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Customer experience

Have you ever been lost in the forest?

Have you ever been lost, ever?

These days we have an app and a map for almost every journey we take, from raising a child to building a business.

And yet, the one journey that most law firm owners fail to map, is that of their own clients.

Let’s find out why mapping the customer journey is important, how to do it, and then cover how you can expand and apply it in your law firm.

At first glance, it seems like mapping the customer journey is another marketing mirage.

Mapping the customer journey in your law firm is not an empty gesture, but a legitimate and necessary step to ensuring your marketing’s effectiveness. How can you advance into the future or go anywhere new, if you don’t first establish where you are?

If you define and map the ways marketing brings business to your firm, and then track client experience, then you can measure marketing effectiveness, staff performance, client satisfaction, and find opportunities to reduce costs.

This is especially true today with the still rampant Covid pandemic. It is likely that your map has changed over the course of this past year, considering the forced shift into a more digitized modus operandi thanks to social distancing norms.

How to Map?

The first step to mapping the journey is identifying all the touchpoints and relationships that the law firm has with clients.

Use a timeline of your sales cycle and overlap staff and strategies responsible at each touchpoint.

A typical customer journey should cover these five client touchpoints; Awareness, Acquisition, Consideration, Service , and Loyalty.

Imagine having the answers to these questions;

• Who is seeing your marketing & referring business to your firm? Who is aware of your firm? How can you increase that?
• What makes your clients choose your firm over others? What makes you unique?
• What happens during the consultation that makes clients sign? Is there clarity in your materials, intake structure?
• Are client matters & cases being handled on time? Is there a particular issue that keeps cropping up with a certain paralegal?
• Is there anything your staff can do better?
• What kind of media do clients consume & how can you keep in touch after disbursement?

Well, you can have those answers!

If you turn the above questions around and ask your clients & staff at your firm, you will have the beginnings of not only a customer journey, but also some amazing client experience data that can inform your marketing, guide future strategies, and more.

We have a FREE Client Experience Survey to get you started! -> DOWNLOAD HERE

Going Deeper

When you start documenting the touch points & experiences of your clients, you can see that every interaction matters.

But without editorial control, information overload cancels out the benefits of their being any helpful info to begin with. As a legal marketer working with a law firm, you can’t map out every single moment, but you can look to your staff for guidance.

At Sawaya Law Firm , to answer their top time-wasting questions, they partnered with Consultwebs to create an interactive timeline of their client journey, explaining every step of the way from intake to disbursement, in plain language.

Because I worked in-house at the law firm and personally created this campaign with the partners & Consultwebs , I will say, getting the content for this project took months. Thankfully, you won’t have to spend that much time learning how to do it. I’ll tell you how and in less time…right now!

• Create client survey based on the questions above but adapted for your firm.
• Send out an email to relevant staff at all client touchpoints, and ask them to provide their top ten client FAQs.
• Map out the client timeline against the case life cycle and all relevant touchpoints.

We decided on 14 client touchpoints that we felt could answer the most FAQs, help convert potential clients, pre-qualify leads, speed up consultations, and generate a sense of trust as well as bring down the anxiety of our current clients. Those touchpoints for our auto injury cases were;

Medical Treatment

Consultation

Retention Agreement

Creating a Case

Investigations

Case Manager Call

Meet Head Attorney

End of Treatment

Demand Letter

Negotiations

Disbursement

• Overlay the FAQ questions from staff, filter out the trends of client questions based on the touch point and then get the partners to answer those top questions as they explain each step.
• Edit these answers to the point that a child can understand them. We used an app called Hemingway – http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ which analyzes your content for grammar and grade level. We never went above an 8th grade reading level, and kept everything as short as possible.
• Once it’s ready to become an interactive timeline, get in touch with us here! We can do this! It’s easy!

3 Steps Towards Personalizing your Customer Experience

Plan your work and work on your plan.

Having a strategic marketing plan can position your firm as the leading expert in the legal industry. Additionally, it helps build brand awareness, trust, credibility, improve conversion rates, and it can skyrocket your ROI. Sounds powerful, huh? It is, indeed.

All these benefits (and more) are possible thanks to personalization. With this, your firm should be able to take actionable steps that are in line with the realities of your vision and mission. Before diving in, let’s look at what personalization even is.

Personalization in marketing refers to the process of creating relevant, individualized interaction based on the information your firm learns about its consumers. This concept is creating a buzz in today’s world because clients expect a unique customer experience based on their pains and desires. According to recent customer analysis , the vast majority of consumers (80%) said they are more likely to make a purchase when businesses provide a personalized experience. In addition to this, 91% said they are more likely to do business with companies that remember, recognize, and provide them with relevant recommendations and offers.

To put things into perspective a little more, just think back to the times you went to a business, and they called you by name or remembered your accomplishments or preferences; it feels nice to be recognized! Your audience is no different. Because of this, your firm should plan the work towards a more personalized customer experience. Don’t know where to start? Here are some ideas.

Step 1: Start the process of market segmentation

Most firms start off with a buyer persona. In it, you can include information like demographics and interests. This is a great starting point, but you can take it up another level with segmentation. 

Segmentation is the process of using data to re-organize broad customer personas according to shared characteristics. For example, you can divide audiences in line with their different purchasing habits or their level of interaction with your firm. Let’s look at a real case scenario. 

Let’s say Bob and Linda are both interested in your family law firm. On the one hand, Linda is starting to go through major life changes, including the possibility of filing for a no-fault divorce or legal separation. She is searching the web for questions like, “what are the legal grounds for obtaining a divorce?” Or “What is the cost of divorce, and how long does it take?” 

On the other hand, Bob is already in the process of divorce, but he is looking for more information with regards to property and business division. He is searching the web for questions like, “My ex-partner and I own a business together. Do we need to have an outside expert evaluate who stays with what?” 

Although both Bob and Linda are interested in the services of a family law firm, they have separate wants and needs. Linda is at the initial stages of gaining awareness and gathering information. She is probably comparing and contrasting your firm with other firms. Meanwhile, Bob is aware there’s a problem and needs more specific actionable steps. He is perhaps checking more specialized pages on your website. 

In order to start the creation of a killer personalized strategy that meets the desires of users, like Bob and Linda, it’s better to take a step back to analyze and organize the existing customer data. You can start off by dividing audiences according to the four different types of market segmentation . 

• Demographic segmentation: (Focuses on the who) This is the most straightforward segmentation. It classifies audiences by age, gender, income, level of education, profession, etc.
• Psychographic segmentation: (Focuses on the why) Segmenting different personalities and interests. You can define the audience by hobbies, personality traits, values, beliefs, and lifestyles.
• Geographic segmentation: (Focuses on the where) This includes grouping people according to their locations, i.e., county, cities, regions, etc. 
• Behavioral segmentation: (Focuses on the how) You can gather this data through your website analytics and additional marketing channels. Here you can check for the customers’ spending habits, click behavior, browsing habits, level of loyalty to your firm, and any other ratings/reviews they’ve left.
• Specific metrics you can find on your website’s backend include time spent on your site, pages visited, referral source, exit intent, and the number of sessions. 

Step 2: Craft tailored messages with your content

Besides segmenting, it’s important your content targets all the audiences with a tailored messaging strategy. 

While there are numerous ways you can perfect your content game, we’ll focus on a website and email strategy because these two channels are some of the top ways you’re able to control your own voice to capture and nurture different kinds of leads.

