No attorney can expect their firm’s online video to get 170 million views like Susan Boyle’s performance on “Britain’s Got Talent,” but there are ways to ensure a law firm’s video complements the overall marketing strategy, says Debra Regan, vice president of the internet marketing agency at LexisNexis. Debra offers several suggestions about the importance of online video in helping to grow a lawyer’s practice:
1. When considering online video compared to TV advertising, think about the web as a “lean-forward” medium. Visitors searching your site can click away any time they wish. The goal is to immediately engage and keep visitors there beyond a minute. Of the U.S. Internet audience, almost 78 percent have viewed online video, watching 235 minutes on average, says comScore Networks, Inc., Video Matrix Service, May 2008.
2. Think in a trio – three key messages delivered in the first 30 seconds of the video. That’s the maximum number viewers will remember.
3. Be energetic and passionate about your services and commitment to client service. Video offers an opportunity for lawyers to be personable and approachable. If you make a mistake, chalk it up to a natural error that could be more appealing to potential clients than if you filmed a too-perfect performance. Natural and relaxed are the way to be.
4. If you have a camcorder at home, practice with it. Become comfortable looking into the camera and be sure your eyes are not darting around the room during filming. If no video cam is available, practice speaking into a mirror.
5. Complete the video with an actionable invitation. Visitors should be invited to reach you by phone or email for further information. The end production should be no longer than two minutes with the first 45 seconds the most critical to engage viewers.
6. Incorporate video on your firm’s web site and distribute to relevant channels. Upload on social media sites and legal directories, like Lawyers.comsm. Video can increase your exposure on the search engines. Google incorporates video in its universal search results, especially videos from youtube.com.
7. When engaging in Pay-Per-Click campaigns, key words drive success. When shooting a video, optimize it with mention of top keywords early and often i.e. “I am a personal injury lawyer in Houston, Texas.” At the same time, add these key words to the video file name and title “Personal Injury Lawyer in Houston Video.”
8. Expect to track and measure pre- and post-publish statistics for your website. Be sure to delineate the web page on which the video is uploaded to measure such statistics as page views, downloads, call tracking with a dedicated number, or other metric.
9. Cross-promote your video on other pages of your web site. Add linking and sharing functionality so people can forward to a friend, bookmark on or post on other sites like Facebook and Twitter. Add your video to youtube.com and other video distribution sites to help generate traffic to your own web site.
10. Measure, measure, measure! The average viewing time for a LexisNexis- produced law-firm video is 41 seconds according to captured data in October 2008. You’ll want to know number of viewers; pass-along rate; what percent of the video was viewed; are leads being generated by video? Other metrics can be added later.
Debra Regan (debra.regan@lexisnexis.com) is vice president of the internet marketing agency at LexisNexis, part of the Lawyers.Com and Martindale-Hubbell networks since 1999. For more than 10 years, LexisNexis has delivered a full suite of online marketing services to lawyers as a trusted brand. The in-house agency is staffed with search marketing, pay-per-click, video and web design experts along with a full team of web developers with key industry certifications. For more information, visit www.lexisnexis.com/lmc.