Discover expert strategies on digital marketing for lawyers in Canada. Learn how legal professionals can attract clients, build trust, and avoid risks
Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool for lawyers, but then so is online presence. In fact, digital marketing for lawyers is a highly effective strategy for brand awareness and traffic. Done correctly, it can lead to increased client inquiries and possible engagement.
The key here is a proper marketing approach. Lawyers must stay within the boundaries of legal ethics while informing clients about their services. With these limits, there are several strategies that work best with legal marketing.
The best approach for digital marketing for lawyers is a strategic combination of SEO, articles, and social media. There’s never really a single secret ingredient. It’s always a mix of factors working together to build a strong online presence.
The trick is knowing what combinations strike the perfect balance. With so many approaches today, however, prioritizing the following strategies of digital marketing for lawyers is often best.
SEO or search engine optimization works by improving a page’s visibility online through carefully curated keywords. An SEO strategy often involves taking several factors into account based on established goals.
In legal marketing, two important factors are often considered: location and practice area.
SEO designed for jurisdictional limits tells potential clients which professionals are working within a specific territory. The practice area narrows this down further to a specific branch of law such as criminal litigation or family law. This legal marketing approach helps narrow down the search and improve visibility for lawyers offering relevant legal services.
SEO is what gets lawyers to the first page of search results. However, it’s important to remember that it works in conjunction with other digital marketing efforts. If content is the message, SEO is the train that brings that message to the target audience.
Paid advertising through Google ads and pay-per-click is great when starting out. This internet marketing strategy requires payment each time an ad is clicked on. Firms using this choose what campaign type they want, set a budget for the campaign, and refine settings to capture a target audience. To be clear, SEO and paid advertising are two distinct marketing approaches — but having both is always welcome.
Here’s a quick overview of how these two digital marketing strategies for lawyers work:
The best digital marketing for lawyers involves showcasing one’s talent. This is best done by publishing blogs, articles, and legal insights that discuss common legal issues in practice. With the sharing of information, lawyers build not just online presence but also credibility.
However, building credibility should not be a “me, me, me” approach. It’s still a relationship business with the goal of establishing rapport. This is why when writing blogs, articles, and legal insights, the content should speak clearly to the target audience. Skip the overly technical legal jargon and communicate in ways the reader understands. More importantly, the content should be something they find useful or informative.
It’s hard to ignore social media platforms as reports indicate that there are 31.9 million social media users in Canada. Facebook is still the most popular, but TikTok is quickly gaining traction in the community. Positioned correctly, social media for lawyers can help create familiarity with an audience.
It can be said that social platforms like TikTok establish identity. The video format places a face and name together with the information. However, lawyers need to be particular about what social media platform they join and the content they post.
No doubt about it, the traditional methods of marketing for law firms still work. Shift in technology, however, makes it important for lawyers and even courts to adapt to the times. Fortunately, digital marketing comes with benefits that you don’t commonly get from traditional methods. Here are some of them:
Cost effective – paid advertising tends to be more cost-effective thanks to flexible campaign plans where you only pay for what you need. This is great for small firms just starting to build their reputation.
Repeated visibility – clients can subscribe with a simple push of a button, regardless of the platform. Once a subscription is secured, firms have the opportunity to regularly reach out and establish rapport.
Establishes identity – content, especially in video format, helps potential clients place a face to your name. This builds a strong and reliable identity that sets one lawyer apart from the other.
Builds credibility – well-written content delivered through effective digital marketing for lawyers shows that you know your field.
Sticky – SEO builds long-term visibility. A website that ranks well in search results tends to maintain that position with proper care.
Reaches a wider audience – digital marketing helps lawyers go beyond referrals and printed media. Platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok make it easier for people to find services when they need legal help.
Trackable – a big advantage is the ability to trace digital marketing efforts. You can measure how many people visit a site, what pages are viewed, and what actions they take. This helps you see what’s working and adjust accordingly.
If you’re interested in digital marketing strategies for your law firm, you’ll want to join the Canadian Legal Summit. On the agenda will be growing your online profile through ethical and compliant marketing practices.
With benefits come risks and digital legal marketing is not immune. In a profession where ethics and reputation are highly valued, a mishandled online presence can open or close doors. A study on legal ethics in the digital context touches on some of these risks that lawyers face.
