5 ways copywriting transforms law firms

Discover 5 ways copywriting can attract and keep the right clients at your law firm.

If there's one thing lawyers know, it's the law. If there's a second thing lawyers know, it's words.

As lawyers, you've spent the better part of your education and career pouring over the nuances of words and their relationship to the law.

But clients don't care. Right?

Beyond a lawyer's ability to direct words to work for them legally, clients aren't really bothered about how lawyers or their firms use words.

Well, according to clients and their feedback data, that's not quite true.

Legal clients care about effective communication

86% of legal clients, according to Clio's Legal Trends report How Law Firms are Failing the Market (and Themselves), rate clear and consistent communication as a top factor in their satisfaction with legal services.

"We’ve uncovered a critical problem," states the report, "many lawyers don’t show up for clients when they first reach out. They don’t pick up the phone or reply to emails. And, even when lawyers do answer, they don’t provide the information that clients need."

And that means business. Literally.

"Given this disappointing trend," the report continues, "firms aren’t just creating poor customer experiences that inevitably create detractors and drive further disengagement— they’re also leaving money on the table. By failing to follow up with prospective clients, firms are missing a massive revenue opportunity and, ultimately, hurting themselves."

Words matter. Especially because these words are meant to sell.

This is where effective copywriting comes in to attract your clients and informative content helps to keep them.

Whether you're a small to medium sized firm, elbowing your way to attract clients' attention, or an established corporate firm that's a beacon of good client relationships, powerful copywriting can catapult you into the next stage of business growth. Here's how:

(1) Builds trust and authority

As a firm, your business is only as good as your reputation and your lawyers. Expertise, reliability and communication are what potential clients are looking for.

An experienced copywriter can magnify these values at all stages of the sales funnel. This could look like:

optimising your website chatbot to seamlessly guide a client through the discovery stage.
creating effective email campaigns for each stage that highlight benefits rather than services.
developing a consistent tone of voice across all copy that signals to clients a space for psychological safety.

(2) Brings you eyeballs

The imagery may be gross, but it's true. The first three stages of the sales funnel (awareness, discovery, evaluation) often involve clients researching firms online. And while Google remains the preferred method, holding the marketshare on searches, SEO experts are drooling as searches on platforms like TikTok and YouTube are finding a foothold. Video is seemingly pushing through the noise.

This means, having a skilled copywriter (especially one trained in SEO principles) can give you the edge. And this may look like:

using relevant keywords, optimising meta-descriptions and micro-copy, and writing compelling headlines to gain competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.
optimising geolocation information on your website to increase rankings.
writing short, impactful scripts for YouTube and LinkedIn adverts.

(3) Converts visitors to clients

And targeted SEO copy makes for greater opportunities to convert visitors to clients, be that on your website or any social media platform.

Your website or paid reach on social media is often the first little morsel of interaction a client has with your firm. Clear, compelling copy that leads clients through a journey encourages action. This may be through:

removing any barriers (like jargon) to taking action, so the potential client is confident in their next steps, like booking an initial consultation.
bringing immediacy, benefits and accessibility to relevant Calls to Action (CTAs).
making sure the 'so what?', 'what's in it for me?' or 'why should I?' (that all prospective clients think) is answered effectively and seamlessly in all communications.
writing testimonials and service descriptions with engaging language to convert visitors.

(4) Hones in on your humanity and relatability

For many areas of law, a client may be looking for you while carrying a rucksack of emotions and questions. Whether it's a case of corporate malfeasance (oof, they may be stoic, but we reckon there's sweat on that upper lip) or probate, there may be some unpacking to do.

Your ability to recognise this with compassion, patience and anticipation (having the hanky ready before the tear drops) is what sets exceptional lawyers and firms apart from the rest. And a trained copywriter uses their skill to emphasise this as part of your professionalism. You may see this with:

a bespoke tone of voice that brings together subtle, relatable imagery with powerful phrases and words.
finding words that make you, your firm and your area of law approachable.
using content writing to highlight success stories and build a brand story that showcase your empathy.

(5) Fosters client communication

This is the big one. You have, on average, only a few seconds to catch someone's attention and even less time to keep it. Be that on a billboard or a website, if you're message isn't clear and concise, your client will move faster than the Roadrunner to the next firm.

And the only way copy is effective is if it grabs someone's attention, keeps it, and leads them to act. This means having:

emails with titles and service offers that are compelling and to the point.
the right message sent to the right person at the right time - a prospective client getting an email about an area of law they don't need bottoms out your authority and their patience.
very simple and clear instructions on how to communicate. Take away the barriers to communication and let the qualified leads roll in.

And while copywriting is all about words that sell, content writing (or words that educate and engage) are the flip side of the coin. Find out the 6 ways content keeps legal clients coming back.