Community outreach is a potent brand-building effort. Women attorneys and female-owned law firms can establish their brand and reputation within the local community. When you combine authentic passions with your firm's strengths, you can create massive amounts of goodwill for your brand.
The Case for Colorado Community Outreach in Law Firm Marketing
Whether you are sponsoring local fundraisers or sitting in a position on a non-profit board of directors, these professional connections create high visibility to a larger audience while expressing that you and your firm care about the welfare of the local community.
Consumer Behavior
If you are not convinced, consider the numbers. According to Forbes Magazine, 82 percent of U.S. consumers are conscientious of corporate social responsibility when deciding to purchase products or services. When choosing service providers, it is proven that consumers will look for the professionals that invest that business back into the community.
Audience Targeting
Additionally, your law firm will attract more clients who are aligned with your mission, vision, and core values. When you work with clients authentically, it gives your firm more room to connect in meaningful ways. These customer touchpoints build strong client bonds that provide word-of-mouth law firm marketing for the foreseeable future that will instinctively generate leads for you and your firm.
Women Attorneys "Lean In" with Community Outreach
In a male-dominated industry, women attorneys must be an active part of the conversation while finding opportunities that help them stand out. The most direct (and heartfelt) way to achieve this objective is by utilizing community outreach to connect with a broader audience and gain wider recognition for your incredible contributions.
Draw Upon Your Passions
If you already have a passion for a particular cause, then you should begin your outreach efforts there. For instance, if you are a contract attorney, volunteer for a non-profit to draft their contracts.
There are so many opportunities available that will allow you to draw upon your existing skills while building goodwill for your law firm. It is essential to maximize your efforts by playing on your firm's strengths, areas of practice, and long-term goals.
Other ideas could include:
Family law attorneys giving back to domestic shelters
Immigration lawyers volunteering to help immigration cases
Employment lawyers can provide pro bono services to exploited employees
Personal injury lawyers can hold clinics on car seat safety
Your compassion is only as limited as your imagination as to how you can help your community. Women attorneys are in a unique position to advocate for and constitute change. Your community and your firm will be better because of it in so many ways.
Let Them Know You Are Invested
When approaching community outreach, your message should be on point. Everyone wants to believe that and feel like this is a community effort; no one wants to think they are in it alone.
Show them that you are just as invested in your community as they are.
COVID-19 and Community Outreach Works Together
COVID-19 calls for adaptation with networking and community outreach. This strategy can be done by attending virtual conferences, taking on public speaking engagements, or establishing a strong online presence through social media, blogs, and advertising.
Where to Promote Your Community Outreach Efforts
Promotion is an essential component of your community outreach efforts. If the thought of self-promoting your charitable contributions sounds distasteful, think of it this way: consumers want to connect with socially responsible businesses. By promoting your firm's community efforts, you are simply letting them know that you are one of those businesses.
There are several places that you can promote your community outreach efforts:
Press releases
Blog posts
Goodwill ads
Practice pages
About pages
Social media
Videos
Not only do these efforts let your community know that you care, but they also provide several other marketing benefits. For example, if you are posting about community outreach on your website and linking to the local organization (and vice versa), these create powerful search engine optimization (SEO) signals. Backlinks from .org websites can give you the boost that you need.
Final Thoughts and Considerations
There is not a price that you can place on the value and goodwill created by including community outreach into your marketing strategy. Endless possibilities are abound when you take a survey of your local community and determine where true, aligned needs arise.
Think carefully about a cause you are personally passionate about. Connect that cause with your professional goals.
Speak with colleagues, peers, non-profits, and social media to help you establish which causes are sorely underfunded. When it comes to utilizing this marketing strategy, you simply need to follow and share your heart.
Meranda M. Vieyra is the owner of Denver Legal Marketing LLC. She is one of the most visible legal professionals in Colorado law with over 20 years of service in the Denver legal community. Her award-winning marketing firm has earned a strong reputation as the go-to for impactful, cost-effective legal marketing strategies. She has helped her clients secure coverage by well-known publications and has obtained local, national, and international awards on their behalf. Meranda enjoys working with solo practitioners and small law firms helping them attract recognition, promotion, and visibility to their practices. She also advises medium-sized and national law firms on business development and marketing strategy. Meranda is a lecturer and author on issues related to marketing including how lawyers can use LinkedIn effectively, how to develop a personal brand, and the promotion of legal services through community service. In 2018, she was honored to be named to the 40 Under 40 list by the Denver Business Journal and to be given the 10 Under 10 Award by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Alumni Association (top 10 alum of the decade). In 2019, Meranda was named in the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce and in the Top 100 young professionals in Colorado through the Gen XYZ Awards published by ColoradoBiz Magazine.
For more information, go to www.DenverLegalMarketing.com