Crisis Point Advertising

“Crisis Point Advertising” is our approach to marketing, specific to solo practitioners, small law firms and lawyer referral services.

There is a lot of buzz out there about “branding” and creating a “brand” for your firm. People selling advertising space in print media, TV and radio will tell you about the importance of spending lots of money to promote your brand in your community. We disagree.

For the solo practitioner, small law firm and lawyer referral service, where advertising dollars are as limited as the time you have to actually spend acquiring new clients, branding campaigns in radio, TV, billboards and various print media are a waste of advertising dollars and should be discontinued in favor of what we refer to as “hiring point advertising.”

This is not to say that your brand is unimportant – a good brand is critical to the success of any law firm and should be cultivated and protected. But you should not spend a lot of money promoting it if your advertising budget is limited.

What is Crisis Point Advertising?

When a person finds himself or herself faced with a legal matter, particularly a difficult, emotional one, like a divorce, eviction or bankruptcy, he or she finds themselves avoiding the matter until it reaches a crisis point and they decide they need help. In transactional matters where there is no crisis point, the client often still puts off the decision to contact attorneys until they convince themselves that the time is right to hire an attorney.

At this specific moment in time, the “crisis point,” the individual realizes that this matter cannot or should not be resolved without the help of a lawyer, and that the decision to find a lawyer should not be delayed any longer. At this point, the individual resolves to find help.

At the crisis point, there is an order that people go through to find the right lawyer. Most people start their search by asking lawyers they know for a recommendation to an “honest” or “experienced” or “affordable” attorney. Because a lot of people know lawyers, this happens often. That’s why referrals from colleagues are a significant referral source for most lawyers and why networking in your legal community is so important.

But if the person at the crisis point doesn’t know any lawyers to ask for a recommendation (or if the legal matter is such that they would prefer a more anonymous referral), then that person, at this particular point in time, turns to one of only a few places to find legal help. They may call their local lawyer referral service, but just as likely, that person will open their Yellow Pages directory or perform a search in Google, Yahoo! or MSN (these 3 search engines dominate the American search engine market and it is unnecessary to consider the less significant search sites).

It is at the crisis point, and ONLY at the crisis point, that your law firm needs to be conspicuous. Large billboards and 20-second radio spots will not help you acquire these clients except in the unlikely event that they reach the crisis point in their minds while driving by one of your billboards or is listening to your radio spot at that moment.

A well written, inviting Sponsored Listing on the first page of Google, Yahoo! or MSN will encourage this person to click on your law firm’s ad. An attractive, search phrase specific landing page will encourage that visitor to submit an inquiry through your web site or to call your law firm on the telephone. Prompt and courteous customer service will help get that person into your office and to become a paying client.

And that client’s good experience with you will bolster your brand and encourage future referrals from the person’s friends, relatives and co-workers