Family Law Marketing: A Complete Blueprint (With Checklist)

As a family law firm, you need to go beyond run-of-the-mill marketing tactics.

Divorce, custody, domestic violence, asset division — these topics are a hair away from turning into emotionally-charged dialog that will put anyone on edge. 

As such, you can’t really blame clients if they’re much trickier to reach and win over to your firm. Expect them to do a double or triple take when researching law firms before deciding who to hire. 

Luckily, this is nothing a well-planned, data-driven, and precisely executed digital marketing strategy can’t solve.

Here is a comprehensive blueprint of everything you need to do to get family law clients knocking. 

Step 1: Market Research, Define Your Ideal Client, & Create Client Personas

In family law marketing, an outside-in approach is pivotal to success.

You can’t stay tunnel-visioned on internal objectives and expect the market to make room for your ideals. Rather, you need to align your strategy with external trends and market dynamics — starting with your competitors and clients.

Here are four things to check off your list right off the bat:

Competitor Analysis

One of the best ways to determine winning strategies in your niche is to analyze what works for your top competitors.

A tool like Ahrefs, Semrush, or SpyFu will reveal all the information you need. 

Competitor Keyword Research

Semrush, for example, can reveal your competitor’s top keywords. Under “Competitive Research,” click ‘Organic Research’ and enter their URL. 

The organic research report starts off with your competitor’s website metrics, like monthly traffic, organic keywords, and estimated traffic cost. 

But what you need right now is the “Top Keywords” section, which is just below the overview. 

Click ‘View all keywords’ to find non-branded keywords you can actually use in your marketing (e.g., “child custody lawyer near me” and “divorce attorney Coral Springs”). 

Here are a few quick tips when conducting competitor keyword research:

• Use filters to sieve out potential keywords that match your legal services.
• Look for local keywords that mention the locations you serve (i.e., “family attorney in Bakersfield CA”). 
• Check the competitor’s content that performs well for a keyword.
• Click on a potential keyword to reveal relevant long-tail keyword variations.

Analyzing Competitor Advertising Strategies

Apart from keywords, Semrush can also reveal your competitors’ paid ad strategies. 

In “Advertising,” click ‘Advertising Research’ to view information like their estimated traffic cost (monthly) and their target keywords. 

You should also check the ‘Ad Copies’ tab to see how competitors optimize for these keywords. 

Finding Keyword and Content Gaps

If you already have a family law firm website, you can use the keyword gap analysis tool to find profitable target keywords you’re missing out on.

Just enter your domain along with that of up to four competitors. 

Once the results are in, scroll down to the “All keyword details” section to find keywords and content ideas you’re missing. Or, switch to the ‘Untapped’ tab for lucrative keyword ideas that at least one of your competitors has but not anyone else (including you). 

Just remember to incorporate the tips above into a comprehensive SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of up to 3-5 local competitors. This will help you find and fill underserved market gaps that the competition mostly ignores — as well as discover and leverage your firm’s unique advantages. 

This brings us to the next point. 

Identify Your Strengths 

Every family law firm needs a unique selling point that sets them apart. 

The question is, what is yours? 

What areas of family do you excel in? Are you highly experienced in complex divorce cases involving businesses — or are you a veteran in representing fathers in child custody cases? 

Being in touch with your firm’s strengths will have game-changing results for your brand image. 

Here’s a firm that’s completely in tune with what they do best:

For context, Jackman Law Firm‘s practice areas include divorce, child custody, estate planning, and — you guessed it — father’s rights.

Staying consistent with your firm’s identity is a great way to win the confidence of perfect-match prospects. 

Target Audience Research

After analyzing the competition and understanding where your law firm stands, you need to bring all this information together and create your ideal client profile. 

This warrants full-blown target audience research focusing on the following:

• Demographics: Set a range of ages, incomes, occupations, educational backgrounds, and locations that describe your ideal client. 
• Psychographics: Understand their typical lifestyle, values, interests, and media preferences.
• Needs and Pain Points: Identify the primary reason(s) why they need a family lawyer.
• Emotional Triggers: Underline the emotional factors that can influence their hiring decision.
• Legal Needs: Define the exact legal assistance and services they need (e.g., child custody, spousal support, or adoption).

