Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Let's talk about law
firm ads that don't look like
ads.
Welcome to Legal Marketing 101.
I'm Toby Rosen.
And what if I told you thatyour best performing ad, your
best performing campaign, the adin it didn't have to look like
an ad at all?
I'm sure you guys know this,but studies show that 74% of
people dislike ads.
That feel intrusive, and I madethat stat up.
(00:27):
But here's the thing youthought it was true, because
we're all annoyed by these adsand whether or not it's 70% or
if it's 80% or if it's 40%, westill have an edge when we do
something that's different thanour competition.
So often we are competing inthese saturated markets where
traditional ads and when I saytraditional, I'm including
(00:47):
things like Google ads andFacebook and all that kind of
stuff but these saturatedmarkets, the traditional stuff,
tends to sort of fail when itcomes to standing out.
Let's face it.
Look, most people scroll rightpast the ads on Google and right
past the ads on Instagramwithout a second thought.
Why?
Because traditional salesy adstrigger resistance.
(01:10):
When consumers sense thatthey're being sold to, they're
instinctively putting up walls,and this is not a surprise to us
, and this is not really asurprise to us, but it then
turns out that the bestperforming ads are the ones that
don't really feel like ads.
They're the ones that feelorganic and suck somebody in.
Think about the last time thatyou encountered an ad online.
(01:32):
If it looked really polished orhad a heavy sales pitch,
chances are you tuned it out,unless it was exactly what you
needed at the exact right time,and you might've even felt kind
of annoyed by this intruding inyour process of scrolling
through Instagram.
This is what we call ad fatigue.
This is a marketing term thatwe use to help understand when
(01:55):
people are just tired of lookingat ads, and the reality is that
ad fatigue is a major hurdle,not only for marketers, but for
law firms that are trying tostand out.
So let's consider analternative.
We're scrolling through ourfeed and we come across this
short video where a lawyer isexplaining the steps to protect
a small business from a lawsuit.
The tone's friendly, the adviceis practical and there's no
(02:18):
obvious pitch, just valuableinformation.
What happens?
We pause, we watch, we maybeclick, follow or share or
comment or something.
That's what the power of an adthat doesn't look like an ad
really is.
People are drawn to thisauthenticity.
You are too, you know it.
Ads that feel genuine andhelpful are much less likely to
(02:39):
trigger that resistance becausethey're resonating not only with
what the audience may need atthat really specific time, but
they actually want answers totheir questions or solutions to
their problems.
When our content aligns withtheir needs, without trying to
sell them something, it becomesa lot easier to build a
connection.
And we constantly talk aboutconnection.
But building trust is reallythe cornerstone of effective
(03:02):
marketing for law firms.
Legal services almost alwayscarry a high emotional and
financial cost, so potentialclients need to really feel
confident in their choice.
Traditional ads with flashyslogans, hard sells CTAs these
days.
In certain scenarios these canmake people actually kind of
skeptical.
But these non-ad ads thatintegrate, it's a completely
(03:24):
different approach.
Instead of shouting, hire us,we're the best law firm in town,
we have leather chairs andmahogany-bound books and our
apartment smells of Ron Burr,whatever it is, these ads focus
on providing the value first.
Instead of doing that hire usthing, we're focusing on
providing value first.
So imagine a video series whereyou're answering common legal
(03:48):
questions what should I do ifI'm served with divorce papers?
How can I protect myintellectual property as a
startup owner by positioningyourself as the resource you
demonstrate your expertise whilealso showing you care about
helping people, whether theyhire you or not.
So something like a 60-secondvideo answering a frequently
asked legal question can dowonders.
Not only does it showcase yourknowledge and make you more
(04:10):
personable, but it's humanizingyour entire firm.
People aren't just seeing thelawyer.
They're seeing the someonethat's approachable and
relatable and is a mom or a dad,or a brother or a sister or
whatever it is.
Over time, these smallinteractions, they build up
trust and they make it much morelikely that these viewers will
remember you and turn to yourfirm when they need legal
(04:32):
assistance, and when adsprioritize this value over hard
selling.