• Converting CTAs: Adding calls to action in the first person enhances the user’s perspective rather than the business’s perspective. Plus, first-person CTAs have a 90% better conversion rate! Make sure to add words like “me, my, I, you.” Make it all about the client. 
• Add content recommendations according to their interests:  Use your existing data to show the content they are most likely interested in. Let’s take another look at the case of Bob and Linda. Since Linda is at the early awareness stage, you can offer more content in regards to what divorce entails, what the process is, etc. On the other hand, Bob can be redirected to, e.g., your blog post content that details the basic principles of property/business division or suggests a consultation with your experts. 
• Personalize emails and landing pages: Think of the landing pages and emails as you rolling out the red carpet for clients to walk in. Once you segment the audiences, you can create different landing pages according to their needs. Additionally, you can create email series and landing pages that are in line with past behavior on your site, geo-location, and any other segmentations. There’s no single approach to this. Just remain flexible and A/B test. The possibilities are endless! 
• Timing your content: Be there “at the right place, at the right time.” Certain days are proven to be better than others when you send out content. According to email marketing data : Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays have a higher open rate. As for the timing, the middle of the day works best. However, feel free to test other days and times. Just like emails and landing pages, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s a matter of A/B testing. 
• Set up trigger emails: Trigger emails have a 152% higher open rate compared to traditional emails. They can be automated by the different actions users take, i.e., welcome emails, re-engagement emails, cross-selling emails, abandoned shopping cart emails, birthday emails, etc.

Step 3: Add relevancy

Nowadays clients have enough options to pick from; what they are looking for is the best – not the cheapest . To be the best and offer the best, it’s necessary to tap into what your prospects are truly after. Relevancy refers to how fitting your services are to the wants and needs of the users.

Besides seeking the best option, clients want to feel seen and heard. Today, they are more inclined to try many brands and services and only stick to a brand if and only if their needs are constantly met. Harvard Business Review points out that businesses shouldn’t focus on a customer archetype (a buyer persona) but rather segment audiences to meet them at the right place, at the right time (louder for the people in the back: and this is relevancy.). 

Due to the immense control and choice clients have over their purchasing journey today, Harvard Business Review suggests businesses meet the different buyers through this new Maslow’s hierarchy of needs : 

• Purpose: clients feel your firm shares and advance their values. 
• Pride: They feel inspired to use your services. 
• Partnership: Make sure they can relate to you and they can work well with your team. 
• Protection: When you make sure consumers feel secure when doing business with you. 
• Personalization: This is considered an addition to the traditional hierarchy. With personalization, clients should feel their experience with your firm is constantly being tailored to meet their needs. 

Build an ongoing relationship

In this day and age, adding personalization into your businesses’ vocabulary will help you stay relevant and reach more customers. In fact, it can propel you to shift towards a more focused mindset. 

Although we have been able to share some top actionable steps today towards personalization, it requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach. If you’d like to learn how your firm can offer personalized content that’ll recharge the client’s user experience and connect more calls and cases, let’s talk.  

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Chapter 2/6

Understanding Your Law Firm’s Ideal Client’s Journey

Law Firm Clients

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Now that you have a clear picture of who you want to serve, you can delve deeper into the journey they will take before, during, and after they work with your firm. Documenting your ideal client’s journey will help you develop your marketing strategy and service model to ensure you are appropriately addressing your client’s needs.

Your Ideal Client’s Journey

While the journey may vary for each client persona, most clients follow a similar path:

Awareness : the client’s journey begins when they first see a legal problem on the horizon.

Evaluation : the client identifies potential solutions.

Conversion : the client selects a solution.

Onboarding : the client begins to work with your firm.

Service : the firm provides legal services.

Loyalty : the raving client brags about the firm’s services and happily provides a positive review, and refers others to the firm.

For each stage of this journey, determine where your clients get their information, what they’re looking for, and how you can deliver. What are the client’s goals at each stage of the process? How can your firm go above and beyond expectations and exceed their goals? 

Document each stage of the client journey so you can visualize each milestone and touchpoint. Identify the goals you want to meet and know what tools and technology you will need to achieve those goals. After you’ve created a client journey, get feedback and test it out on yourself. Identify any pain points or obstacles you encounter so you can fix them or make adjustments along the way.

Sample Law Firm Client Experience Journey From Need to Signing

Client has a potential legal issue and starts researching to learn more about the problem and how to resolve it. Do you have an article that explains your practice area and could give visitors an overview and explanation of their legal issue?

Client decides she may need an attorney and starts researching attorneys in her area. Do you have information to help her understand the process and what to expect?

Client discovers your website and starts reading about you, your firm, and how you could help her with her issue. How do you want them to feel when visitors go to your website? What do you want to convey? Is your website responsive and easy to navigate?

Client reaches out to contact or meet with you. Is your contact information easy to find? Better yet, do you have an online form clients can fill out? Will someone answer or respond to their inquiry quickly if they call your office?

You meet with the client and start working together on her matter.   This is where you can start giving personalized attention to your clients, being proactive with them and where you can begin creating client loyalty to you and your firm. 

Throughout the representation, you connect with your client to see if your services exceed their expectations. You collect a review from your client and remind them to consider you in the future.

The client experience journey generally starts the same for most clients and will vary after signing with you, depending on their matter and needs. After you develop your client experience journey, try taking it yourself. Try to identify any gaps in the client experience and anticipate potential problems. Documenting your client’s journey also helps you focus your law firm’s perspective, making you more client-centered.

Go Deeper: Podcast Episode #338

Reframing Your Client Experience, with Spencer Keys

Download the Full Guide

With this guide, you’ll identify your ideal law firm client, perfect your intake and onboarding, master client communication, wow clients, and capture feedback.

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How Client Journey Mapping Helps Attorneys

One of the best marketing tools you can use to determine what’s going to be effective when communicating with current and potential clients is known as “journey mapping.” Completing a journey map for your clients is a vital first step in building your firm’s marketing and communications plan.

What is journey mapping?

Journey mapping is the process of analyzing all the steps a client takes before and during their relationship with you (and your firm). When you take time to recognize what the client needs at each stage of their journey (from becoming aware of your services to retention for future services), you’ll be better prepared to give them the information they need to become a loyal client.

The power of journey mapping is that it encourages you to stop thinking about what you want your clients to know, and focuses instead on what your clients want to know. It helps you get inside their heads.

You’ll be amazed at the gaps you might uncover in your current communications once you start thinking about it from the client’s perspective.

How does journey mapping work?

Start by setting aside half a day for you and your staff to focus on mapping your clients’ journey. Create an oversized journey map using large white poster paper. Across the top of your poster, put the key stages a client goes through with you.

Here are some basic stages you can tailor to your firm and clients:

• Awareness: The prospect is learning about your law firm and your services. This person may or may not have a legal need to address at this time.
• Consideration: The prospect has a legal need and is determining whether you’re the right attorney to help.
• Purchase/Hiring: The prospect decides to become a client. These are the first days of your client-attorney relationship.
• Engagement: The client is working with you and your staff.
• Retention: The client’s legal matter has ended, yet you still want to maintain a relationship with them (and earn their referrals).

Down the left side of your map, add core questions and considerations a client may have at each stage. Here are a few we like to ask:

• What are clients doing?
• What questions are they asking?
• What emotions are they feeling?
• What is the next step we’d like them to take?
• What content would be helpful to them at this stage?

For every stage of the journey, talk through these questions. As you answer, remember to put yourself in the mind of the client . To avoid groupthink, have everyone write down their own thoughts on sticky notes first. Then share and discuss them as a group, posting on the wall chart.

Take your journey mapping to the next level

Consider incorporating data into your journey mapping discussion. Data from client intake forms, surveys, focus groups, reviews, and website analytics can all be used to support your conclusions about what clients need and want at the various stages.