Crafting Audience Personas

After gathering these details, organize them into 2-3 fictional profiles that represent your ideal clients. Keep it simple, and make sure to use a shareable format that other teams in your firm can use. 

For this, you can use a spreadsheet app or a client persona builder, like Make My Persona by HubSpot. This allows you to create visual profiles with custom sections. 

A detailed client persona serves as a foundation that can guide your marketing and client management efforts. It allows them to align their priorities and tailor their messaging to your ideal clients’ needs. 

To put things into perspective, we at LaGrande Marketing helped over 150 law firms — conducting rigorous A/B tests to deliver content and experiences that are tailored to their ideal client. 

The results are a consistent 30-40% improvement in engagement versus content with generic messaging. 

For your reference, here’s a side-by-side comparison of generic and tailored messaging for family law firms: 

Ensuring Ethical Compliance

Now that we’re talking about your messaging, it’s the perfect time to discuss the ethical considerations when mapping the trajectory of your marketing. 

Below is a checklist to get the ball rolling:

• Don’t expressly claim to be an “expert” or “specialist” unless you have an actual certification.
• Don’t promise “guaranteed results” or anything similar.
• Be sure to include the bio and contact information of at least one lawyer responsible for your website’s content. 
• Never commit false advertising.
• Make sure testimonials don’t create unrealistic expectations for all clients. 

Feel free to review the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct for more information. 

Step 2: Building a Strong Brand Identity

Step one outlines the foundational strategy that will drive your law firm’s marketing strategy forward. 

The next order of business is to refine your brand identity — iron the creases, embrace what makes you unique, and adopt a visual “style” that clients can recognize and trust.

Remember, family law is very different from other practice areas. 

Personal injury clients, for example, urgently need immediate solutions. In contrast, those seeking a family lawyer may look for a long-term partnership with someone who can help them through rocky times. 

Below are the components of a trustworthy brand identity that clients can get behind: 

• Core values: No matter how you slice it, a law firm’s core values should revolve around compassion, confidentiality, integrity, reliability, or anything in between. These values should consistently guide your firm’s top-level decisions and be reflected in your website content. 
• Brand messaging: Next, define clear taglines and mission statements as well as the style of your outward communication. Focusing on empathy, professionalism, and compassion should match what most people look for in a family law firm. 
• Visual Identity: The visual side of your brand identity isn’t just to capture attention — it should also convey or trigger emotions that inspire trust. Try to incorporate visual psychology when it comes to your brand colors (i.e., blue inspires compassion and authenticity), typography, and website imagery. 

Put all these together, and you have the makings of an authoritative law firm brand that leads, clients, and even competitors can recognize at a glance. 

Here’s an example of a firm that understands its identity:

Aside from being visually appealing, Andrew Rowe, JD knows how to integrate consistent colors, typography, and family-focused imagery into a cohesive, trust-inspiring law firm brand. 

Step 3: Digital Infrastructure Setup and Optimization

Here’s a hot take: Your brand identity is only as effective as the platforms you choose to present them with. 

This takes us to your digital infrastructure, which encompasses all the touchpoints through which new clients will discover your law firm.

Website Design & Optimization

A professional, well-optimized website is the backbone of your law firm’s online presence. 

It’s where potential clients go to learn more about you, find answers to relevant legal questions, and ultimately reach out when they’re ready to hire. 

The ABA 2023 Websites & Marketing TechReport reveals that 89% of law firms with 8-9 attorneys have an official website up and running. 

While building a website from scratch is possible to DIY, you still need professionals for technical optimization. This ensures you have a website that:

• Loads fast to maintain user engagement and reduce bounce rate. 
• Looks aesthetically pleasing and readable.
• Has accessibility features for certain types of audiences (i.e., language options). 
• Works well on mobile devices.