We're starting to blur thisline between content and
marketing.
This approach really capitalizeson curiosity rather than
interruption.
Audiences feel empowered andnot pressured to engage and take
action, and that's really thekey difference.
The bottom line is that adsthat don't look like ads tap
(04:54):
into what people truly wantAuthenticity, relatability and
answers.
They allow law firms and anyonein the legal marketing space to
stand out by being more thanjust a service that you can call
.
You become a trusted guide.
Now let's talk about thecharacteristics of these ads.
What actually sets an ad apartfrom everything else that's
competing for attention, when itdoesn't feel like an ad.
(05:17):
That's what really sets itapart.
These types of content and thistype of ad itself blends into
the content audiences arenaturally engaging with.
This provides value, createsthat connection, builds that
trust, and so let's break downthese key characteristics.
First is educational content.
One of the simplest ways tocreate an ad that doesn't feel
(05:38):
like an ad is to just educateyour audience.
Think about the questions thatyour clients are frequently
asking what should I do after acar accident?
How do I know if I needed awill or a trust?
What do I do if I've beenserved with divorce papers?
Turning these questions intoshort videos or blog posts or
infographics provides real valuewhile showcasing your expertise
.
A one-minute video explainingwhat to do after a workplace
(06:00):
injury can be informativewithout even pitching your
services at all.
You could do it subtly, but youdon't really have to.
This positions you as aresource, a helpful resource,
rather than just the next lawfirm on the block that's
advertising its services.
Element two is storytelling, andthis takes a lot of different
forms on different platforms,but we're going to talk about
(06:22):
some of the easy ones because,look, people connect with
stories way more than theyconnect with statistics or
slogans or even pictures of cutekittens.
Sharing real client successstories, while, of course, still
respecting clientconfidentiality and respecting
state guidelines, it can have areally powerful impact.
So, instead of saying we'vehelped hundreds of families
(06:42):
navigate custody disputes, wecan share a story that's either
personalized, if we have it, ormore generalized.
Let's share a story about asingle mother who successfully
secured custody with yourguidance.
This brings your services tolife in a way that resonates
emotionally and, ultimately,we're building content that can
be reused over and over ondifferent platforms.
(07:03):
But number three here iscommunity involvement, because
nothing says authentic likeshowing that your firm is a
genuine part of the community,that you're in Ads that
highlight your involvement inthings like local events,
sponsorships, charity work allof these subtly promote your
brand while building a lot ofgoodwill.
So if you say, volunteer at alocal 5k charity run or go to
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work at a food drive with theteam, create a video about it.
You don't have to beself-congratulatory, but you can
humanize your team a little bitand align your brand with these
positive values.
This is a win-win not only foryou but for your community,
you're doing good, whilecreating content that naturally
resonates with viewers.
Number four and this reallysort of all runs together at a
(07:49):
certain point, I think you'llagree is user-generated content.
User-generated content is theonline marketing equivalent of
word of mouth.
And look, I don't need to tellyou how powerful this is.
Encourage your clients to sharetheir experiences, whether it's
a quick video testimonial, aGoogle review, a shout out on
social media.
These authentic endorsementscarry way more weight than any
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paid ad, any piece of content wecan create, because they come
from real people.
Once you have permission,repurpose this content into your
campaigns.
We talk about this all the time, but once you have it created,
do something with it.
So, if you have a ton ofdifferent reviews, post them on
different social media platforms, or create a montage of the
testimonials to put on yourwebsite or your YouTube channel,
(08:32):
or even just highlight the textof it in a graphic that you can
post on LinkedIn, by focusingon the education, the
storytelling, the community andthe user-generated content,
which I may start referring toas UGC in a second.
Your ads are more than justmarketing to as UGC in a second.
Your ads are.
They're more than justmarketing.
(08:52):
They are a reflection of youand your firm's values and they
demonstrate your expertise overand over.