How to apply your client journey map

Once you’ve gone through and answered the questions for each stage, you’ll want to compile the information. Then analyze it for common themes and gaps in your current marketing and communications efforts. If you have a client or two you know well enough, you may also want to run the journey map by them to get their feedback.

• Look at your answers to “What content would be helpful to them at this stage?” These answers highlight areas of opportunity. Freemiums, blog articles, and client service communications are a good start.
• Look at your answers to “What emotions are they feeling?” and “What questions are they asking?” for insight on how to position the content within each stage of the journey.
• Your answers to “What are they doing?” may provide insight into where you should serve up content. For example, is your client searching Google or asking Facebook friends for answers to their legal questions during the awareness stage? If so, you may want to develop a social media campaign to drive consumers to a legal tips handbook or other assets to help them address their questions while establishing your credibility and value.

Now, step back and look at your journey map. Is there content you’re currently providing at the wrong stage? Move the content to the more appropriate place in the journey to increase your chances for success.

Finally, ask yourself what you could do to make the journey from prospect to client go more smoothly. Pay special attention to client intake and communications once you’ve engaged with the client. In our research, we’ve found that attorneys struggle to meet the growing expectations of consumers during this phase. Be upfront about the frequency and timing of communications, what to expect, and how you can be reached if the client has any questions.

The results of your journey mapping will help your firm focus on sending the right information to the right people at the right time (and in the right format). And all that will add up to happier, more loyal clients and a growing business for you!

Ready to get map your next clients’ journey? Download this free template to get started.

About the Author

Sarah Smerage is senior marketing director for ARAG, a legal insurance provider, directing marketing and communications strategy for ARAG’s attorney relations teams. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ sosmerage . 

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Client Journey Mapping for Law Firm Marketing

BY Brendan Conley

Too many law firms have a random approach to marketing: resources are applied haphazardly toward advertising or website development, and everyone hopes the phone keeps ringing. This method is obviously flawed. In order to improve, you need to know what works and what does not, and that is only possible with a systematic approach.

However, being organized does not only mean that your marketing expenses and results are tracked in a spreadsheet. Rather, some larger organizing principle is required to conceptualize the big picture of your firm’s marketing mission. One such concept is the Client Journey.

The Journey Concept

Thinking in terms of the client journey is a simple way for a law firm’s marketing team to put themselves in the client’s shoes at various phases in the relationship, particularly in the crucial period when a prospective client becomes a client of the firm. This helps the marketing team analyze successes and failures, and develop strategies for each stage in the journey.

There are several ways to describe the client journey, but we will look at five stages: Discovery , Consideration , Decision , Engagement , and Loyalty .

The first three stages represent the period where a potential client makes the decision to hire the firm, while the last two stages represent the satisfied client who returns for future legal needs and recommends the firms to others.

In the Discovery stage, a potential client becomes aware of the firm. This may occur long before the person needs legal services, if the marketing team has succeeded in associating the firm’s brand with expertise in a certain legal field. Other potential clients will not discover the firm until they begin to look for a solution to a specific legal problem. This is where initial impressions are key to determining whether the person will move to the next stage.

First impressions matter, but they are not enough. In the Consideration phase, the client wants to learn more about how to address their issue, including which attorney or firm to call. Increasingly, customers for every type of business expect nearly all of their questions to be answered by a company’s website, before they even think of picking up the phone. This is even more true when researching a legal issue. If more people find answers to their question on your firm’s website, then the better positioned the firm is when the client is ready to make a decision.

If all goes well, the Decision stage completes a crucial part of the journey: a prospective client has found your firm, compared it to the competition, and decided to make the call. If the firm’s attorneys and staff meet the person’s expectations, the firm has a new client. This is cause for celebration, but marketing does not end when the client signs a fee agreement.

During the Engagement phase, a client’s expectations need to continue to be met, and an essential factor in this is making sure that their expectations are realistic. It should go without saying that a firm that makes promises it can not keep will not maintain a positive reputation. The marketing messages that brought the client on board have to be matched by the reality of what the firm’s attorneys deliver. This is the recipe for client satisfaction.

An attorney’s reputation is invaluable, and word-of-mouth is still one of the most effective marketing methods. Happy clients pay future dividends, as they return for repeat business and recommend the firm to others. Success at the Loyalty stage involves not only sending satisfied clients on their way, but actively employing their positive experience as a marketing message.

When building a marketing plan around the client’s journey, it is important to remember that the journey is not always linear, with discrete steps. The diversity of legal issues that arise means that some clients must jump to making a decision quickly, while others have more time to ruminate in the consideration phase. In some cases, the firm has earned such loyalty that a strong recommendation from a friend or family member is all that is needed to bring a new client on board. In other situations, a competing firm has failed in the engagement phase, and the client is considering jumping ship to your firm, with very clear ideas of what they are looking for. Keep in mind that the journey concept is just that: an idea that can serve as an organizing principle, allowing the firm to analyze the ways that prospective clients approach the firm, so that carefully targeted marketing strategies can be crafted.

Mapping the Journey

The five-stage journey set out here is a starting framework that your firm can develop based on your marketing team’s own knowledge and experience. To truly serve the firm’s interests, that framework needs to be filled in with rich data specific to your region, field of law, and the firm’s actual experience with clients. Gathering that data is a critical part of mapping the client journey.

At some stages, the firm is likely already gathering the information needed. For example, the question, “How did you hear about us?” should already be part of your firm’s intake process, providing indispensable data about the discovery phase. If your firm does not already ask satisfied clients to write online reviews, implementing such a process allows the firm to record valuable feedback while putting client loyalty to powerful use influencing people who are just discovering the firm.

Other types of information will not be generated without effort. This is where mapping the client journey can help the firm address gaps in its knowledge about its own clients.

One type of information that is often overlooked is what happened to the prospective clients who never got past the discovery or consideration phases. The problem with the question, “How did you find us?” is that it is only addressed to the people who found you. In mapping the client’s journey, you also want to learn about those who strayed from the map and wandered over to another firm. The fact is, some of this data already exists, and more can be generated with a little effort. Regarding the ones who never discovered your firm, some research can reveal what went wrong. First of all, when a potential client enters your field of law and your city into Google or another search engine, is your firm on the first page of results? If not, it needs to be. Developing your website using principles of search engine optimization will move you up in the organic results, and Google will be happy to sell you ad space as well. However, visibility is just step one. To find out what makes people click, do some A-B testing. The blurb that appeals to you may not be the one that clients click on. Experiment, and let the data speak.

Once people are clicking on to your website, are they staying to consider your firm further? To find out, check your bounce rate. If too many of your website users look at just one page and then move on, that is not a good sign. People look to search engines to find attorney websites with answers to their questions. Does your firm’s website provide useful, detailed information, or vague marketing language? Solid answers to common questions will bring in web traffic from search engines. When it is time to move to a decision, users are much more likely to call the firm that provided them with the answers they were looking for.

Another set of forgotten data can be found at the other end of the client journey. You can probably name your most enthusiastically satisfied clients, and you know they are recommending your firm to others. Likewise, dissatisfied clients stick in one’s mind; hopefully they are few and their issues are addressed appropriately. What about everyone in the middle? It makes sense to only request public online reviews from the happiest clients, but the opinions of the unhappy and indifferent provide data the firm can use to create a smoother client experience. Client satisfaction surveys are the way to gather this information. The results may reveal major potholes in the client’s journey that would not otherwise be fixed. Marketing for Stages of the Journey

The payoff for mapping the client journey is the ability to redesign the navigation system, funneling potential clients to your door, and ensuring that when they leave, they are happy to point others in the right direction. Organizing a marketing strategy around the client journey can help the firm’s team produce content that is appropriate for each stage.