A reputable web design agency with a track record of success in the legal industry can more than help with your website optimization goals. 

They should also help you build a solid technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) foundation. This will help your website gain rankings for your target keywords in the long run. 

For one, technical SEO involves managing your website’s architecture to make it easier for users (and search engine bots) to explore your website. 

Planning Your Website Architecture

A typical strategy is implementing a flat website structure, in which every page on your site is accessible in just a few clicks from the homepage. This means having a limited number of categories — ideally up to only one subcategory or pillar page per topic. 

Just remember, it’s all about helping users find the information they came for. 

Apart from streamlining your website’s architecture, here are additional tips to improve the ease of navigation:

• Use a mega menu. Instead of multi-layered dropdown buttons, build a single-panel mega menu to help users find the page they need. 
• Include a search feature. Adding a search bar or button to your website will also help potential clients find specific information on your website.
• Add “featured” or “recommended” content sections. Create visual or list-based sections that recommend related posts or pages. 

Also, encourage your audience to see more of your website by adding internal links. This has the added benefit of optimizing crawlability and spreading “link equity” across your site — not to mention it helps your audience discover more of your website.

Page Structure Optimization

Beyond your website’s architecture, you also need page-level optimization that focuses on the structure of HTML elements. 

First, the page or post title should be your H1 — that and nothing else. Subheaders, including H2, H3, H4, and so on, are ideally used for keyword-optimized text. 

In terms of hierarchy, the H1 should focus on the main topic, whereas H2s break down your content’s subtopics. Additional headers (e.g., H3, H4, and H5) can then be used to make key talking points more scannable, like step-by-step instructions, questions, and tips. 

Not only does page-level optimization improve rankings, it also enables search engine crawlers to understand the relevance and context behind your page. This will help you reach higher search engine rankings or — better yet — placements in search features like Google’s AI Overview. 

While you’re working on page structure, another tip is to use the LegalService schema markup on your website. This will deepen Google’s understanding of your legal business, which in turn improves your rankings and increases your chances of getting into featured snippets. 

Mobile Optimization

With your page structure set, your next priority is to ensure proper mobile optimization. 

While most website platforms like Webflow and WordPress come with built-in mobile responsiveness, you still need to remember a few guidelines when you start to make modifications: 

• Add whitespace between interactive elements to prevent accidental clicks. 
• Use larger fonts and smaller images for better readability.
• Disable popups and other features that take up valuable mobile screen space. 

Site Security & Performance

As you lay the groundwork for a high-performing law firm website, make sure you’re not forgetting website security and performance.

Grabbing an SSL Certificate, for instance, is one of the first things we do when working on a new website. This enables the encryption of data transmitted between the website and the user’s browser — a must-have for law firms that handle confidential client information all the time. 

Take note that users will be able to tell if a website has a verified SSL certificate or not. Otherwise, a rather intimidating warning will appear and dissuade them from staying on the site: 

Moving on to website performance, it’s important to keep your pages lightweight through a variety of tactics, like:

• Practice image optimization. Use tools like TinyPNG to compress images to make them load faster. Alternatively, use CloudConvert to export images in more efficient formats (e.g., WebP or AVIF). 
• Reduce and minimize code. Unoptimized code assets like JavaScript and CSS can bog down your website’s initial loading time and responsiveness. To address this, use automated code minification tools like Minifier.org and avoid overloading your website with unnecessary plugins and widgets. 
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN). A CDN improves performance by utilizing a network of servers to cache and deliver website data to users. You should also consider edge delivery services, which further reduce latency by enabling data processing in edge servers. 

Remember, page performance can single-handedly ruin the user experience on your law firm’s website. 

According to Google, 53% of people abandon a site that takes longer than three seconds to load. That means you could be losing over half of your potential clients just because your website is a few seconds too slow.

To find specific performance-related issues on your website, use PageSpeed Insights for a complete analysis. 

In the “Diagnostics” section, you’ll find a sorted list of issues that slow down your site. From there, click on an issue to view more details as well as actionable recommendations.

