What do potential clients perceive when they hear about your firm’s name or see the logo? Do they conceptualize your brand the way you want them to?
Personal injury law firm marketing is a highly competitive niche. If you do not have a unique, identifiable brand, it will be difficult to stand out from the crowd and grow your firm.
Law firm branding is something that takes intentional effort over a long period of time. If you want to craft a brand that resonates with the types of clients you are seeking.
When an accident happens and people suffer injuries, you want them to remember your firm. If they do a Google search for a firm where they live, you want them to feel confident you can provide the help they need.
PMP has been building legal brands for more than 15 years. We have also created a comprehensive guide to law firm branding. This guide not only explains the importance of your brand, but also how you can begin to build it.
Visit our advertising services page to learn more about the services we offer and how we help law firms build and manage their brands.
What is a Law Firm’s Brand?
Your law firm’s brand is more than just your logo – your brand is the story behind your logo. Your brand is the perception of your firm and the services it provides. For example, how would potential clients answer the following questions:
- Why is your law firm unique or different from the others?
- How do clients feel about your law firm?
- What are your law firm’s core values?
- Why is your law firm the best choice compared to the many other law firms in the local area?
Clients answer these questions in their heads when they see a TV commercial, bus advertisement, billboard or hear about your firm from someone else.
Your brand can also be thought of as a promise you make to potential clients, helping to set their expectations for working with your firm after an injury.
While perceptions about your firm are intangible, there are some aspects of your brand that are tangible, like your logo, color scheme, fonts and your office. In some ways, managing the tangible parts of your brand is easier than crafting the perception of your law firm.
However, you must be intentional with every aspect of your brand and messaging. There needs to be synergy between the various aspects of your brand identity.
What Are the Benefits of Law Firm Branding?
You are not just building a brand to influence the perception of your firm. There are tangible benefits to this aspect of law firm marketing.
These are some of the advantages of a well-crafted brand:
Telling People Why Your Firm is Different
There are so many injury firms out there. Injured victims are less likely to contact your firm if they do not know what makes you different. It could be the way your attorneys connect with viewers in your TV advertising. If people see your advertising and think you truly care, you have a leg up on the competitive legal market.
Building Trust
People do not want to use services they feel they cannot trust. They want to work with businesses that are authentic and focused on what is best for the consumer. When injured victims feel like they can trust what you are saying, they are more likely to turn to you in their time of need.
Emotionally Connecting With Clients
One of the intangible aspects of your brand is how it creates an emotional connection with your target demographic. An accident claim is about more than just recovering money. Victims are going through a difficult time and they want to feel that their law firm is there to support them.
Encouraging Clients to Remain Loyal
When people have a positive connection to a brand, they are more likely to remain loyal. Even though someone might not need your services a second time, they may recommend your firm to others who are in need. They may also be more likely to leave positive reviews.
Focusing Your Marketing Efforts
Your law firm’s brand is at the center of your marketing efforts. In fact, your brand can help guide your decision-making about the goals of your firm, your values, your mission and more. As your firm grows, your brand helps you determine if you are making decisions that fit with how people perceive your firm.
Expanding Your Firm
Expanding your firm is partly about delivering the results your clients are looking for. However, you cannot get there unless you have a cohesive brand strategy and your messages to existing clients and potential clients are consistent.
Crafting Your Law Firm’s Brand Identity
There are many aspects to your law firm’s brand. It is important to take the time to carefully craft the messages you want to send to people.
Identifying Your Target Audience
Who do you want to reach? You are not going to attract the clients you want unless you can identify your ideal client. You need to determine a variety of characteristics, such as:
- Age range
- Zip codes where your ideal clients live
- Average income
- Education level
- And more
Personal injury law is incredibly competitive, and it costs too much to get your message out to an audience that is too large. It is also easier to build an emotional connection with a targeted audience because you will know more about them.
Explaining Why You Are a Lawyer and Why Your Firm Exists
Potential clients need to know why your lawyers and your firm exist. These are foundational aspects of your law firm’s brand.
While your firm needs to make money to survive, this is not your law firm’s main reason for being. Potential clients need to know why you come to work each day. How are you hoping to help people?
Explaining Your Vision
What are the aspirations of your law firm? These are not just your business objectives. What kind of firm do you want to create?
Expressing Your Values
Your values are more specific than your vision. For example, one value could be providing excellent customer service. Another value might be partnering with the local community on a particular cause or issue. You may also have values about how you treat each other at your law office.
Being Consistent and Authentic
After taking the time to develop the foundation of your brand, you need to make sure your messaging is consistent. If you are not consistent, your target audience may get confused and question your authenticity. You need to be getting consistent messages out across all marketing channels, from your TV and radio advertising to your website and pay-per-click advertising.
Creating a Logo and Other Brand Visuals
Your values, vision and target audience should guide your decision-making about the tangible aspects of your brand, such as:
- Logo
- Color palette
- Fonts/typography
- Tag lines
You need your logo and colors to be consistent on the various marketing materials you create, including:
- Website
- Print advertising
- Business cards
- Online profiles (Google Business, law firm directory websites)
- Social media profiles
- Billboards
- Company Letterhead
The Process of Building a Brand is a Marathon
Building an effective legal brand is a complex, time-consuming process. This is not something you should do on your own. You need experienced marketing professionals to make sure all the bases are covered and you have an effective strategy to reach your target audience.
At PMP, we have helped plaintiff firms across North America build strong brands to help them achieve their goals and grow their firms. It takes time to build a brand and more importantly, build brand awareness. We have the marketing knowledge, experience and commitment to results to guide your firm on every step of the journey.