Marketing to the Mobile Consumer
Google threw the online world into a panic in 2015 when it announced that mobile-friendliness would be a major ranking signal. Since then, the need for strong mobile marketing techniques has grown across industries, including the legal business.
Making your website easy to use on a smartphone or tablet isn’t just about providing a good user experience—mobile marketing can also boost your business in a major way. Reaching out to mobile users is as important in legal marketing as it is in any other industry, so if your law firm isn’t already targeting mobile searchers, it’s time to get started.
Making Mobile Marketing a Priority
Mobile was once called the future of the internet, but it’s become the present. More than 90% of American adults own a smartphone, and mobile use adoption continues to grow annually.
According to StatCounter, worldwide mobile internet usage exceeded desktop usage for the first time in 2016. By 2018, 58% of all website visits came from mobile devices. This is a trend that isn’t likely to reverse, so law firms should take a mobile-first approach to their web properties and digital marketing campaigns.
Benefits of Mobile-Optimized Websites
One of a law firm’s biggest marketing tools is its website. Nearly all campaigns are going to lead there, so it’s important that your site be mobile-friendly. Google’s mobile-friendliness tool is a great way to quickly check how easy your site is for mobile users to navigate.
One of Google’s primary goals is to help searchers answer their questions and solve their problems. For that reason, having a responsive website that functions well on any device can benefit your business as much as it benefits potential clients.
Improved user experience
If a visitor comes to your page and the content is difficult to read, they are going to leave without getting any of the benefits your content offers. Sites that aren’t mobile-optimized also tend to be much slower than those that are, and according to Google, 53% of mobile users will abandon a page that takes more than three seconds to load.
Better mobile SEO
Mobile-friendliness is now a page ranking factor, so having a responsive website is going to help your law firm perform better in the SERPs. Simply put, responsive sites will rank higher when a search is performed on a mobile device because of Google’s mobile-first indexing.
Increased average time on site
When your site works the way it’s supposed to on a mobile device, a visitor is going to spend more time reading about your legal services. This increases the chances that they’ll give you a call for an appointment.
Outperform your competitors
While it’s likely that your competitors already have responsive websites, some still don’t. When someone searches for legal services in your area, be sure that you draw the most clients in by having the most optimized web presence.
Mobile Marketing Options for Law Firms
There are plenty of other ways to reach mobile users beyond your company’s website. When mobile marketing is done right, it provides current and potential clients using smartphones and tablets with personalized, location- and time-sensitive information that allows them to get the legal services they need.
There are many strategies you can use to expand your law firm’s mobile marketing reach:
Voice & video ads
When consumers watch videos, use Spotify, or speak to a digital assistant, they are now receiving voice and video ads before their requested content. According to Ad Week, 38% of consumers who have experienced these ads find them less intrusive than TV, online, or print ads and 39% say they’re more engaging.
Mobile-optimized ads
Google has made it as simple as possible for you to reach mobile users with optimized ads. These are pay-per-click (PPC) ads that can appear on smartphones, tablets, and wearables. Different types of ads include:
Legal Mobile Marketing Do’s and Don’ts
Here are a few quick tips to make sure you get the most out of your mobile marketing campaigns:
- DO be clear and concise with the small space you’ve been given.
- DON’T make customers wait for a response to their inquiries.
- DO optimize your campaigns for local search.
- DON’T send unsolicited messages via mobile or any other method.
- DO experiment with different strategies.
Now that mobile users are dominating search, serving this audience should be a priority. With a properly designed legal website and a strategic mobile marketing campaign, you’ll give your firm the best chance to get its message heard by the widest audience.