Compelling Content Template

Now that you have a solid framework for your website, it’s time to add some content.

Here’s a set of templates to help get your content creation up to speed:

1. Homepage

• Header — Apart from your logo, your homepage’s header should be functional with an organized menu and CTA button.
• Hero Shot — The hero shot’s main purpose is to capture attention and highlight your firm’s main tagline, mission statement, and CTA. 
• Legal Services and Testimonials — Remember to focus on the benefits of your legal services and choose reviews that mention your best qualities (without implying guaranteed results).
• Featured Content — Point fresh prospects to authoritative and informative content pieces. 
• Actionable Elements — Encourage action with multiple CTAs, buttons, and contact forms.

Here’s an example of our battle-tested homepage template that you can copy:

2. Attorney Bios

• Attorney Portrait — Improve your trustworthiness and credibility through high-quality, professional photos of your team.
• Introduction — Include details of how you got into family law, your responsibilities at the firm, and just who you are as a person.
• Educational and Professional Background — Earn the confidence of potential clients by mentioning your academic and professional achievements.
• Contact Information — Give prospects who urgently need your legal expertise a head start.

3. Practice Areas (Dedicated Landing Page)

• Compelling Headline — Directly address your target audience’s pain points and how you can help.
• Concise Description — Emphasize the benefits of working with you and who your services are for.
• Social Proof — Share reviews, testimonials, and any relevant accreditation. 
• Contact Form and CTA — Make it easy for potential clients to take the next step.

Here’s also an example of our battle-tested practice area page template that you can copy:

4. Blog 

• Keyword-Optimized Title — Focus on relevant topics and information that your target audience searches for online.
• Hierarchical Subheadings — Organize important subtopics into scannable subheadings. 
• Visual Content — Increase engagement with relevant, high-quality visuals (e.g., charts, photos, and videos).
• Actionable Elements — Don’t forget to add CTAs, links, and forms for prospects who want to take action.

5. About Page

• Brief Introduction — Concisely share how your firm was formed (and who were the parties involved).
• “Meet Our Team” — Mention the names and use high-quality headshots of key team members.
• “What We Do” — List down the legal practice areas you cover and what makes your team different.

Google Business Profile (GBP) Setup and Optimization

For most law firms, local SEO and lead generation start with Google Business Profile.

It improves your local search rankings, makes your firm discoverable via Google Maps, allows you to collect client reviews, and enables prospects to verify your location or contact information. 

First, you need to claim and verify your GBP listing. Just follow the step-by-step instructions and remember to use accurate and up-to-date information about your firm (e.g., business category, contact number, and address).

You’ll also be required to verify your GBP through a postcard, phone call, email, video call, or a combination of these methods. Once verified, you can proceed with the optimization of your business profile.

Here are some of the must-have optimization strategies for family law firms:

• Make sure your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone) details are consistent across your website and other listings. 
• Choose the closest-matching business category to your legal practice (i.e., “family law attorney”). 
• Add high-quality photos of your team office location to help potential clients find you.
• Include a concise yet informative overview of your family law firm in your profile description.
• Fill in every bit of useful information — from your website URL to your multilingual service options. 

A lot of family lawyers miss out on the potential of GBP as a content distribution channel. 

Here at LaGrande Marketing, we encourage clients to leverage every opportunity they can to spread the word about their firm. This has led to positive results in terms of high-quality local traffic. 

You should also add a Q&A section to proactively answer your target audience’s top questions. Not only will this spark interest in your firm, it’ll also position you as a go-to source of information in your legal practice. 

Before we move on to the next step, here are a few additional tips for optimizing your GBP:

• Include a detailed list of your family law specializations (e.g., child custody, divorce, and estate planning). 
• Preemptively populate the Q&A section with your past clients’ FAQs.
• Promote informative content about the technical aspects of family law to gain clicks.

Step 4: Execute Digital Marketing Channels for a Strong Online Presence

Keep in mind that optimizing your GBP is just the beginning. 

