Marketing a Personal Injury Practice

First, check out the following article for several interesting perspectives from industry marketers on their preferred personal injury firm marketing tactics.

In 1998, the summer after my first year of law school, I obtained a job working for a plaintiff's advertising firm that focused primarily on generating leads for birth trauma cases. We focused on two key areas: bulk television advertising that was purchased on behalf of affiliate law firms and Web site search engine optimization.

I had first hand experience with how successful both of these tactics can be when used properly and the type of return that targeted marketing can generate. All marketing comes down to one important acronym - ROI (return on investment). Essentially, what you spend to bring in business vs. the financial value of your efforts. The top law firms track all incoming leads and know exactly which marketing activities generate the highest return on their marketing investment.

I will let you in on a little inside secret... for personal injury firms, online marketing can yield a higher return than TV, yellow pages, PR, etc... The reason why even many experts fail to recognize the true potential of online marketing is because most lawyers do not put their online marketing dollars where it counts.

Inevitably, some high priced marketing company with a big brand name will convince law firms to squander $50,000 on a Web site with fancy video and flash animation, and throw them into a Google key word (pay per click) bidding war and get listed in high priced directories, until ROI is so diminished that the law firm either loses faith in online marketing, or continues because other tactics in the marketing mix are covering up a flawed online marketing strategy.

The way to get dramatic returns on your online marketing is to focus on getting your Web site high in organic search results, while being very strategic with pay per click efforts. It is better to not engage in pay per click, than it is to do it incorrectly. With all the buzz about social media and new marketing trends, ORGANIC SEARCH IS STILL KING of ROI and it is the one place where smart can beat spend. To be effective, you have to understand the basics and you have to be plugged into the right resources. You also have to be patient - and many law firms seeking immediate gratification may miss out on huge opportunities.

If I can only give you one tip about achieving organic search success it is that a large firm working with dozens of competing firms, in the same geographic market, cannot possibly look out for everyone's interests. SEO is a dog eat dog game and you want a firm that will put your interests first and put in the time. This is one particular area, where I have the experience and contacts to help blog readers, but there are some business secrets that are too valuable to make public.

If you want access to the secrets of maximizing online marketing ROI for your personal injury practice, e-mail me at jzissu1-litigation@yahoo.com and we can set up a discussion where I can provide additional detail.