Isolating the discovery phase is a good way to highlight the importance of branding. If the firm has worked to associate its brand with a certain legal field, then people will be more likely to remember it. When individuals are asked, “Do you know a good lawyer in x field?” the association will rise to the surface. An elegant, user-friendly website will ensure that their initial impression is favorable and leads them toward choosing your firm.

Many potential clients will spend a considerable amount of time seeking answers online. Your firm’s website should be a hub of useful information. Keep in mind that your potential clients may find you not by Googling your field of law, but by asking a specific question, perhaps one that no other firm has published a good answer to. Providing detailed information in response to your clients’ frequently asked questions not only garners web traffic, it helps build your brand. The firm with the encyclopedic answers comes across as the one with the most knowledge and experience.

An important thing to keep in mind is that people look at different devices at different stages of the journey. It should go without saying that your firm’s website needs to be mobile-friendly, not least because Google penalizes sites that are not. However, the client’s experience of using the site should also be consistent from desktop to mobile device, because many users switch devices mid-task. While mobile devices have become ubiquitous and popular for web browsing, most consumers also have desktop devices which they use for more detailed research. Your website should be accessible no matter where in the client’s journey you meet them.

Of course, the engagement phase is where marketing takes a back seat to good lawyering. There is no substitute for providing exemplary legal services, but the client experience is more than that. Survey your clients to learn whether they are satisfied in all the small ways that contribute to their positive relationship with the firm. Do they feel that they are treated with courtesy and respect by all members of the staff? Do they feel that they are kept informed about the status of their matter? Are their preferences to communicate by phone or by email honored? Is there an online customer portal where they can check the status of their case or attend to other tasks? If they do not wish to use the online portal, is that preference honored? All of these factors and more can make this part of the client’s journey pleasant or bumpy.

It would be a mistake to think that the marketing task is over when a happy client walks out the door. Appropriate solicitation of online reviews showcases the power of client loyalty, and conducting client surveys provides the data needed to continually improve the client journey. In fact, the last phase of the client’s journey is perhaps the most powerful, because it holds the potential for compounding rewards. Loyal clients return and send their friends, doing the marketers’ job for them. Paying careful attention to each stage of the journey is the way to carry clients to this destination in a sophisticated fashion.

Brendan Conley

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What Is Customer Journey Optimization For Law Firms?

We’ve talked a lot about the ideal customer/client journey on our blog, so we wanted to dedicate this post to explaining the marketing concept and why we write about it so much. When did marketing become so Homeric, right? Just like Odysseus, your target audience experiences an epic journey on the way to becoming your client. 

OK, maybe not just like Odysseus – there will be no giant cannibals or slaughtering of suitors going after their spouses (unless you practice criminal law). However, the journey your clients take will help you develop better marketing plans and create more efficiency with your marketing dollars. This article explains everything you need to know about your customers’ journey from what it is, why it’s important, how to create a map and how to optimize that map. 

What’s a Customer Journey?

A customer/client journey is defined as the complete sum of experiences that customers go through when interacting with your firm and brand. The customer journey documents the entire     experience of being your client   . Here are a few items that might show up in your client journey:

1. Your website 2. Google or social media reviews 3. Your client service team 4. Email marketing campaigns 5. Your paid advertising (Google search ads, display ads or social media ads) 6. Billboard, newspaper, television or radio ads

As you can see from the list, there are multiple touchpoints that make up your clients’ experience/journey. These touchpoints can be broken down into phases: awareness, interest, consideration, action, and loyalty. Understanding the right touchpoints for your ideal clients in the right phases of the marketing funnel is the key to a great marketing plan. 

An experienced marketing firm, like Oamii Digital Marketing Agency , can help you with your customer journey optimization to ensure you’ve got the right tactics in the right places to convert qualified legal clients.

Why Should I Map My Customers’ Journey?

Mapping your customer journey is how you ultimately scale your marketing plans to produce a higher return on investment. Analyzing your client experience helps you understand how your clients traveled through the entire sales and marketing process and how they felt once they became your actual client, which, in turn, helps you analyze your firm and know where to make needed improvements. 

A huge benefit of mapping your client journey is that it helps you to run a more client-centric business, which is increasingly important for service-based firms. A Bain & Company report stated a business can grow revenues between 4 percent and 8 percent above their market when they prioritize better customer service experiences. It can also be argued that the concept of client service is a predominant part of practicing law. Here are a few more benefits of customer journey optimization: 1. Your firm can shift to a more inbound marketing perspective – This means you’ll have qualified leads coming to you more often versus you putting in more legwork trying to seek them out on your own. 2. You can improve your client retention and referral rates – This goes back to customer service; the more they like you, the more they come back and/or refer their friends and family. 3. You begin to better understand who your clients are – When you can better narrow down exactly who your clients are (demographics, psychological traits, where they live online, where they shop, how they speak, etc.) you are able to be more effective and efficient with your marketing, as opposed to targeting anyone and everyone hoping to get some qualified leads out of the effort.

How Do I Know What My Customers’ Journey Is?

To understand what your customer journey is, you need to conduct research and track your clients. There is a process to mapping the experience, and Step 1 is to identify your end goal. Why are you creating a customer journey map? Many of our clients desire more qualified leads, so let’s use this goal as an example. We’ll walk through this with the hypothetical goal of acquiring more leads through your website.

In Step 2, you begin to conduct the actual research by asking your current clients about their experiences. You can do this by implementing surveys or questionnaires. Here are a few great questions to ask your clients:

1. How did you hear about our law firm? (If you ask no other question, make sure you always ask this one.) 2. What initially brought you to our website? 3. What issues brought you to our firm? (This will give you a good insight into your clients’ pain points, which you probably have a good general idea of already.) 4. How long did you spend on our website before you decided to contact us? 5. What other attorney sites did you look at before you made your decision to contact us? 6. Did you read any of our blog posts, and if so, which ones did you find most helpful? 7. On a scale of 1 to 5 how easy was our website to navigate? 8. How helpful was our client service on a scale of 1 to 5? (We suggest allowing comments here, too, because you’ll find out a lot of good qualitative data about your client service) 9. How could we have improved this process for you?

Step 3 is ensuring that you’re noting demographics, psychographic, and legal services throughout your research to outline client personas. You want to do this because if you group too many personas into one client journey, it won’t accurately represent your client experience. This will help you highlight your ideal clients and target them more effectively.

Step 4 is to make a list of all your marketing touchpoints, which might include your website, social media channels, online directories (like your Google Business Listing or legal directories, like FindLaw or Lawyers.com), paid ads and email marketing. To create a comprehensive list, include all of your marketing efforts and do a quick Google search to see where your firm shows up online. From there, narrow your list down to the touchpoints that are most relevant and mentioned by your clients. These tactics will make up your customer journey map.

Step 5 is listing all actions taken by your clients as they interact with your brand. This will include Google searches, email clicks or opens, web pages viewed, etc. This will be a long list that you will narrow down later. Completing this step will let you know if you have too many actions in your customer journey, which could indicate obstacles within it, meaning you’re making it difficult for your customers to find you and likely losing many qualified leads along the way.

Step 6 is highlighting any and all emotions, motivations, obstacles, and pain points your clients experience on the journey. As an example, take a probable personal injury case journey: Ted gets into a car accident and is injured (inciting incident). He cannot work because of it, and he’s on the verge of losing his home. Ted feels desperate and hopeless, so he decides to ask Google what to do. 

He quickly finds an attorney website and clicks on a seemingly helpful blog post. Unfortunately, the blog post takes too long to load, and Ted hits the back button and scrolls down to find another search result. He finds another website and clicks through to a helpful blog post about his exact situation. 