To push your family law firm’s online visibility further, you need to follow through with a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. 

Some of the proven law firm marketing tactics you should use are as follows:

Start With SEO

When it comes to SEO, on-page optimizations are just half the battle.

You also need ongoing content creation guided by a foundational SEO keyword strategy. 

Conduct Keyword Research

There are two types of SEO keywords you need to optimize for: landing page keywords and blog article keywords.

TL;DR: you need keywords with transactional or commercial intent for your landing pages. Some examples are “hire a divorce lawyer near me” or “same-day family law consultation.” 

Blog posts, on the other hand, can benefit from informative keywords like “how is child custody decided” and “what happens after a restraining order is filed?.” 

Keyword research tools like Semrush have filters to help you find these keywords in a jiffy:

Read our full SEO guide to learn more about keyword research — or, if you have existing content you’d like to map for the right keywords. 

Create a Content Calendar

Aim to have enough target keywords for at least a month’s worth of blog content. To ensure you’re publishing regularly and attaining consistent SEO growth, meld everything into a trackable content calendar.

Most internal marketing teams simply use a spreadsheet tool like Google Sheets. If you prefer a content calendar with built-in collaboration and task management, check out paid solutions like CoSchedule.

In terms of blogging frequency, aim to publish 1-2 posts per week at minimum. This might be a good time to hire a seasoned law firm marketing agency to address your content production needs.

Optimizing Key Pages

While you wait for your SEO content team’s output, ensure that your essential “money” pages are optimized ASAP. 

Use tools like Surfer or Rank Math to grade your content and get real-time, actionable suggestions based on your target keyword. This includes subheading ideas, recommended number of images, and target word count. 

Organic Social Media Marketing

The thing about SEO is, you’ll need around 6-8 months before you see noticeable results. 

That’s why law firms diversify their marketing strategy to include social media marketing. 

Unlike search engines, you don’t need to wait months before you appear to social media users. Just pay attention to the following guidelines and you’ll do great:

• Choose the right platform. Other than LinkedIn, use visual sharing platforms like Instagram and Facebook to establish deeper, more personal connections with your audience. 
• Optimize your profile. Include accurate NAP details, use high-quality images, and include or mention a link to your website. 
• Organically generate engagement by sharing content. Share blog posts, highlight positive testimonials, and engage reviews to build your credibility. 
• Use hashtags. While search engines have keywords, social media platforms use hashtags to help users find specific pieces of information. 

Utilize Paid Advertising

Another way to get quick, short-term traction for your family law firm is to invest in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads.

Start by creating an account with a reputable advertising platform like Google Ads. This will give you all the tools you need to appear at the top of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Just be sure to create dedicated landing pages that 100% match the intent and expectations of your potential clients. Otherwise, you could end up spending money on clicks that won’t lead to conversions.

You can also supplement your paid search results by advertising on social media. 

Ads on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn tap into mountains of user data to enable granular audience targeting (and retargeting). Not to mention the wave of AI tools they’ve been implementing to streamline the campaign creation process. 

Step 5: Trust-Building Initiatives

With SEO, GBP, and advertising, you should start seeing a decent amount of traffic flowing in. 

Don’t relax yet. 

You still need a handful of trust-building initiatives to win potential clients over to your side.

Start with Video Marketing

Done right, video marketing is the best way to get your prospects to trust you.

A long-term strategy is to record in-depth explainer videos that cover technical topics in your legal practice. And to squeeze the most value out of your efforts, you repurpose your video into shorter clips for social media.

You can also flip the script and focus on short-form “talking head” videos to form a more personal connection with your audience. This will help you build your authority and grow an engaged following on platforms like TikTok.

Some other video content formats you can try are:

• Attorney introductions 
• Client testimonials
• Reaction videos (to trending legal issues or content)
• FAQ videos
• Q&A videos with users
• Podcast clips
• Legal tips 

Embedding YouTube Videos in Blog Posts

You can reap the full benefits of video marketing by hosting them on YouTube and embedding them in your blog posts — essentially doubling their reach and engagement potential. 

