Setting up an estate plan is one of the most important things that someone can do to financially set themselves and their families up for success. And while most Americans believe this to be true, many don’t take the necessary steps to actually get an estate plan set up.
In fact, a recent study showed that 56% of Americans believe in the importance of estate planning, yet only 33% of them have actual documentation in place. And of the individuals that have something set up, 75% of them have a will in place – one of the cornerstone pieces of an estate plan – but only a fraction of what could and should be done.
As an estate planning attorney, this can be frustrating. You know you can help people, but how do you reach them? At Civille, we have a good amount of estate planning attorneys among our website and marketing clients. And through the years, we’ve learned a thing or two about the space. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 7 unique marketing ideas for estate planning attorneys.
- Create Free Estate Planning Guidebooks. Giving out free and useful information about the nuances of estate planning in your state may take some work upfront, but can pay dividends with your client pipeline. One specific application of this strategy is compiling a detailed guidebook and saving it into a PDF. An example would be “How to Settle Your Parent’s Estate.” You can then add the PDF to your website and require someone to enter their information to download it. You then have that information to make a light introduction, which has a strong percentage of turning into a client.
- Have a Detailed Step-by-Step on your Website. One of the fears that some individuals have with going through the process of getting an estate plan in place is the unknown. They may not want to start it when they don’t know what it will look like when they come into the office. What is the commitment? How much time will they have to dedicate? Having this all laid out on your website allows the individual to gather the information on their own and come to you when they are ready, while fully understanding the commitment.
- Targeted Organic and Paid Advertising. While reading the last step, you may have thought, “Great, but how do I get people to come to my website?” Well, there are a lot of ways this can be done, including detailed content marketing that is specific to estate planning rules in your state. You can also target likely individuals in your area through Facebook or other advertising with light-hearted, but direct messaging. If you have a customer list, you or a marketing partner can upload it to form lookalike audiences that will uncover more leads similar to those that have already worked with you.
- Video Creation and Optimization. There’s no better way to speak to your audience directly than through video creation. You can create informative estate planning content, talk about your process, or even pitch your law firm. The key is to make the content engaging, which means picking topics that people are searching for and being concise through a script and/or editing. Posting on a YouTube channel and your website, and optimizing the video for search can get you found quicker.
- Collaborate with Financial Planners. One of the strategies that most people don’t utilize in the legal space is partnering with adjacent businesses in your space. For estate planning attorneys, it makes perfect sense to partner with financial planners as part of a comprehensive estate planning and financial management package. Or, a financial planner could simply refer work to you if a client had an estate planning question or wanted to set something up. These professional connections are incredibly valuable in the legal space.
- Educational Workshops/Webinars. If you have the time, putting effort into hosting educational workshops and/or webinars is a solid marketing strategy. Getting individuals that are wanting to learn more about estate planning into your firm for a free workshop, or getting their attention in a webinar can be enough to tip them toward getting the process started with you. Of course, having email marketing and mailers to follow up with them at the right times is essential to grabbing any that aren’t immediately sold.
- Google Business Profile Tips and Tricks. Simply having a Google Business Profile is important, but not enough to generate traffic. You have to be working in it regularly, or partner with a company that will do it for you. One trick of the trade that many aren’t doing is adding keywords in the Services section to help you show up for multiple searches that are one-off keywords from “estate planning attorney.”
As with all marketing, it takes work getting more estate planning customers to your firm and establishing yourself as the go-to in your area. Civille is a partner that can provide custom services and consultation to help you along your journey. If you want to know more, feel free to get in touch with us today.