He finds that another blog post on the website has been linked on the page, so he clicks through to it, continuing to educate himself. Building up trust and confidence, he navigates easily to the contact form and fills it out. Ted waits one day and never gets an email or call from the firm, so he goes back to Google and searches for another option, clicking on a Google business listing and calling a competing firm to schedule a consultation. 

This is an example of a simplified customer journey with emotions, motivations, obstacles, and pain points, labeled below:

1. Emotions – Ted feels overwhelmed, desperate and hopeless after his accident as he is unable to work and faces losing his home. 2. Motivations – Ted can’t work to pay his mortgage, which motivates him to find a solution by searching Google. 3. Obstacles – Ted finds his first customer journey obstacle when he clicks on the first site and it fails to load in a timely manner. He finds his second obstacle when he contacts a firm that doesn’t return his email. 4. Pain points – Some pain points Ted’s faces are outcomes of the obstacles, including a slow website and poor, untimely customer service.

Once you’ve analyzed your clients’ journey, you can then take the journey yourself to better understand the experience and where you can make improvements to cut down on pain points and obstacles that your potential clients might encounter. This is called customer journey optimization. 

Can You Help Me Map It?

The best way to analyze, optimize and implement a strategic customer journey to gain more qualified leads is to hire a marketing agency. A marketing agency can help you conduct the research, analyze the results and then optimize your client journey. 

 As a full-service digital marketing agency, Oamii has helped many law firms understand and map client journeys, improving their marketing plans to increase overall marketing efficacy. With our marketing tools and our experienced team, we’ll help you get the most out of your marketing dollars. Give us a call today at 561-228-4111 or   fill out our contact form   to get started mapping your customer journey.

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Home Insights Podcasts Podcast Ep. 5: Mapping the Law Firm Client Journey With Yolanda Cartusciello

Podcast Ep. 5: Mapping the Law Firm Client Journey With Yolanda Cartusciello

What is client journey mapping and why is it important for lawyers and law firm marketers.

Podcast shownotes 

Simply put, a client journey map is a visual of the actual experience a client has in working with any organization. For a law firm, that experience can start even before a prospect becomes a client.

Client journey mapping entered the legal lexicon about two years ago and comes from the phrase “customer journey mapping” used by corporations around the world for many years. It started in retail but quickly moved into professional services.

When mapping out the client’s journey, think individual rather than organization. Law firms tend to think of clients as organizations or companies. It’s important to remember that people are hiring you.

Focus on the person rather than the organization to understand the experience individuals have when working with a law firm. A person with feelings, attitudes, objects, preferences, and a client journey map helps us better understand how, when we interact with this person, from the beginning to the end of the journey.

Don’t be overwhelmed, you don’t have to create a unique map for every single client of the firm. Create personas around individuals with similarities.

Be aware that within one organization or company you may have several clients. And those different clients have different needs. So you need to understand what each client is looking for in order to meet those needs. For instance, in one company you can have an in-house counsel, board director, or procurement officer. They each have different needs when they interact with you at different points during the journey when working on a matter.

Think of journey mapping as a piece of plumbing which can fit into a lot of different situations. It’s a very flexible piece and can be retrofitted in any number of ways.

Client journey mapping can also be applied to your internal team, it can be applied to how you interact with your vendors, or used as a training tool for associates.

How do you get buy in at the firm for client journey mapping?

• Get acquainted with journey mapping. Check out Bernero & Press . 
• Focus on revenue generation. In other words, start with your end game: increased revenue: what happens when you enhance client relationships and lengthen the stay of the client at the firm.
• Show how it gives you an opportunity to listen to the clients and then apply the information gathered in a way that helps everyone in your organization contribute to becoming a more client-focused firm.
• Show how journey mapping can be a differentiation in the request for proposal (RFP) process.
• Demonstrate how it helps you to discover what delights your clients, including in-house counsel.

See: Five Reasons Why Client Journey Mapping Really Matters .

It’s not about a legal competence problem. That is table stakes. In-house counsel hired you because they know you can do the work. Now, it’s about how you work with them – non-legal issues, like project management, emotional intelligence, communication skills, and so on.

There’s a lot more great information on the podcast, including statistics and examples of success to use when trying to make a case for client journey mapping at your firm. 

Are you ready to get started generating new, qualified leads?

Contact us to get started and let us help you energize your digital marketing and business development efforts.

Understanding The Legal Consumer: A Journey Map

What do we actually know about how people choose and, ultimately, hire an attorney? This was the fundamental question we asked ourselves when we set forth to make a journey map of the consumer’s experience.

In this exclusive 8-page guide , learn how you, the attorney or legal marketer, can use this information to grow your practice and make legal easier for your own clients.

A journey map visually tells the story of what a person experiences while using a product or solving a problem, providing context and establishing empathy. Making one required a lot of research—and a lot of questions.

For example, where do they begin their search for legal information, and what kind of information are they looking for? What expectations do they have, and at what point do they actually make a hiring decision? How do they feel throughout the legal process?

We provide products and services that connect consumers and attorneys, and doing this effectively requires a deep understanding of both parties. We used this journey map to improve those offerings and to provide more useful and engaging content to both consumers and attorneys. Ultimately, we used it to help make legal easier for everyone.

Read Mapping the Legal Consumer Journey now.

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Consumer Journey To Find A Law Firm

Table of Contents

Legal issues suddenly crash into life, and when they do, consumers usually start looking for help online and in many cases attempt to  find a law firm .  Although this consumer journey to find a law firm usually starts with a search for information and ends with a hiring decision, the path may be interrupted along the way. So, what is the general pattern of this consumer journey? And how can your law firm be there to give answers to future clients? Knowing the process to find a law firm from start to finish can help your law firm attract more potential clients in 2021 and beyond.

Encounters a Legal Issue 

In the beginning, a consumer is faced with a legal issue. It may be marriage trouble, an arrest or an accident that prompts the individual to look for help. Whatever the issue, questions arise, and the person needs answers. Any consumer facing a legal problem may feel anxious, confused and stressed, even if they have encountered a legal issue before. As you answer their questions, keep your soft skills in mind. Empathy and patience means a lot to someone at this stage of their legal journey to  find a law firm . Consider the following thoughts and feelings that may be circulating in the mind of consumers:

• Why is this happening to me?
• I need someone on my side.
• There are too many options.
• Has this law firm helped people like me before?
• Can I afford this?
• How can I protect myself?
• I don’t have time for this.
• I need a recommendation from someone.
• Lawyers scare me.
• Where do I start?
• I need someone I can trust.

Searches Google For Answers

When consumers need help, Google is there to provide answers, since it absorbs almost 88% of the market share in the U.S. A market-savvy law firm will anticipate consumer questions and answer these in their website and blog content, since some individuals do not even realize what they need until they read a law-related article or blog post. Providing a large amount of quality content that answers typical consumer questions can put you in front of consumers and boost your law firm high up in the search results. 

Looks For a Lawyer

Consumers may start out by researching what type of lawyer they need. They will want to know if a law firm has dealt with similar issues, so it is helpful to provide details on your website and on your blog regarding cases you have handled. Client stories and testimonials can speak louder than any claims of success you make. After researching the proper type of lawyer for their legal issue, consumers may start conducting targeted local searches to find a law firm. Your law firm needs to be easily found by any local consumer, and the competition can be tough. Using common search phrases can give you higher ranking in the search results and get you into the Google 3-pack. Your law firm may also want to consider optimizing your business for Google maps, or invest in a paid search. The more visibility your law firm has on page one of search results, the more likely it is that consumers will find you. 