When your audience sees you asapproachable, trustworthy,
genuine and honestly just humanand really that you're invested
in the needs of your audienceand of your clients, the odds
that they're going to engage notonly with your content but with
you and become clients I can'tput numbers on this, but it's
(09:15):
infinitely higher that this willhappen.
But it's not magic that thiswill happen, because creating
these ads it does take a lot ofstrategy, it takes some
creativity and you have to havethis understanding of your
audience.
So let's break down how we canreally get started with this and
what we can do to craft theseauthentic, engaging stories that
(09:35):
really resonate with potentialclients.
Number one is to understand theaudience.
At the heart of everysuccessful ad story-based or not
is a clear understanding of whoyou're speaking to and where
those people are.
Legal services and really mostthings are just not one size
fits all and the messaging andthe ad itself needs to really
(09:55):
reflect the unique concerns ofyour target audience.
So you can start off by usingGoogle Analytics, facebook
Insights any of these data toolsto gather information about
your audience.
What questions are theysearching for?
What topics are trending inyour practice area?
And once you have this data,start tailoring that content to
address the specific pain points.
We've talked about this in afew previous episodes, so you
(10:17):
may already have this together.
The really important thing hereis to not just guess.
Take the time to learn whatkeeps these clients up at night,
whether it's concerns abouttheir custody arrangement, the
estate planning, workplaceinjury claims, a car accident, a
truck accident.
Aligning your content with theneeds of the clients ensures
that your ads provide real valueright away.
(10:39):
And once you've figured outwhere your audience is, too, we
can actually figure out how toleverage the trends on the
social media platforms thatthey're on.
So this is constantly evolving,but staying up to date with the
trends and staying a little bitahead can give you a really
significant edge.
So formats like day in the lifeask me anything.
These are really great forcreating engaging, authentic
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content that's already in aformat that your audience is
going to understand.
A day in the life or how alawyer starts their morning
video could showcase the humanside of you and your firm An
attorney that's prepping forcourt, the team brainstorming
during a case review, or evenlighthearted moments at the
office in the break room,brainstorming during a case
review, or even lightheartedmoments at the office in the
break room.
These little snippets providean inside look into your firm
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while making you a lot morerelatable to potential clients.
You could also do things likean ask me anything session.
This could be on TikTok or onInstagram or on Facebook, and
you can host a live Q&Aanswering questions like what
should I do if I get injured atwork?
Not only does this showcaseyour expertise, but it fosters
this direct interaction withyour audience.
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And finally, one of the mostimportant things to really
farming that engagement is tokeep it visual.
We live in a visually drivenworld.
All of the videos havesubtitles, they have flashy
colors, they have nicethumbnails, and the quality of
the visuals that we put out canmake or break our advertising.
Investing in things likeprofessional photography,
(12:06):
videography it is worth everypenny and it ensures that your
content looks polished andcredible.
But I will say this you don'thave to hire a professional to
do these things.
You can do it on your iPhone.
The key is to make sure it'swell lit, the audio is crisp and
clear and there's just nothingnonsense going on in the video.
But you can do things likecreating a behind-the-scenes
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video of the firm that shows howpotential clients can go
through the process of arrivingthere, going into their meeting
room, everything that happensfor when a client comes in the
door.
A short video about how theteam prepares for a client's
case could help demystify thelegal process, make it feel more
approachable and help theclient understand what they're
actually paying for.
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But if you don't want to do thisyourself and you just want it
to be done, another great optionis animated explainers.
I'm not going to talk aboutthis a lot.
It's not something I bring upoften, but it can work.
Animations are great forbreaking down complex legal
processes anything from how tofile a personal injury claim or
the steps involved in estateplanning and these can be shared
across platforms repurposed forads posted on blogs sent out
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with emails.
But the key thing here is thatwe're focusing on visuals that
are professional and engagingand elevating our brand to keep
our audience's attention evenlonger.
Now we'll be back with more onadvertising and actually more on
ads that look like ads verysoon.
But for today, that's it forLegal Marketing 101.
Check out RosenAdvertisingcomfor more.
(13:34):
Thanks.