Conversational Marketing and Live Chats for Law Firms

What is conversational marketing?

Conversational marketing is about interacting with website visitors and establishing rapport. Traditional advertising was centered around pitching to customers rather than interacting with them. From observing current social trends, it is easy to tell that genuine connection with your audience is becoming increasingly important in the online advertising medium.

When social media first came out, it was about curated feeds on Instagram and Pinterest. Now we are seeing platforms such as “TikTok” where the content is more transparent and slightly less filtered than its predecessors.

What does this mean for lawyers?

You might wonder how these social media trends affect your law firm. These observations indicate a cultural shift toward communicative marketing that’s both transparent and interactive.

When finding a lawyer, people want someone who makes them feel comfortable. It’s a big decision to choose who will handle your case, and a great way to gain trust is through conversational marketing.

For example, Intaker’s AI-powered legal chat allows clients to see your face, hear your voice, and get a feel for your personality from the moment they visit your website.

Chatbots are a leading form of conversational marketing. Since 2017, interactions led by chatbots have grown by 400%. They can also reduce operational costs by up to 30%.

While it will likely not be that high for all law firms, with this boost from intake bots, most firms see an increase in their profits/ bottom line. On top of making you more money, chatbots can also save your team time by automatically responding to new leads, so you don’t have to.

According to a study from Harvard Business Review, the first five minutes after initial contact are crucial in converting a lead to a client. If you wait much longer, your odds of capturing the lead decrease by 400%.

Using conversational marketing to become more client-centric

Conversational marketing goes hand in hand with being a client-centric attorney, which means making clients' needs your main priority. In the context of conversational marketing, it means that you are prepared to answer questions and can anticipate prospective clients' needs.

After years of experience in the industry, you will reach a point where you know exactly what clients want when onboarding. Once you have mastered serving your clients, they will begin marketing for you for free by referring friends and family and providing excellent testimonials.

To learn more about becoming client-centric, check out our blog, 5 SIGNS YOUR LAW FIRM IS CLIENT-CENTRIC.

Additional examples of conversational marketing in action

Business texting as a form of communication

Conversational SMS messaging has become a non-negotiable way of engaging with potential clients. Business texting makes dialogue more natural and allows you to communicate casually. It gives leads and clients more control over the discussion as they can reply in their own time.

It’s also beneficial for you as a lawyer because everyone at your firm shares a number and can respond in real-time. You’ll be able to reply instantly by sending texts, unlike email, which has seen a usage drop of 25% since 2020.

To learn more about business texting for law firms, check out our blog TEXT MESSAGING FOR LAW FIRMS: LAWYERS TEXTING CLIENTS.

Live events

Finally, we have entered a post-covid world, and live events are back in action. If you can attend conferences and workshops, that’s a great way to network in person. Nothing is more effective than establishing a connection in real life, no matter how advanced internet marketing becomes.

Be sure if you are attending these events as a team that your staff is well informed and able to represent your law firm in the best way. By having a team meeting(s) before the event to review proper brand values, you’ll be able to ensure everyone is on the same page allowing them to present the best version of your law firm as possible

Webinars

Webinars are the next best thing to a live event. They allow you to connect virtually with your audience and provide valuable information. If there are frequent questions your law firm receives, hosting a webinar on the subject could be worthwhile. You can screen-record it and recycle the content later on social media for those who couldn’t attend.

When you host a webinar, you are positioning yourself as an authority in that space. You’re able to engage clients and answer questions in real-time. Providing free education to your target audience increases the likelihood that you will be the person they call when it comes time to hire a lawyer.

Social media marketing

As mentioned before, an excellent way to begin posting on YouTube is by sharing past webinars. You can then use shortened clips from the webinar on your Instagram and TikTok pages to capture the attention of new audiences

Social media platforms are a great way to enhance your conversational marketing strategy. For example, on Twitter, you can comment and retweet other people as a way to create engagement. On Instagram,  you can post stories with interactive elements to begin conversations with your audience.

Facebook and LinkedIn are also great for posting professionally and establishing rapport with your potential clients. For social media, starting with a few channels you know you can commit to regularly posting on and grow from there as you have the time.

To enhance your conversational marketing, you can video reply to people on TikTok or film content to cross-post on multiple platforms. While you can still post text and photos, video has become the most popular and personable way to communicate online.

If you’re unsure where to get started on social networks, check out our blog post, COMPLETE GUIDE TO DIGITAL MARKETING FOR LAWYERS.

Lastly…

We hope that this article helped you understand conversational marketing and conceptualize how you could apply this strategy at your law firm. Please reach out to the Intaker team if you have any follow-up questions.