Compares Options To Find A Law Firm 

When researching to  find a law firm  online, consumers often visit many websites before deciding who to hire. In fact, reports say that online users visit at least five websites while looking for a lawyer. Because of this, it is crucial that YOUR law firm website looks impressive, stands out, and offers a great user experience. To be competitive, your law firm website should contain helpful and relevant content for both desktop and mobile users. Including video content and optimizing for voice search can really set your law firm website apart.

Examines Reviews of Law Firms 

Online reviews influence hiring decisions more than people realize. Around 89% of consumers will not hire a lawyer with less than a review rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Without great reviews on Google or Yelp, your law firm will likely lose a bunch of potential clients. Consumers require social proof from fellow consumers in order to validate the claims you make about yourself on the website. Reviews give evidence that engages consumers who are in the decision-making process. The star rating is important, but users take into account the number of reviews you have as well. The more reviews, the better — if they are positive ones. Google considers reviews uber-important as well, and this is reflected as they rank you in local map packs. Video reviews and testimonials pack an even greater punch in reviews, so try requesting these from your clients. The key thoughts to remember about reviews include:

• Asking every client for a review at the conclusion of a case
• Reminding your clients to write a review if necessary
• Thanking your clients for their reviews
• Responding professionally to every review (even the negative ones)

Contacts Law Firms Directly 

Some consumers contact three or more law firms before hiring a lawyer. Many do not. Many only contact ONE law firm when they try to  find a law firm. Make sure you are the one they call, and then make sure you give them the right answers.  When an individual contacts you with questions, you only get one chance to make a great first impression, so remember the following tips:

• Avoid legal jargon and answer any questions in plain, simple language. 
• Make your intake process as smooth and easy and possible.
• Use friendly, empathetic people to answer the phones.
• Employ an answering service to catch consumer calls after hours.
• Respond quickly to any consumer contact.
• Soft skills matter, and often clinch the decision whether or not to hire an attorney.

Life Happens

When consumers research their hiring decisions, they are often interrupted by normal life. If someone clicks on your website and leaves it, they may fall into the 97% group of website visitors who never return. This is why it makes sense to initiate a retargeting campaign, to reach out again to those visitors looking to  find a law firm . Retargeting campaigns on social media or other websites may effectively bring your brand to mind again. 

Continues Research To Find a Law Firm 

When more questions arise, or the legal issue is becoming an emergency, the research becomes serious again. After taking a break, the consumer may resume the search, repeat the first steps taken and finally hire a lawyer. Your law firm can use its content, remarketing ads, and social media ads to capture the attention of consumers who land in your path.

Hires a Law Firm

When the searching consumer reaches the end of the journey, he or she will either have their questions answered or will hire an attorney. That means one down and billions to go in a legal search market that is growing every year, so keep finding new ways to answer the questions and meet the needs of consumers. Reviewing the steps of a consumer’s journey to hire a lawyer can help your law firm stay sharp and relevant.

How to Get Law Firm Clients

Discover how to get law firm clients by reviewing the following steps.

Set Goals for Your Firm

The first step in learning how to get law firm clients involves setting goals for your firm, which means identifying what you want your firm to achieve and the tasks that can make this happen. For instance, if you want to gain 100 clients in a year to make a profit, this means your firm requires 20 clients each month. To help you determine how to meet this target, it can be beneficial to split this goal into smaller, more manageable tasks.

Identify the Target Market

This step requires you to determine which clients to target in your law firm’s marketing efforts. Generally, it is a good idea to avoid targeting audiences that require significant effort and offer low rewards and, instead, focus mainly on relatively easy marketing efforts that offer good rewards for your law firm. During this step, think carefully about who your potential clients are and what they want.

Select Appropriate Marketing Channels

Next, choose suitable marketing channels to attract the potential clients identified in the previous step. Depending on your audience, you might use a combination of email, social media, pay-per-click advertising, and SEO as part of your law firm’s marketing efforts.

Determine Your Marketing Budget

After choosing suitable marketing channels, consider your marketing budget. Depending on your firm’s size, this may vary from 7% of your revenue to significantly more. Aim for a realistic budget that can cover the costs associated with marketing, including advertising, website development, and hiring dedicated marketing professionals.

Create the Marketing Plan

Once you know your firm’s goals, target audience, marketing channels, and budget, create your law firm’s marketing plan. During this step, consider the following points:

• Your firm’s approach to gaining positive reviews and responding to negative reviews
• Your firm’s website design and content
• Your firm’s social media marketing efforts, including content plans, frequency of posts, and customer interaction
• The metrics you want to use to measure whether your law firm’s marketing efforts are working

Client Journey Mapping for Law Firm Marketing

According to the Interaction Design Foundation , mapping out the client journey can help law firms understand how they can improve the customer experience and exceed client expectations. Here is an overview of client journey mapping for law firm marketing:

• Outline the firm’s goals. For law firms, mapping the customer journey starts by identifying their prospective clients and determining what they want these individuals to experience.
• Carry out research. This involves carrying out client research via statistical data, client interviews, social media mentions, and surveys to identify what prospective clients experience when they interact with your firm.
• Consider customer interactions. As part of your research, consider all interactions with prospective clients, including channels and touchpoints, and how you can add additional interactions to the consumer journey.
• Think about clients’ pain points. This refers to considering what the prospective client does and thinks, identifying their needs, and considering what may potentially irritate them during their experience with your firm.
• Complete the map. Following this, complete the map of the client’s journey, including what they are feeling at each stage.
• Revise and share it. Then, continuously revise the map to improve it, using your firm’s key performance indicators to assist with this. In addition, remember to share it with others in your law firm so everyone understands the client journey, as this enables you to work toward improving the customer experience throughout your firm

How Law Quill Can Help Your Law Firm 

Every consumer’s legal journey is unique, but most follow a general pattern. Understanding the typical consumer’s journey can help your law firm answer questions and direct individuals with empathy. Grasping the process can also help your business target specific marketing strategies that will allow your law firm to be visible in the marketplace, attract traffic and assist more clients find and hire YOU!!

We are here to help and would welcome the opportunity to visit with you for free regarding your website content! Schedule a free visit with us by scheduling a quick phone or zoom call at your convenience on our calendar today . You can also email us at [email protected]

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Customer Experience (CX): The Next Frontier for Law Firms

• May 15, 2020

Fostering strong connections is imperative to maintaining a law firm, as good customer experiences result in longer term relationships, and ultimately new clients from positive word of mouth. Today, we’re seeing the end-to-end customer experience become an even larger priority for firms, as they look to modernize traditional approaches to connect with clients and contacts.

While law offices are designed to impress, many law firms have not carried this same approach through all their digital customer experiences. For example, their websites often don’t match the marble flooring, sweeping office views and high-end art featured in offices. In order to attract and maintain high-value clients, firms must utilize marketing technology to perfect the digital journey for clients and maintain business development.

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However, for firms that rely on one- to two-person marketing teams to lead these efforts, mastering marketing technology can prove a daunting task. By implementing a few techniques, marketing departments of any size can improve their marketing capabilities for firm-wide efficiencies and proven return based on key client relationships.

Enhance Your Digital Presence

In today’s modern age, a law firm’s website is critical to helping buyers of legal services make their decision. According to some data 70% of law firms have generated new cases through their websites. Without a strong digital presence, you could be missing out on a lot of potential clients. In light of this, the same awe factor clients get when they first step into an office needs to carry over digitally as well.

For example, when a client enters the lobby, they are welcomed and taken straight to their meeting. They don’t have to search for the meeting room or consult a map. If they have to wait, they are made comfortable. The website is no different. Sure, it needs to look great and reflect the brand, but more importantly it has to take the visitor straight to where they want to go, to get the information they need, without waiting or running complex searches. Without this, they will leave quickly.

