How can SME law firms leverage data-driven marketing?

Gary Shaw, commercial group director at Accesspoint, says once you’re able to determine where your prospects are coming from and what drives your target audience in their decision-making process, you’ll be able to tip the odds in your favour.

Understandably, the challenge for many SME firms throughout this pandemic has been survival. As the most recent lockdown slowly comes to an end and life begins to look more stable for the near future, perhaps now is the time to push the boundaries and establish new and exciting ways to build your firm’s existing and new client base – as well as enhance awareness for other legal services your firm may offer.

The legal industry is possibly going through the biggest digital transformation ever, and it’s becoming ever more apparent that standing out online is now harder than ever as competition strengthens.

New joined-up technology that focuses on client expectations continues to make waves through some of the more forward-thinking firms, and the traditional marketing methods we have all grown accustomed to are rapidly becoming less effective as standalone techniques to attract new business. At just a click of a button, clients need to be convinced to choose you against others, so ensuring your firm’s website has been equipped with client-centric features is pivotal.

It’s worth re-thinking what client engagement means to your firm. Asking the right kind of questions can be the key to unlocking a strategic and effective marketing plan as well as opening a world of opportunities.

The first question to consider is, how much do you know about your target audience?

It’s important to remember that your target audience is forever evolving, so obtaining crucial ongoing demographic data about these people at any given time is a must. How can this realistically be done?

To discover more insightful information about your clients, adopting data-driven website automation is a great place to start. This online solution will enable your firm to collect almost any data you need to help with workflows in the most efficient and secure way. It’s hugely beneficial to be tracking clients from the very start of their digital journey, be that from clicking on Google adverts, Facebook posts, or other links, right up to the completion of their case and fees earned. This ensures that you’re accurately reporting your return on investment by cross referencing the cost of acquisition. This not only allows your firm to avoid the mistake of blindly throwing money at every marketing channel in an attempt to find the most effective lead generator, but it can also provide your firm with high quality information to make your marketing investments go further.

Now, the next thing you may ask yourself is what can I do with this data?

Once you’re able to determine where your prospects are coming from and what drives your target audience in their decision-making process, you’ll be able to tip the odds in your favour. This can be done through various ways such as investing in tried and tested marketing channels and maximising cross-selling opportunities so that other services your firm may offer can be on full display and marketed to people who are likely to appreciate it – instantly creating a fast and easy stream of extra revenue. Think about the possibilities of creating a targeted marketing campaign for visitors on your website by automatically sending an e-shot to any person who visits a page on your site. By communicating the services that visitors show a clear interest in, or on other products that may appeal to them, your firm will always be able to strike while the iron is hot and maximise any sales opportunity.

Another great way to improve cross-selling opportunities in the future could be through targeting your existing clients in a more personal way by interacting via client portals. Simply posting any adverts, infographics or announcements to your portal for clients to see and possibly follow up on will allow your firm to deepen the already established relationship with the client. Data-driven marketing is now the norm and the future for all law firms across the globe.