In this article, though, we're going to step back and look at the big picture. We'll take an overview of different lead generation tactics and strategies, and talk about how services like Legal Locator should fit in.

Defining Your Practice Areas

The first step towards converting more leads is defining your practice areas. This can be a challenge for general practice firms.

It's usually helpful to keep in mind that you are restricting yourself in terms of the law you practice or the cases you take. What you're doing is focusing on a specific type of business you want to generate for your firm.

Think about your best past clients. Which cases were the easiest and most profitable for your firm? These are the types of cases you might want to start focusing your lead generation efforts on.

Refining Your Vision of an Ideal Case

The next strategic step after defining your practice areas is to think about your ideal case. The more you focus your idea, the easier it will be for you to narrow down your filters when it comes to organizing your advertising campaigns and lead generation services.

Specific filters do more than simply target certain audiences. They also tend to reduce the overall cost of your business development processes. Getting higher quality at a lower price — it's definitely worth some self-analysis.

Buying Legal Leads

Paying for legal leads generally comes in two forms. On one hand, you have direct purchases of contact information. On the other, you have marketing and advertising campaigns that generate leads.

When you buy leads, it might seem more expensive than running an ad campaign. The difference is in what you're buying. Advertising platforms sell ad space (or clicks) which, in turn, generates interest that could generate leads. Lead generation services sell leads.

Working Through Your Network

Word-of-mouth and networking are important for lawyers, but how do you get the network you need in the first place? Part of it comes from your law school or personal connections, but the main element that drives your business will be satisfied clients.

Getting people in the door is important. It's even better if you can focus on the types of cases you'll be able to hit out of the park. You will probably depend on refreshing your client base through advertising, buying leads, referral services, and events throughout your law firm's life in order to keep your word-of-mouth machine running.

In-Person Events

In-person events have been less important over recent years, but face-to-face networking can still be beneficial. At the very least, it's worth mentioning here.

Face-to-face conversations with other legal professionals or service providers can be especially useful. It can tell you which techniques are working for others, and what opportunities you might have for partnerships.

Participating in Referral Services

Referral services can also be fruitful. In general, however, do not expect an avalanche of leads — or even a predictable trickle. In any case, it's a good idea to put your name out there, as some of these are relatively low-cost or represent a mutually beneficial relationship:

● State bar associations

● The American Bar Association

● Independent companies

● Other firms (referral partnerships)

Comprehensive Lead Strategy

A comprehensive lead strategy should let you get the best quality leads for your firm. Ideally, you would want to start tracking the source of each potential new client and making a note in your business management software.

Tracking leads helps you identify important patterns. The most important is your conversion rate.

Your conversion rate represents the success you have in turning leads into clients. You can compare that ratio with the overall cost of each method to determine how profitable or potentially profitable each source of leads is.

For example, buying leads from a high-quality generation service typically has a high conversion rate. Even though this method might cost more than other options, the high conversion rate makes it more profitable.

After you identify what is working for your firm, you can change your business development strategy as you need. Keeping track gives you the ability to make decisions based on data that is specifically relevant to your firm and your clients.

Best Options for Larger Firms

As a large, established firm with a good client base, you will probably want to focus on the practice areas you have a reputation for handling. The best ways to generate leads in this context are to buy them, run general practice-area ads, and follow up with past clients.

Buying leads is relatively self-explanatory. As an established firm, you already know how to set your filters — or at least which types of cases you would like to attract. A similar concept applies to your own advertising. You identify your most desirable cases and generate leads by running specifically targeted ads.

Following up with your clients gives you two important things as an established firm. First, it helps maintain the type of relationship that encourages people to recommend you to others. Second, it gives you an idea of how successful you are in handling that specific type of case, from the client's perspective.

Best Options for Growing Firms

For growing firms with relatively limited business development budgets, we would typically recommend a combination of local search advertising, SEO, and pay-per-lead. Local search can literally put you on the map when people look for lawyers. SEO is a long-term, low-cost way to grow your reputation and almost passively generate leads — it will grow with your firm. Buying leads fills in the gaps, making sure you're never just sitting around without any potential clients to contact.

Every firm is different — your lead generation strategy really depends on your unique situation. Feel free to contact Legal Locator today to see if and how our services might fit in with your goals.