From an external point of view, the firm website is the center of the digital universe, just like the office is in the “real world.” By implementing a single content management system (CMS) that drives all digital engagement, firms can create, manage, and monitor unique digital content with ease, keeping it consistent across all aspects of the website. From a simple form-based landing page to a comprehensive website, using CMS allows marketers to create an equally stunning digital presence without having to know how to write code.

Using a system like this, teams can customize content, attorney bios, practice areas, office locations, articles, seminars, news, and more. It forms the engine to allow you to build your website so that it’s easy to navigate, ensuring that your firm’s important information is readily available, up to date and easy for clients to find. For example, if a state is considering implementing a law that will affect a significant portion of your clients, consider publishing a memo or blog post outlining the changes ahead and post relevant updates for clients.

Consider CRM-Driven Digital Engagement

With more consumer privacy laws coming into effect globally such as GDPR and CCPA, customer relationship management (CRM) platforms are becoming the single source of truth on the profile of a contact for digital engagement as well as on in-person relationship data, previous engagements and general contact information. By using a CRM to drive digital engagement, your marketing team can ensure that you are approaching clients in the way they want, based on the relationships in the firm and how they engage with your digital properties.

When using a CRM, marketers can combine reporting data that already exists in the CRM with digital marketing, thereby creating a more complete view of the contact’s interests and needs. By using these insights, the marketing and business development teams, as well as lawyers, can make client interactions relevant and timely whether they be digital or in person.

Improve Email Management

Email marketing is a highly effective way to communicate with established clients and build new relationships for your firm. In fact, email is consistently found to be the best rated channel for ROI. A recent study found that for every $1 (US dollars) marketers spend on email, they see $43 in return.

By leveraging email marketing, you can create better awareness around your firm’s services, share news on significant client victories, or educate prospective clients about your capabilities by providing information that is designed to be genuinely useful. The key in email marketing is to remember that you need to provide something beneficial and relevant to spark engagement, whether or not the contact is a client.

With an email marketing campaign, you can send personalized, relevant, and timely communications that add value, strengthen engagement and build trust, to create personal relationships with your clients. A solid email marketing platform should allow you to create unique, personalized communications with each one of your clients and prospects in mind, and also track and measure the impact of your content to improve relevance and engagement.

Include Events in your Marketing Strategy

In addition to simple email capabilities, event management is extremely important to a law firm’s marketing strategy . A 2018 joint survey by Bloomberg Law and the Legal Marketing Association found that 45% of attorneys identified firm-hosted events as the most effective tactic for business development and around 27% expressed a desire to see more event planning and execution from their firm’s marketing team.

Given the laborious planning that often goes into executing an event, it’s imperative that teams communicate the event consistently so that the invitation, registration, reminder and follow-up process reflects how the event will benefit the attendee, the firm’s brand and the quality of the event that is being hosted (we are back to the idea of the digital experience being consistent in quality to the in-person experience).

Automate tasks and communications to reduce the amount of time spent on building event campaigns (saving time and money) and then combine the data collected with other data you have (back to the CRM view of the world) so you can keep communicating appropriately to support the growth of the in-person relationships.

Use Marketing Automation

Automation is useful for a variety of different marketing purposes. Whether it’s a workflow that helps support the in-person relationship, firm anniversary greetings that add a personal touch, or automated blog updates that take the legwork out of staying in touch with your clients—email automation makes marketing more personalized and relevant. Because communications aren’t sent until a person meets a certain set of criteria, you can also be sure that clients are automatically receiving content that matters to them, letting them know that you are tracking their needs and priorities.

Think of it like this: It allows you to do all the things you already know how to do manually, just at scale, and with more contacts. It’s just about creating efficiency. Automation can be more efficient and less time-consuming for strapped marketing teams. By using a marketing platform that can create, manage, execute and report on cross-channel campaigns, you can deliver personalized content that current or potential clients care about.

Leverage Industry-Specific Data

In our increasingly digital world, it is important to assess how we think about data and technology’s place in a firm’s broader strategy. Tracking and reporting are crucial to gauge both client satisfaction and the success of a campaign. Marketers should make constant incremental improvements to their outreach and help inform better business development by analyzing and sharing relevant data across the firms.

For example, if a firm’s client in one practice area starts reading content and attending events in a different practice area, it could be a good indication that the client’s needs are changing. This information in the hands of the relationship owner can help broaden the conversation with the client and open up a new business avenue with a new practice area.

These guidelines are small steps that legal marketers can take to begin seeing a difference in efficiency and can help even the smallest teams better connect with clients to ensure a positive digital experience.

Matt Parfitt

Matt Parfitt is the President (U.S.) at Vuture. Prior to joining Vuture in 2011, Matt most recently worked at Concep Inc., EBP Informatique and Gloria Mundi. He attended De Montfort University, earning his BA in business studies.

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• Jul 23, 2021

Customer Journey Stages In Law Firm Content Marketing

Updated: Jul 26, 2022

Mapping The 3 Stages Of How Site Visitors Become Clients

Content marketing leverages high-quality legal content to attract and educate potential clients. We always talk about how effective it is as a law firm marketing strategy, but it's good to know exactly how high-quality content translates to traffic and conversions. That way, you'll know how to adjust your content and Lawyer SEO to facilitate its effectiveness.

What Is The Customer Journey?

When users look up products and services on search engines, they're on a journey. They have a specific need, so they go out and look for it. Once they're in the search results, they find options that might satisfy their need, deliberate on them, and decide whether they'll take any of the available options.

A user's journey begins with a search. When someone goes on a search engine to look something up, they expect to get what they need. That need could either be information on a topic they're interested in or a product that solves their immediate concern.

For Example:

Say a user was recently in a car accident and suspects that the insurance company low-balled their settlement offer.

First, they go searching for informative blogs and articles about personal injury laws in their state. Then, they find out that insurance companies tend to be profit-driven and will try to reduce the pay-out as much as possible.

Along the way, they find out they have another option: file a personal injury claim.

In this scenario, filing a claim is the solution to their current predicament. If your content marketing strategy is effective, you will be able to convince them that it's your law firm—and no one else—can fix said predicament.

But how does the above example happen? It happens in 3 stages.

The 3 Stages Of The Customer Journey

1. awareness.

At this stage, potential clients are simply informed on what you do and what you offer. They aren't thinking of hiring your firm or pursue legal solutions. However, the most important thing here is this: they now know about you.

If people don't know who you are, they don't know your firm was an option to begin with.

The user looking for a yes or no answer about a potential personal injury claim now understands they might have a case. In addition, they now know there are law firms that specialize in their case—and your firm is one of them.

Remember: The content you make has to be high-quality. If users find no value in your blog post, they'll leave and look for similar content elsewhere. If your content can't fulfill their need, someone else will.

This is where Lawyer SEO plays a vital role in content marketing strategies: if your page ranks low and is buried among competitors, searchers may not see it.

2. Consideration

During the consideration stage, you might have to convince them of two things:

Legal assistance can solve their current need.

Your Law Firm can provide that assistance.

Content marketing not only adds to your law firm's online visibility, but can also sway users during the decision-making process. Now that they know pursuing legal action is a solution to their problem, you now have to convince them that your law firm can provide them.

Some people don't even know they need a lawyer. What your legal guides and informative blog posts do is educate them on their legal options.

So when you write or create your legal guides, make sure they're valuable. For example, explain the potential damages clients can claim, answer FAQs, and use easy-to-understand language to get your message across.

Law firms will occasionally include evidence of their effectiveness as legal counsel. For example, you can list cases you've won, essential attributes to look for in a good lawyer, years of experience, and so on.

Remember: You can use Calls To Action (CTAs) to encourage readers to hire your firm.

