Speaker 1: 0:05

What is a marketing funnel and how do I create a high converting marketing funnel? Welcome to Legal Marketing 101. I'm Toby Rosen. You've likely heard the term marketing funnel tossed around quite a bit, but how well do you really understand what it means For legal professionals and for legal marketers? Having a strong grasp on how a funnel works can be the difference between struggling to find a trickle of clients and having a steady pipeline of cases. A really well-built funnel with no leaks ensures that you're not just generating new leads but guiding your potential clients smoothly through each stage of the process, so that they're going through from the awareness of who you are to actually becoming a loyal paying client. And today we're going to break down some of the basics of marketing funnels so that you can start applying these strategies to your firm. And in this episode we're going to cover the key stages of the funnel, how they impact your marketing, and we're going to talk a little bit about what's coming next. And you want to stick around on the podcast because in an upcoming episode we're going to dive even deeper into advanced funnel tactics, giving you the tools to supercharge your results. But that is going to be a paid episode, so make sure to subscribe.

Speaker 1: 1:19

So what exactly is a marketing funnel and why should you, as a lawyer or as somebody at the top of a firm, care about it? In simple terms, a marketing funnel is the path that potential clients take from the moment they first hear about your firm to the point where they actually decide to hire you, and even beyond that. We can apply a funnel really all the way to becoming a good client. The funnel here, though, we really have four key stages One is awareness, two is consideration, three is decision and four the word we all love is retention. So let's get started At the top. We have the awareness stage. This is where potential clients are first exposed to your firm, whether this is through ads, content, word of mouth, referrals, anywhere. They're getting exposure to your firm, but they're not ready to hire just yet. They're just becoming aware of their options. And the next comes consideration. This is where they start evaluating your firm against other options. They might look at reviews, visit your website, download a free guide you offer, listen to your podcast, watch your YouTube videos, whatever it is and that takes us to the decision stage, which is where the magic is really happening. This is where a potential client decides whether or not to hire you. It's pretty simple right Decision stage, and your goal here is to make that decision as easy as possible by doing things like offering consultations, showcasing your expertise, providing clear calls to action all of that stuff. And if you do that well, at the last stage we've got retention, which is all about keeping our clients engaged and satisfied after they've hired us, whether that's through ongoing communication, offering additional services, just good touch service, whatever it is that's.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Retention and funnels are really crucial for law firms in today's landscape because they allow us to build trust before a potential client even picks up the phone. They also help us streamline our marketing so that we're guiding clients through each stage of the process in a really structured, intentional manner, instead of hoping that people are just going to find us and then hire us on the spot. We're actively nurturing them, we're answering their questions and we're addressing their concerns way before they get to an initial consultation. So let's start back at the top Awareness, right at the top of our funnel. This focus is completely on awareness. This is where potential clients are first learning that we exist, so they could come across our name while researching their issue by seeing an ad or stumbling on some content that we've created, and the goal here isn't to sell our services immediately. I know we talk about CTAs a lot, but in this case, yes, it's good to have them, but we're not exactly trying to sell right away. What we're trying to do is introduce ourselves as a trusted authority in our field and in our market. We are trying to capture attention and spark interest and show potential clients that we understand their problems and we have the solutions they need. At this stage, it's mostly about creating a memorable first impression. So when that client is ready to move forward with whatever their problem is, your firm is at the top of their list.

Speaker 1: 4:31

Whether this is through an informative blog post or a social media ad or a catchy TikTok, the key is to meet potential clients where they are and make that initial connection, because once that potential client is aware of your firm, they have moved into the consideration phase and at this stage, they're weighing their options and deciding whether or not you're the right fit for their legal needs. And this is where nurturing becomes really, really critical. You need to engage these potential clients with targeted content that helps deepen their understanding of how you can help them without being too pushy. It's a little bit of a high wire act. One of the most effective ways to nurture leads is through email campaigns. We've talked about drip campaigns a lot on the show.