Digital marketing for lawyers is governed by the Model Code of Professional Conduct. It’s an evolving code developed by the Federation of Law Societies in Canada to create a unified rule of conduct.
A primary rule in the Code requires legal marketing to be accurate, verifiable, and in the best interest of the public. It should not be misleading or confusing. In the context of digital marketing, this places a high expectation on lawyers to conduct themselves with the highest degree of professionalism.
There’s also a requirement which prohibits lawyers from advertising themselves as specialists in specific fields. An exception is if a certification has been issued by the Society.
Note though that specific jurisdictions have their own rules. For example, there’s Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct which apply to lawyers practicing within the territory. The expectation is there for legal professionals to know and follow the rules that apply specifically to them.
Information shared via social media, emails, or chats can create conflicts of interest. It can create the appearance of a client-lawyer relationship even without a retainer or engagement agreement. This can be problematic, especially for lawyers who answer specific questions through their platforms.
Even the simple action of “liking” or “following” potential clients on social media could create the impression of retention.
To avoid this, all digital marketing for lawyers should come with a disclaimer or terms of use. Clear statements preventing client-attorney relationships should be firmly placed on every marketing platform.
Accidental disclosure of confidential information poses legal risks to the lawyer and the client. Regardless of the intent, data slip-ups expose lawyers to disciplinary action. This can also place ongoing trials or negotiations at risk which can negatively impact the client.
To ensure this doesn't happen, lawyers should only publish reviewed videos or articles. Avoiding live feeds or spontaneous uploads helps curate a profile that protects the client and practice.
Lawyers who comment on ongoing cases or viral issues have the potential to confuse the personal and professional. This is because online platforms can be the source of extreme conflicts. Digital marketing for lawyers can leverage social media by posting about controversial topics, but each word must be carefully chosen. It’s very easy nowadays for some statements to be misconstrued, and this is what you want to avoid.
To do this, lawyers should always start off with a legal disclaimer. Define terms before discussing them and always aim to educate and inform.
Canada’s anti-spam legislation requires all commercial electronic messages to contain specific information. For lawyers, this means including the name and contact information of the sender. It should also have an unsubscribe option that lets the receiver unsubscribe from the email with no added costs or requirements. Fortunately, this is something that can be easily complied with through email settings.
Lawyers marketing themselves online is discouraged from stating an amount recovered for a past client. This could unjustifiably raise the expectations of others on the outcome of their case. Overpromising success or suggesting superiority over other counsels is also violative of the code.
To avoid these missteps, potential clients should always be informed of the reality of the situation. Amounts and past successes may be mentioned but only as a way of setting an example. Instead, lawyers should maintain that each case is different, and court decisions may vary depending on the facts.
Lawyers are meant to defend their position before the courts and not on social media. Unfortunately, there may be instances when the fight spills online. Bursts of anger could lead to spontaneous posts causing damage to one’s reputation. This is especially true if personal information is disclosed to the public.
Avoiding this risk is a simple matter of exercising sound judgement with every marketing effort. No matter how easy it is to record, write, and publish content, emotions should never get in the way of a marketing strategy. Having a concrete goal for social media marketing should help avoid these spontaneous decisions.
Here’s a summary of the upsides and downsides of digital marketing for lawyers.
So how do you measure the rewards while avoiding the risks? Different factors are considered when measuring the success of digital marketing for lawyers and law firms. Here are just some of the things to watch out for:
Are you receiving from clients more than what you're spending on digital marketing? If not, then your marketing efforts may need more work. Calculating costs of customer acquisition involves dividing total marketing costs with the number of new clients within a specific period. A lower amount means you’re using your marketing budget efficiently.
Tracking how many people visit your website helps you assess your online presence. A growing number means your SEO, ads, or content are driving interest. Tools can also help you figure out exactly where the traffic is coming from.
Engagement is measured through likes, comments, shares, or even direct messages. High positive engagement means people find your content valuable which contributes to credibility.
Ultimately, digital marketing can completely transform how your practice attracts and engages clients. You can expect real rewards, but the risks are just as serious. By keeping track of the right metrics, you can create a digital marketing strategy for lawyers that lasts.
Make the most out of digital marketing for lawyers. Get more guidance by checking out the legal technology page for more resources about digital marketing.
