise. If your website is not easily accessible on mobile, you are likely going to miss out on some business. And have you heard about the latest algorithm update from Google? Starting April 21, Google will favor mobile-friendly or mobile-optimized sites in search rankings. This is no joke – Google was clear in saying that the update “significantly impacts” how all websites will rank worldwide.

Want some good news?

We can help! IMS has you covered for all 5 of these marketing challenges. We build top-notch, responsive websites for estate planning and elder law attorneys that are mobile-optimized and designed with your firm’s strengths and goals in mind. Contact us today to get started.

Reference: Forbes (April 6, 2015) – “5 Mistakes That Professional Service Providers Make When It Comes To Online Marketing”

How Well Do You Know Your Customer?

Have you heard of Think with Google? This is a dedicated website of useful industry data and analysis to assist businesses with digital marketing. Here is a summary from the website explaining what Think with Google is all about:

Digital innovation continues to propel the marketing industry forward, and the pace is mind-blowing. As marketers, we rely on data, analysis and insights to stay informed and inspired. Think with Google is our way to share all of this and more with you.

Think of us as your resource for everything from high-level insights to deck-ready stats to useful tools. Here you will find the data we’re exploring and the trends we’re tracking along with forward-looking perspectives and behind-the-scenes looks at digital campaigns —across industries, platforms and audiences. We hope you find it helpful and visit often.

Think with Google has recently updated their Customer Journey marketing tool.  This great tool analyzes industries of different types, sizes, and locations and determines which digital marketing channels impact a customer’s decision to make a purchase.  It provides valuable insights so that businesses and agencies can market to customers at the right place and right time.  It breaks down and provides an understanding of how each channel effects your customer’s buying decision.   This can be very useful when deciding where to allocate your digital marketing dollars to receive the best ROI and how to best nurture your leads.

Visit https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/ to check out this FREE interactive digital marketing tool. 

I used the tool to analyze small businesses in the Law & Government industry in the U.S. Below you can see a consumer is most likely not going to convert (or purchase your product) by being exposed to one advertisement.  Today it takes more marketing power to influence a buyer and for this industry it can take on average 5 touch points for a user to convert to a client. 

This is just a quick snippet as to what the tool provides.  Contact Integrity Marketing Solutions and let us walk you through the customer journey and help you devise a successful digital marketing strategy that is more cost effective for your business.