Speaker 1: 5:13

If they've already shown interest by signing up for a newsletter, downloading a guide, signing up for a consultation, it's really important to follow up with information that can start answering their questions and showcasing your expertise. This could include sending things like case studies, tips related to the legal issue the person is having, inviting them to a free webinar that's coming up, whatever it is, you just want to keep the conversation going and give them reasons to keep coming back to your website and keep thinking about you. And, like I've said before, downloadable guides, webinars, all that stuff they're really great tools for this phase. They position you as a very valuable resource and they actually offer something tangible in exchange for the contact information you get from the potential client. But, more importantly, they're helping to build trust and providing potential clients with the reassurance they need to take that next step. And providing potential clients with the reassurance they need to take that next step.

Speaker 1: 6:08

In this phase, your entire job is to help clients feel more confident in their decision-making process. The more you can educate them, engage them, the more likely they are to choose your firm. When they're ready to move forward and when they make it to that decision phase, it's time to turn those leads into paying clients. At that stage they're really close to making a decision, but we might need to just give them that final push. And this is where we focus on conversion getting them to take an action, whether that's scheduling the consultation, signing up for your services, you know, putting their number into law, pay whatever it is.

Speaker 1: 6:39

One of the most effective ways to drive action is through clear and compelling CTAs calls to action. We have talked about this before. We've talked about what it is before. Go back and listen to the episode if you don't know. What we need to do now is we need to make it easy for these potential clients to move forward by offering a simple way to schedule a consult or request a case evaluation or take advantage of the special offer you're offering. This is also the best time to bring out your strongest social proof. This is client testimonials, case results or really really good reviews. These personalized follow-ups can also make a huge difference here, if we're able to really split hairs and deliver what we need to that particular client. So, whether this is a quick email after a consult request or a reminder of the special offer, all these personal touches are really significant when it comes to tipping the scale in your favor.

Speaker 1: 7:33

The goal here is to remove any remaining friction and make the decision for this potential client as easy and as reassuring as possible. Every detail here really counts when it comes to sealing this deal and turning those leads into clients. But here's the thing Once that client has hired you, your work isn't done. In fact, the retention phase is just as important as all those earlier stages. We need to keep clients engaged after they've retained, because this strengthens our relationship with them and it can lead to referrals, repeat business, all of that good stuff. So this phase, the retention phase, is mostly about maintaining that trust and continuing to build loyalty.

Speaker 1: 8:15

And one of the most significant factors you notice this in client service is that ongoing communication plays a really key role when it comes to retention. So having those regular touch points like newsletters, updates through a client portal, keeping your clients informed about their case's progress or any legal developments these communications provide a really strong way to continue showcasing your expertise and keeping your firm top of mind, even after this person's case has been resolved. And don't forget, on top of all of this we've talked about it before to gather feedback. So, whether you're sending an NPS survey or just some kind of follow-up survey feedback so, whether you're sending an NPS survey or just some kind of follow-up survey requesting a testimonial, this shows clients that you actually care about their experience and are always looking for ways to improve. Clients who feel valued are way more likely to recommend your firm to others or to return for future legal needs, and clients who see that you're trying to improve are much less likely to leave a negative review.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Retention isn't just about staying in touch, though. It's really about creating these long lasting relationships that benefit you, but they also benefit your clients in the long run. Understanding all these stages I know we've run through a bunch today, but understanding all these stages is really important when it comes to helping guide your potential clients through their journey and maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Look, we've only scratched the surface today and, like I said, we're going to have an upcoming paid episode where we're diving deeper into advanced funnel strategies, things like how to analyze your funnel performance, how to actually build different types of funnels, how to test different approaches, optimizing different stages, all of that stuff. So make sure to subscribe to the paid version of the podcast so you can get access to those episodes. But for today that's it for Legal Marketing 101. Check out RosenAdvertisingcom for more. Thanks,