What common mistakes do estate planning law firms make when marketing their services? How can estate planning firms beat out competitors? What’s in a marketing plan for an estate firm?
By Marc Zasada Managing Director, Screenfire Media
Here at Screenfire Media, we see estate planning firms make the same marketing mistakes over and over again. Avoid these mistakes (especially number one), and you will be well on your way to strengthening your game!
In time-honored tradition, I’ll list them in ascending order:
10. Misusing Social Media.
Social media can be a powerful tool for connecting with existing and potential clients, but using it poorly will not just be ineffective, but can actually damage the feeling people have about your brand. Posting random content like staff birthdays, holiday greetings, and tributes to first responders will turn people off. And even interesting content can mistakenly lead followers away from your website. Overall, if you fail to provide valuable insights in your posts you will rapidly alienate your audience. Focus on creating engaging and informative content that addresses common concerns about estate planning. What would people actually want to read and share, even without clicking on a link for a longer article? What will make them remember your name and not click “unfollow”?
9. Sugar-Coating Problems.
While it’s important to approach sensitive topics with empathy, sugar-coating the consequences of inadequate estate planning does a disservice to your clients—and can be flat-out boring. Be frank and transparent about the potential challenges individuals and their families might face if they neglect proper planning. It really is scary to get a trust wrong or create a mess for your heirs. Don’t be afraid to say so.
8. Ignoring Video Strategy.
People want to get a sense of a lawyer before they ever pick up a phone to call them. And visual content is pretty much always more engaging than text alone. These days you need a video strategy, whether it’s casual conversations, interviews, or educational videos. All of these help potential clients get a sense of your firm’s personality and expertise, and will give you a leg up on the competition.
7. Neglecting the Benefits to Clients While They Are Alive.
Clients need to understand how estate planning can protect their assets while they are alive—including good tax planning, gift planning, healthcare/incapacity planning, and asset protection through specialized trusts. If you emphasize these areas, you will find yourself with higher-asset clients who are far more engaged with your firm in a pro-active manner. Nevertheless, most firms speak only of “legacies” and not of “protecting yourself now.”
6. Underestimating SEO.
Many estate planning firms think of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as a “nice to have” that they barely address—maybe with a few hours from an intern. But good, professional SEO is essential for ensuring your website ranks high in search results—and it’s the province of dedicated professionals who do not work cheaply. If you don’t take SEO seriously, it means you’re missing out on many potential clients who are actively searching for estate planning services. At Screenfire, we call it “SEO Warfare” for a reason.
5. Underestimating SEM.
Paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM), such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising in Google search results has become essential, not optional for estate firms. Good search engine marketing is a highly-technical service that targets specific keywords and demographics in daily auctions for sponsored search results. Ignoring SEM severely limits your online visibility and inevitably results in losing potential clients to competitors who have a stronger online presence. But SEM is actually a broad topic that includes not just PPC, but “remarketing” display ads across the internet, targeted display ads in Social Media, and more. Work with pros to get this right, or you will forever be losing out to competitors.
4. Failing to Target a Specific Audience.
Highly successful estate planning firms tend to target a very specific demographic: the middle class, the entrepreneurial class, high net-worth families, troubled families, beneficiaries lost in complex probates, or etc. Specializing toward an audience, understanding your target audience, and targeting your marketing toward that audience is crucial. As we tell our client firms over and over again, “Don’t try to be all things to all people. You will make a lot more money as a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.”
3. Neglecting the Client Journey.
Never forget: It’s not just about the services you offer; it’s about the journey on which you take your clients. Highlight their pain points and offer solutions that cater to their specific needs. Create relatable messaging that guides them from uncertainty to empowerment. Don’t say “We provide professional trust administration with X, Y, Z, so call us.” Instead say, “Are you a successor trustee struggling to keep up with deadlines and ensure fairness? We can help, call us.” If they see themselves on the path you offer, they will take that path.
2. Ignoring Reviews.
We list this as the second most important mistake for a reason. In today’s digital age, online reviews can make or break your reputation—and way too many firms ignore reviews altogether. They don’t respond to negative reviews and they don’t cultivate positive reviews. Negative reviews should always be addressed promptly and professionally, both online and in person with the client. You must also develop a strategy and dedicate staff time to encouraging and showcasing positive reviews. Feature them on your website. If you have a happy client, beg that client to post a review.
1. Lacking a Strategic Marketing Plan.
Far too often, when we engage with a law firm, and we ask, “Can we see your current marketing plan,” we get a blank stare. Ultimately, a law firm is not just a professional service, but a company with a product, and like all products, it needs a serious and strategic marketing plan. Having a website and sporadically posting on social media is not a marketing plan. Spending money on sponsored pay-per-click search results is not a marketing plan—and it’s certainly not strategic. A strategic marketing plan looks at competitive positioning against other firms; it looks at all possible marketing channels before allocating time and budget to those channels; it outlines your promotional focus for each year, establishes an editorial calendar, provides continuity as staff changes, and much more. Perhaps most importantly, it sets up KPIs, key performance indicators, and identifies responsible team members for each KPI.
You’ll know you have a genuine strategic marketing plan if you refer to it every single week to keep you on track toward your goals!
Was that list helpful?
I hope you found that list helpful—and my guess is that your firm is making at least three of those mistakes right now! We’re here to help. Please reach out for a no-obligation assessment here or send an email to [email protected].
All the best, Marc
