5 Tips for Branding Your Legal Practice

What sets your law firm apart from the competition? No matter your niche or your geographic area, there are bound to be countless other law firms vying for the same clients as you. As in any industry, developing a competitive edge comes down to branding yourself—creating an identity for your firm and showing clients and customers what you stand for.

Getting a brand off the ground is never easy and it’s never instant—least of all in the field of law, where marketing regulations are more stringent than in most industries. Nevertheless, there are some quick tips you can follow as you begin thinking about how to brand your firm.

1. Branding your firm means thinking about what makes it unique. Was your firm the first national firm of its kind, or the first firm in the area to choose a particular niche? Chances are, the answer is no, but you can still brainstorm some ways in which your firm is unique. Maybe you want to be known as the firm with the best customer service, as the one with the most compassionate approach to family law, as a boutique firm for intellectual property law—you name it. The important thing is to think deeply about the story you want to tell about your firm.
2. Align your brand and your culture. You can’t brand yourself as the Customer Service Firm without also developing a strong Customer Service Culture. However you brand your firm, you need to ensure that your actual services match up—else, the whole enterprise will crumble.
3. Don’t overthink it. Your branding needs to be strategic, but not necessarily complicated. Remember that you need an elevator pitch—a way to describe your branding and your culture in 30 seconds or less. If your branding ideas don’t lend themselves well to this kind of brevity, then they may be too complicated.
4. Tout your accomplishments. Have you branded your firm as the one that gets cases closed the quickest? Then send out some press releases celebrating your quick case turnarounds. Blow your trumpet on social media. Make it clear that your brand identity is more than just words.
5. Get your team involved. Building a brand can’t be done by just one partner. Everyone at the firm needs to understand the goals and to rally behind them. Make sure you communicate your branding vision to the entire staff.

To learn more, consider enrolling in one of our marketing or law classes—and start establishing your firm as the firm of choice for clients in your area!