The current legal practice landscape is dense and competitive, and you can’t rely solely on organic reviews to raise your profile.
Running a legal practice nowadays offers substantial opportunities but also presents a unique set of challenges. According to data published by the U.S. Justice Department, the number of active legal professionals in the country amounts to an incredible 1.3 million. While this is a sign of a healthy sector, it creates a problem of visibility.
With so many legal professionals available, how do you stand out and ensure that clients are evenly distributed so everyone gets a piece of the pie?
Peer recommendations have always held a significant amount of influence among the general audience. In this digital society, what was once a recommendation from a friend or cousin now translates to ratings on Google My Business and similar listings.
Let’s take a look at a couple of ways you can leverage this resource to your advantage and get more positive reviews for your legal practice
Cover all the bases
This is one of the absolute essentials. If you want to become more visible and get more positive reviews, you need to cover all the bases and make yourself available on as many platforms as possible. While most people will use Google My Business to find a reliable legal practice, you shouldn’t overlook popular alternatives like Crunchbase, Bing Places, and Yelp.
You should leverage the presence and appeal of popular social media sites since they also have built-in rating features. Integrating these resources will improve your online presence.
Ask your clients for feedback
One of the best ways of becoming a good lawyer is having your way with people and managing interactions. So, use the talents and experience you already possess and plain and simply ask your clients for positive feedback.
Handling this issue matter-of-factly and giving your clients some solid arguments on how this simple action can benefit your company will provide you with the desired effect while still making you look professional and grounded. Discussing the review process during negotiations and other more procedural meetings will ease the affair even more.
Automate the review request process
This is yet another option to approach review requests in a polite and unobtrusive manner. The good news is that today’s tech landscape has found a solution for any business-related problem and the options for review management are no exception. You can find a perfect example of the streamlined automated review software – Podium.
This platform automates requests from your prospective clients as well as streamlines outreach and allows you to manage reviews from a centralized dashboard. Packages like this drastically simplify the review handling process, saving you time and money.
Add links to your website and social media profiles
The most important thing to remember here is that all your online resources are not separate assets. In ideal circumstances, they should work in unison and give each other a necessary push forward. So, don’t let your listings rely solely on the review requests and good will of the clients.
The links to your listing profiles should be prominently displayed on your practice’s website as well as all of your social media profiles. If you want to, you can even add links to your emails. In this case, though, you should envision a follow-up strategy and keep hitting the clients with valuable content as they enter the sales funnel.
Provide stimulating incentives
These incentives can come in various forms. In the previous example, we mentioned valuable content. You can also consider offering things like free meetings and consultations or short-term access to premium services. The most important thing is to motivate people who are still on the fence to post their opinions.
Since those who are frustrated and experiencing negative emotions are more likely to speak publicly, this strategy may prove to be one of the most critical resources in maintaining your online reputation. You can use the same system for a referral program.
Target satisfied customers
Last but not least, we would like to remind you that while getting as many reviews as possible is beneficial, your goal should be to aim for the most satisfied clients whose five-star ratings will raise your profile the most. It’s better to sacrifice quantity for quality.
A venture featuring 10 five-star ratings will draw more attention than dozens of three-star ratings. Targeting clients with whom you’ve had long-lasting and fruitful relationships will also save you resources, allowing you to invest in areas where you’ll get the most satisfying ROI.
So, these were the top six ways to put your legal practice on the mainstream map. The current legal practice landscape is dense and competitive, and you can’t rely solely on organic reviews to raise your profile. Pay close attention to everything we have covered above. Peer recommendations are a powerful marketing resource you need to use to your advantage.