Some ideas for great CTAs include:

Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer to help you claim damages.

Consult a compassionate Family Law Attorney to assist with your divorce.

Set up an appointment with an experienced Labor Lawyer to reclaim your lost wages.

Don't forget to add links to your contact information or tell them how to set up an appointment with you.

3. Decision

At this point, the customer journey has come to an end. You've informed them about your firm and persuaded them with high-quality legal guides. Now users will decide whether or not to click to your contact information and schedule an appointment.

Remember: You don't have much control over how the user will decide. However, you should make sure that your website can provide the next step when they do decide to hire you.

If the client decides to hire your firm, you must make it easy for them to do so. Your contact information and appointment forms should be easy to find. You don't want clients who have been finally convinced to hire you to leave the site because they simply weren't presented with the option to.

All of your efforts will be for naught if you don't get them to the right landing page. And, because they've already decided they need legal help, they'll just leave in frustration and find a new firm.

Do You Need Help With Content Marketing for Law Firm Websites?

Blogs, guides, and quick legal how-to's are all effective forms of content marketing. However, they have the most potential to be discovered and consumed when they are high-quality and fully optimized.

If you need a little help, LawyerLeadMachine can help you create high-quality and consistent content. Review your Lawyer SEO options here .

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About Hiring a Lawyer in Moscow, Russia

When seeking legal advice in Moscow, Russia, it is important to understand the process of hiring a lawyer. To begin, individuals should research reputable law firms in the area and schedule consultations to discuss their legal needs. It is essential to find a lawyer who specializes in the area of law relevant to the case, as laws in Russia can be complex and specialized knowledge is crucial. Once a lawyer is hired, a contract detailing the scope of work, fees, and expectations should be signed to ensure clear communication and transparency throughout the legal process.

Why You May Need a Lawyer

There are various situations where individuals may require legal help in Moscow, Russia, such as drafting contracts, resolving disputes, navigating real estate transactions, dealing with family law matters, or seeking criminal defense representation. A lawyer can provide guidance, representation, and legal advice to protect the rights and interests of their clients in these complex legal situations.

Local Laws Overview

In Moscow, Russia, lawyers must be well-versed in the legal system, which is based on a civil law system. Key aspects of local laws that are particularly relevant to lawyers in Moscow include the Russian Constitution, the Civil Code, the Criminal Code, and the Code of Civil Procedure. Additionally, understanding business laws, property laws, family laws, and immigration laws is essential for providing effective legal counsel in Moscow.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. how do i find a reputable law firm in moscow, russia.

Start by researching online, asking for recommendations from friends or colleagues, and checking reviews. Schedule consultations with several law firms to discuss your case and determine which one best suits your needs.

2. What should I consider when hiring a lawyer in Moscow, Russia?

Consider the lawyer's experience, specialization, reputation, communication style, and fees. Ensure there is clear communication and a signed contract outlining the scope of work.

3. How much does it cost to hire a lawyer in Moscow, Russia?

Legal fees vary depending on the complexity of the case, the lawyer's experience, and the type of legal services required. Discuss fees upfront and ensure there are no hidden costs.

4. How long does it take to resolve a legal matter with a lawyer in Moscow, Russia?

The timeline for resolving a legal matter varies depending on the complexity of the case, court procedures, and the willingness of all parties to negotiate. Your lawyer can provide an estimate based on the specifics of your case.

5. Can I switch lawyers during my case in Moscow, Russia?

Yes, you have the right to change lawyers at any point during your case. However, it is essential to consider the implications of switching lawyers and ensure a smooth transition to a new legal representation.

6. What are the qualifications of a lawyer in Moscow, Russia?

Lawyers in Russia must have a degree in law, pass the bar exam, and be a member of the Moscow Bar Association. Additionally, specialized knowledge in a specific area of law is often required for certain cases.

7. What languages do lawyers in Moscow, Russia speak?

Many lawyers in Moscow speak English in addition to Russian, which can be beneficial for expatriates or international clients seeking legal assistance.

8. How do I file a complaint against a lawyer in Moscow, Russia?

If you have a complaint against a lawyer, you can contact the Moscow Bar Association to file a formal complaint and seek resolution through their disciplinary process.

9. Can I get a free consultation with a lawyer in Moscow, Russia?

Many law firms in Moscow offer free initial consultations to discuss your case and determine how they can assist you. Take advantage of these consultations to find the right lawyer for your needs.

10. How can a lawyer help me with my legal issue in Moscow, Russia?

A lawyer can provide legal advice, represent you in court, negotiate settlements, draft legal documents, review contracts, and protect your rights and interests throughout the legal process in Moscow, Russia.

Additional Resources

For additional resources in Moscow, Russia, individuals seeking legal advice can refer to the Moscow Bar Association, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, and the Moscow City Court for information, guidance, and support with legal matters.

If you require legal assistance in Moscow, Russia, start by researching reputable law firms, scheduling consultations, and discussing your case with potential lawyers. Sign a contract outlining the scope of work, fees, and expectations to ensure clear communication and transparency throughout the legal process. Your lawyer will guide you through the legal proceedings and advocate for your rights and interests in Moscow, Russia.

DMITRY FILIMONOV, ESQ – EXCELLENCE, AFFORDABILITY, INNOVATION –

My areas of practice:, immigration (green cards):.

• Employment-based Immigration
• EB5 – Immigrant Investor Program
• Family-Based Immigration and Marriage
• Battered Spouse, Children and Parents (VAWA)

Non-Immigrant Visas:

• E-1/E-2 Treaty Trader and Investor Visas
• L-1 Intra-company Transferee
• O-1 Extraordinary Ability or Achievements
• H-1B Specialty Occupations for Professionals
• K-1 Fiance Visas and K-3 Spouse Visas

Citizenship and Naturalization

Dmitry Filimonov is a Russian-speaking immigration attorney. Having started his legal practice in Moscow, Russia in 2000, Dmitry Filimonov had later received his U.S. law degree from Fordham University School of Law located in New York City.

Being an immigrant himself, Dmitry has firsthand experience with immigration processes. He came to the U.S. using the L-1A intra-company transferee visa based on Dmitry’s employment with multinational company in Russia. In despair to find an immigration attorney who could understand the complexity of the company’s multinational business and prepare the complex case for USCIS, Dmitry finally did it by himself passing through all stages of the USCIS review including burdensome request for evidence (RFE).

Attorney Dmitry Filimonov has special interest in business immigration representing clients with L1-A non-immigrant visa an EB-1 immigration visa cases, E visas and select EB-5 petitions.

Mr. Filimonov has an extensive hands-on experience working for the holding companies in Russia including various cross-border multi-jurisdiction transactions. This experience allows him to perfectly navigate complex business immigration cases balancing the Russian and American parts of the case at the same level of quality.

While Mr. Filimonov focuses his law practice exclusively on immigration law with emphasis on business and investment visas, he also may offer representation in employment and family based immigration matters.

For individuals, Dmitry helps families of U.S. citizens and green card holders in immigrating to the U.S. and assists clients in obtaining fiancé(e), student, work, and other visas from the U.S. consulates abroad. He represents green card holders in obtaining citizenship and helps refugees with securing asylum in the U.S.

His background allows Dmitry to handle immigration cases in effective and cost-efficient manner in the best interest of clients.

Dmitry sees attorney’s role in the society as one of the most important ones, and he is committed to helping immigrants with limited resources and coming to the U.S. as refugees. In 2016, Dmitry spent one-week shift volunteering for CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project by providing legal assistance to the women and children detained by the federal government in the South Texas Family Residential Center (STFRC) in Dilley, Texas. As a result of this representation, more than 90 percent of women with children passed their credible-fear interview and were released from detention.