You’re actually accomplishing three things here: 

• Leveraging YouTube’s massive user base to gain exposure
• Enhancing the user experience and engagement on your website
• Improving website performance by offloading bandwidth and storage costs

Most website platforms have built-in embedding features from YouTube videos. 

WordPress, for example, lets you use the YouTube Embed block to easily insert videos into your posts. 

This allows you to spice up your blog content with videos without touching a single line of code.

Easy, right? 

We’re not done yet. 

Video content also performs well when shared across social media, including Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. Of course, you shouldn’t forget about short-form video apps — particularly Instagram Reels and TikTok. 

Lastly, you can use video content to run paid ads and reach a wider audience much faster. 

Consider utilizing all of these touchpoints to take advantage of everything video marketing has to offer. 

Launch Webinars and Podcasts

Webinars and live-streamed podcasts are subsets of video marketing that are specifically aimed at boosting trust in your law firm. 

Both focus on interviews, panel discussions, roundtable conversations, and similar content types. This, in turn, will position you as a trustworthy information source in your legal field.

The first rule of launching podcasts and webinars is to tackle relevant topics that your target audience cares about. Share valuable bits of knowledge and meaty insights that prove your expertise in family law. 

On top of that, here are other ways webinars and podcasts can elevate your legal brand:

• Transparency — Live-streamed webinars and podcasts reassure users that they’re seeing your unscripted, unedited legal expertise on full display. 
• Accessibility — Discussion-centered video formats make it ideal for viewers going about their day (i.e., listening to a podcast episode on the way to work). 
• Personal Connection — Your webinar or podcast can have a Q&A section to help you build rapport with your audience. 

Tip: Don’t hesitate to check out some of the best legal podcasts on the web for ideas.

You can also use webinars and podcasts as lead magnets, providing you with an influx of prospects with the right tactics. Be sure to promote your webinar across multiple marketing channels and keep a recording of your session. 

Testimonials and Reviews

Quick fact: two-thirds of potential clients are more likely to hire a law firm if they have good reviews online.

If you don’t feature positive reviews and testimonials on your website, you’re seriously missing out.

Promoting and optimizing your Google Business Profile is a great way to get those client reviews trickling in. 

Once you have a reasonable number of positive reviews, showcase them in areas that matter — such as your homepage and practice area landing page. You can also compile them in a dedicated “testimonials” or “what our clients say” page. 

If you’re firm is lacking reviews, here are a few strategies you should try:

• Send personalized, post-case review request emails.
• Allow and encourage reviews on multiple platforms, including Avvo, Facebook, and Yelp.
• If possible, request reviews in person or through a phone call. 

When requesting reviews, ask clients about specific aspects of their experience (e.g., emotional support provided, responsiveness, and satisfaction with the case outcome). 

Community Partnerships

While gathering online reviews is a huge win for your reputation, nothing trumps local community involvement when it comes to building trust. 

Not only will it put your family law firm on the radar, it will also link you up with local businesses and attorneys in other practice areas. This pays dividends in the long run if you can nurture and maintain your professional relationships. 

You can look for event sponsorship opportunities on your local bar association’s website, chamber of commerce, schools, and CLE organizations. There are also nonprofit organizations that openly accept sponsorships for scheduled events like the Together for Tomorrow Luncheon by Family Law CASA.

If you prefer planning your own event, some ideas you can try are:

• Pop-up legal tents in local fairs, schools, and other events
• 30-minute legal clinics in community centers and shelters
• Family law workshops in local commercial establishments or public venues

Of course, you can become an active participant at an event without bootstrapping everything from the ground up. 

For example, signing up for the ABA Speakers Bureau will expose you to speaking engagement opportunities aligned with family law. 

You can also refer to the National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide to find volunteer opportunities that will get people talking about your firm. Just head to the site, select your state, and look for the right opportunity that gets you closest to your target audience.

Step 6: Implement Client Relationship Management (CRM)

Family law is a business of relationships. And if you want your family law firm to thrive, you need a streamlined system that fosters solid client relationships — from intake to post-case care.

