COVID-19 has made face-to-face networking all but impossible. As a result, attorneys at small firms and solo practitioners — who often rely heavily on referrals, professional networks and industry events to connect with clients — have had to rethink their marketing and business development strategies.
Many small firms have adjusted by increasing their online and social media presence. They also report they’re spending more money on marketing and hiring professionals to revamp their practices.
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
Before the pandemic, attorneys at Hackstaff & Snow networked at some of the busiest spots in Denver. They met clients and referral partners at Rockies games and the rodeo at the National Western Stock Show and held open house events at The Kitchen American Bistro and Denver Beer Co. The small firm’s attorneys also volunteer with various nonprofit organizations, which led to a lot of connections.
“Our marketing was generally a very hands-on, personal, interactive, event-oriented activity,” said Douglas Griess, a partner at the firm, which represents small business clients in litigation, business law, intellectual property, tax law and estate planning.
After the pandemic put an end to in-person meet-ups, the firm had to get creative. “We had to think critically about how we could continue to maintain personal connection and not just email people and send newsletters out,” said Aaron Atkinson, also a partner at the firm.
Virtual happy hours have been important for maintaining those connections during the pandemic. The firm’s attorneys meet with clients one-on-one using videoconferencing software to discuss their needs “from a real comprehensive standpoint,” Atkinson said.
The happy hours have been an opportunity to chat and “make sure everybody’s doing all right,” Griess said, “and just answer any questions that they had about what’s going on in general and see how we could help — without it being a billable activity.”
The online events have allowed clients to talk about legal issues that had been put on the back burner or they hadn’t known to ask about. “Everyone put their phones down, so to speak, and just sat and talked and had a beer,” Atkinson said. “And [we] were able to have that opportunity to relax and think about various issues that might be affecting their business they just haven’t tackled yet.”
Additionally, the firm has launched a COVID resource page with information on Paycheck Protection Program loans, employment law, taxes and other issues affecting small businesses that, Atkinson said, has been “a jumping off point” for conversations with new and existing clients. Hackstaff & Snow’s newsletter, social media accounts, revamped website and submissions to legal industry publications have also helped to get the word out about the firm in the days of social distancing.
The cancellation of in-person events and activities freed up money for other marketing efforts, according to Griess. And the firm has increased its marketing budget overall to get more out of newsletters, social media and online interactions with clients and referral partners, he added. The firm has also hired a marketing expert to help with the new strategy.
“Some of the tried-and-true efforts and things that we knew to do before were no longer an option, and then you kind of have to expand your repertoire,” Atkinson said. “And in order to do that, we needed professional assistance.”
While the attorneys say the firm will resume its face-to-face events once the pandemic is over, they expect to continue a lot of the practices they have adopted due to COVID, such as their newsletters and increased social media presence. They also see a place for Zoom happy hours and one-on-one meetings in the future, since they’re more convenient for many clients.
“It’s actually going to be more of the ‘old way’ being added back in on top of a lot of these activities that have been generated because of the virtual environment,” Griess said.
DIGITAL TOOL KIT
Eric Nesbitt operates a boutique real estate law firm as well as a commercial real estate brokerage firm. He estimates that, before the pandemic, he was spending 65 to 70% of his time on the brokerage side of his business while billing an hour or two of legal work each day. But once COVID-19 struck and there was less demand for office space, he decided to shift his focus and increase his billable hours.
Prior to COVID, Nesbitt had marketed his practice through blog entries on his website and maintained a social media presence. In addition, clients often found him via Google Maps, he said, where his business is listed and has a lot of positive reviews.
After the pandemic arrived, Nesbitt and his assistant had a meeting about how to increase marketing for his legal services. One of his first efforts was to make some videos for Facebook and LinkedIn videos on timely topics, such as COVID and force majeure clauses in leases.
In the spring, Nesbitt hired Denver Legal Marketing to steer his marketing strategy and polish his online presence. “I thought we needed a more refined and professional look and more professional guidance as to what we should be doing,” he said.
He has also started a Google Ads campaign with an emphasis on keywords related to COVID, lease termination and force majeure issues. He said he’ll probably keep the digital ads even when the pandemic is over.
Another practice he plans to stick with for the long term is paying for marketing expertise.
“We will always have a marketing professional helping us in terms of trying to identify other streams of revenue or to make sure our marketing plan is just solid and the best of the best,” he said. “Going forward, I think we’ll always commit money in the budget to doing that.”
Patrick Collins spent a lot of time visiting clinics, talking to doctors and speaking at health care conferences before COVID hit. The solo personal injury attorney, who practiced as a licensed chiropractor before going into law, got a lot of client referrals through health care professionals. Collins, who has offices in Colorado Springs and Denver, often traveled for hours to meet with health care providers along the Front Range.
When stay-at-home orders were issued and many health care providers limited their services, Collins said, it “pretty much wiped out” those person-to-person interactions, which had been the majority of his marketing activity.
People were also getting hurt less because they weren’t leaving their homes — a good thing in general but a business problem for a plaintiff’s attorney who represents clients in car and trucking accidents, premises liability cases and spinal injury cases. He estimates business has been down 20 or 25% during the pandemic.
When COVID started, Collins said, he originally planned to stick with his old marketing methods because “we were hedging our bets that COVID was going to be over.” But as summer rolled around and many restrictions stayed in place, he decided to change his strategy.
Like Nesbitt, Collins hired Denver Legal Marketing to help him step up his social media activity on Facebook, LinkedIn and neighborhood networking app Nextdoor. Collins had a Facebook and LinkedIn presence before the pandemic but, he said, “everything we had was pretty much passive.” “Now they’re actively managing my webpage and doing SEO,” he added.
Much of Collins’ social media outreach targets health care professionals, who he called the “gatekeepers” when it comes to clients. While individual clients sometimes find him, online networking with providers can bring in multiple referrals, he said, adding that referrals are still his main source of new clients.
An ad campaign for YouTube is also in the works. The ads will feature former clients giving testimonials. Collins said he had done some TV commercials in the past, but he expects more bang for his buck with digital ads. “[With] TV commercials, we had dumped tens of thousands of dollars a month, and the return was horrible,” he said. “It seems like this is a lot more cost effective.”
Collins, too, is spending more money on marketing because of the pandemic. “Our marketing budget is a lot higher than it was before,” he said, adding he hopes the bigger spend will counteract the drop in business. “We’re going to put most of our money now to online and social media, and we’re going to increase our budget significantly,” Collins said.
He said he plans to stick with many of his new marketing activities. “I don’t think we’ll do any less online social marketing when the pandemic goes over,” Collins said. “There’s a lot of evidence that online and social media is the wave of the future
—Jessica Folker