This is where a Client Relationship Management (CRM) platform comes in handy. 

Choose a CRM System 

A CRM system lets you handle all client communications, document management, scheduling, and client management analytics in a centralized dashboard.

Your best bet is to go with a CRM solution that’s specifically designed for law firms. This will equip you with tools, templates, and other resources tailored to the needs of legal businesses. 

Some of the best law firm-specific CRM tools are:

• Clio 
• Lawmatics 
• Law Ruler 
• PracticePanther
• Smokeball

To fully utilize your CRM, don’t just use it as a glorified messaging tool. 

Use it to keep your team on the same page in terms of case details, documentation, billing, and calendaring. Some law firm CRM platforms like Clio also include advanced features like court e-filing, time tracking, e-signatures, and document template creation. 

Do your homework and pick a solution that perfectly matches your needs without blowing through your budget. If possible, use a trial version or request a demo of the CRM software you’re interested in.

Automating Client Communications

Modern CRM solutions can also help you save time through communication automation features. 

For instance, you can use the integrated email marketing automation features to launch lead nurturing campaigns. This workflow involves a sequence of emails designed to strategically push potential clients into conversion. 

Here’s an example of a typical lead nurturing email campaign:

• Day 1 — Generate interest with informative content (i.e., “5 Questions to Ask Your Divorce Lawyer”).
• Day 3 — Build trust with in-depth content that explains technical legal information (e.g., alimony, asset division, and business ownership rights).
• Day 7 — Instill urgency with an offer (i.e., limited-time consultation discount).

Aside from lead nurturing emails, law firm CRM platforms can also automate appointment reminders and follow-up messages. These strategies will keep your law firm top of mind and provide enhance the personalization aspect of your lead generation process.

Step 7: Implement a Referral Marketing Strategy

Make no mistake that countless law firms rely on referral marketing as their primary client acquisition channel — and it’s not hard to see why.

Statistics show that 59% of law firm clients actively sought referrals from people they knew. 

The good news is, you already laid the foundations of a profitable referral network with trust building, community partnerships, and CRM. At this point, you just need to develop a more tangible referral marketing strategy to get those leads pouring in. 

One way to stimulate referrals from your network is through incentives, like discounts on future services, freebies, gift cards, or even commission payouts. 

To give you an idea, Larson Law Office outright offers a 10% commission on all earnings from referrals ($500 maximum). The firm also created an easy-to-use referral form to make it easy for referring parties to participate.

Aside from incentive-based referral programs, explore the following strategies to expand your referral marketing network:

• Create automated referral request emails to clients after successful cases.
• Collaborate and exchange leads with other law firms in different practice areas.
• Leverage partnerships with local businesses and service providers in relevant industries, like financial planners, mortgage brokers, and marriage counselors. 

If you need help setting up your referral marketing program, consider working with law firm marketing experts who know exactly how to get the job done (click here to learn more).

Step 8: Measure Results and Adapt Your Strategy

By now, you already have all the pieces you need to create a comprehensive family law marketing strategy. 

As your campaign rolls along, expect to get mixed results even if you follow the most popular “ultimate” guides to the letter. 

The thing is, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy in law firm marketing. What works for them may not yield the same results for you — but that’s fine.

What you can guarantee are consistent, iterative improvements using data as your guide.  

Google Analytics, for instance, is an all-in-one tool that gives a bird’s-eye view of your web traffic analytics. This allows you to make sharper decisions based on your website’s performance data over time.

You’ll find some of the most valuable reports in Google Analytics can be found under the ‘Life cycle’ tab in the “Reports” section. 

These reports will help you track the following: 

• Top traffic acquisition channels — Determine which of your digital marketing tactics are generating the most results (and which ones require fine-tuning).
• User engagement — Gauge how your website visitors behave and interact with your website. 
• Conversion goals — Track how effective your pages are in generating conversions (i.e., consultations booked).

In addition to performance tracking, Google Analytics also has a handful of other tools to empower your marketing with data-driven decisions. This includes A/B testing, AI-driven insights, and custom data dashboards.

Just remember to analyze your marketing data regularly to identify trends and key areas that need improvement. Ideally, you should have quarterly strategy pivots to implement urgent adjustments, like reallocating your budget from underperforming marketing channels. 

Before we move on, here’s a quick rundown of the most important Google Analytics performance metrics you should track:

• Website traffic data — Number of active users, bounce rate, and engaged sessions (visitors that stayed for at least 10 seconds or interacted with your page).
• Leads generated — Total number of inquiries generated, form submissions, etc.
• Conversion rate — The percentage of website visitors who convert into paying clients.
• Client Acquisition Cost (CAC) — The average cost of marketing and advertising per client acquired.
• Cost Per Lead (CPL) — The cost of marketing and advertising per lead generated (often measured by channel).
• Lifetime Value (LTV) — The total revenue generated by one client throughout their relationship with your law firm.

Step 9: Execute Advanced Marketing Strategies

Remember that law firm marketing is an ongoing process. 

You’ll eventually hit your milestones and campaign objectives if you play your cards right. But in a hyper-competitive industry like family law, there’s always room for more growth — but you have to be crafty and relentless.

That said, let’s go over a few advanced marketing tactics that lead to long-term growth. 

Focusing on Conversion Rate Optimization

Your conversion rate dictates the overall profitability of your digital marketing and advertising efforts. And, if this is your first foray into digital marketing, chances are your initial conversion rate is less than ideal.

Don’t fret — this is normal.

This is where Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) tactics come into play. 

CRO is the process of maximizing the conversion potential of a page, ad, and various other digital touchpoints through strategies like:

• A/B testing — You can use tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, or Crazy Egg to A/B test your law firm website’s “money pages.” This involves creating multiple variations of the same page to experiment with modifications (i.e., using a different tagline) and rolling out iterations based on the results.   
• Optimize above the fold — In website design, “above the fold” pertains to the top section of a page that’s immediately visible to users. Prioritize your above-the-fold elements, be it your CTA, tagline, or hero image, to hook prospective clients and encourage them to read the whole page. 
• Improve your SEO title tags — Most law firms miss this, but your web page’s title tag has a direct impact on user expectations and conversion potential. To make sure you only pull high-quality traffic into your website, be sure your titles are optimized for the right keywords and intent. 

Run Link Building Campaigns

Link building is another component of digital marketing that you can’t afford to miss. 

As the name suggests, the goal is to acquire hyperlinks or “backlinks” to your website from another relevant source. 

Doing so lets you funnel referral traffic straight into your website. It will also help search engines discover, analyze, and index your page — boosting its search engine rankings. 

Without further ado, here are the top, time-tested link building strategies you should try:

• Write and submit guest posts to relevant websites.
• Submit listings to legal directories (e.g., Avvo, Justia, and FindLaw) for foundational links. 
• Acquire backlinks through digital Public Relations (PR) and direct link requests. 

Manage Your Online Reputation

Speaking of PR, don’t forget to stay on top of client reviews — be it on your website, Google Business Profile, or in legal directory listing. 

Make it a point to respond to client reviews regardless if they’re positive or negative — this will have a profound effect on your brand image. 

Read this guide for quick tips on addressing negative reviews and how to turn the tides in your favor.

Conclusion

Remember, family law marketing is all about understanding your audience, earning their trust, and putting their needs above all else. 

It’s definitely a competitive niche, which is why you need to step out of your comfort zone, always be on the lookout for growth opportunities, and prioritize efficiency with the right software. Don’t forget to put a pin on offline engagement tactics, like attending events and hosting workshops, to gain exposure and establish your credibility.  

Don’t know where to start? 

It’s easy to get lost in the complex landscape of family law marketing. That’s why the biggest family lawyers in the country work with law firm marketing agencies with an extensive history of success in the industry. 

If you’re interested, request a free consultation here and discover the difference a holistic digital marketing strategy can make.