Valuable Tips on How to Use Twitter for Marketing

Twitter Marketing Guide

According to statistics released by eMarketer at the beginning of 2012, about 239 million people (75.6%) in the United States will qualify as active users on the internet.  Learning how to market on Twitter is essential because about two-thirds of those 239 US citizens will use social networking in 2012.

How to Market on Twitter: Important Actions to Take

If you’re wondering how to use Twitter for marketing with the legal industry, you’ll want to take the following actions as much as possible:

·         Keep track of how many people are tweeting about your content

·         Share only the most important content you can offer

·         Respond to every mention and every direct message

·         Try to keep your tweets related to your field of law as much as possible

·         Say thank you as much as possible

·         Unfollow all users that fail to offer tweets or offer an offensive tweet

·         Give credit to the person whose content you’re sharing

How to Market on Twitter: Things to Avoid

Some of the most important information in this Twitter marketing guide is listed within this section.  While learning how to use Twitter for marketing, your firm should avoid the following actions at all costs:

·         Don’t tweet negative comments about anyone, including other firms

·         NEVER use profanity

·         Avoid unrelated content or content that fails to engage the follower

·         Don’t tweet about politics or religion

·         Avoid sexual topics unless your firm specializes in protecting victims

·         Avoid saying anything you would not say within your workplace or in front of your partners

How to Market on Twitter: Tips for Beginners

This section of the Twitter marketing guide discusses tips that are useful to beginners, but the tips are important for a firm throughout any stage. 

1. How to Market on Twitter: Focus on the Followers, not the Money

This is one of the most important tips within this Twitter marketing guide for attorneys.  Your interest needs to focus on helping a follower instead of just trying to make money off of them.  Learning how to use Twitter for marketing will undoubtedly result in more prospective clients, but money shouldn’t be the key factor. 

2. How to Market on Twitter: Establish a Lasting Relationship

This tip is also another important factor in this Twitter marketing guide, as well as a key factor in all of business.  You try and maintain a relationship with past clients don’t you?  The same applies to your “clients” on Twitter.  Followers need to be able to trust you, and they need to know you know your field inside and out before they’re going to ask you for help. 

While learning how to use Twitter for marketing, you’ll want to make sure you have a reasonable amount of both professional followers and followers in the general public.  If the public notices you’re connected with other professionals, they’ll notice your credibility. 

3. How to Market on Twitter: Offer Services at the Right Time

One of the biggest factors on how to use Twitter for marketing involves offering your services not only at the right time, but at the right place.  Don’t hassle potential clients with an abundance of tweets, and don’t overload them with direct messages either.  These actions even border on malpractice within Rules of Professional Conduct. 

Instead, offer incentives such as free consultations to encourage clients to use your service when they’re good and ready.

4. How to Market on Twitter: Only Repeat Information Some of the Time

This is also another important within this Twitter marketing guide.  If you’re trying to advertise your services, one of the biggest mistakes you can do is repeat the same messages over and over.  This action can even get your account suspended if you’re not careful. 

If you do need to repeat material, you’ll need to learn how to use Twitter for marketing at peak hours.  Some of your clients will view more tweets in the morning, some more at lunch, and some more in the evening.  Repeat necessary information carefully and only at the right time. 

How to Market on Twitter: Tips for all Users

This section of the Twitter marketing guide is particularly important to every professional user.  Learning how to use Twitter for marketing in the following ways is proven to increase the reach of your services:

1. How to Market on Twitter: Find out about Local Events

You should find public events your followers are attending and try to attend those events yourself.  Making your presence known off the web is equally important and can even lead to more awareness in your social media. 

2. How to Market on Twitter: Compare your Profile with Other Professionals

The best way to learn how to use Twitter for marketing is comparing your campaign to other legal campaigns.  What techniques and services are they using that you have not embraced?  What techniques are they using outside of this Twitter marketing guide?  How can you offer better services within your marketing?

3. How to Market on Twitter: Keep Updated on News and Changes within your Field

This is one of the most important tips within this Twitter marketing guide.  If you can prove you are fluent on changes in your field and updated on related news, your followers will rely on your tweets in the future.

4. How to Market on Twitter: Monitor your Results and Connect to Other Social Media

Once you know how to use Twitter for marketing, you’ll want to connect Twitter to other forms of social media as well like Facebook and LinkedIn.  Monitor how many followers you’re gaining from social media and outside sources as well.  Monitor how all users are accessing your tweets. 

Conclusion: Twitter Marketing Guide

All of the tips within this Twitter marketing guide can increase the effectiveness of your campaign.  Research other tips and tools to further your knowledge on how to use Twitter for marketing. 

So you think you want to start advertising on Facebook.  Good for you—only about half of firms have any Facebook presence at all.  Before you begin to advertise on Facebook, you probably want to know whether Facebook advertising really works, and why it's better than other forms of direct advertising.  Keep reading this guide to find out.  You'll learn why some firms have better luck advertising on Facebook than others, and how to advertise on Facebook for different types of potential clients.

Is Facebook Advertising a Good Fit For My Firm?

There are some Facebook marketing gurus who think that advertising on Facebook is the best marketing solution for nearly any company.  When it comes to these gurus, remember that Facebook advertising is their specialty—and that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

The truth is that not all law firms will benefit from advertising on Facebook.  If you try to advertise on Facebook as a firm that works primarily on a B2B basis, you may be sorely disappointed in your results.  That's because while advertising on Facebook reaches a huge audience of consumers, it just isn't the venue where most professionals seek out new goods and services.  For these types of firms, LinkedIn may be a much better revenue source than Facebook advertising.

The firms that can advertise on Facebook and do well are usually consumer-focused firms.  Personal injury attorneys of just about any variety can use advertising on Facebook effectively, as can criminal defense attorneys across the United States.

What Should the Goal of My Facebook Advertising Be?

How you decide to advertise on Facebook will influence the kind of advertisements you should buy.  For example, let's say that your primary goal is to gain new clients directly.  If this is the case, you'll probably want to take advantage of the advanced targeting features Facebook offers to identify likely clients, and show them display ads that have direct calls to action for people in the situation that most often brings them to your law offices.

Sometimes, though, you want to advertise on Facebook not for direct client conversions, but to increase brand awareness and develop a referral network.  If this is the case, you may not want to put as many direct ads up.  The direct ads you do have should direct to your Facebook content, rather than offsite.  This kind of social media audience building can be incredibly useful when you want to distribute new content through Facebook and other social media channels.

Facebook Advertising On a Budget

Not all of your advertising on Facebook needs to be flashy sponsored content.  The brand awareness you build when you advertise on Facebook can also be built with basic social media strategies.  You should, at a very minimum, augment any Facebook advertising with additional social media work to encourage more interaction with your social media pages.

For example, instead of just looking at advertising polls, you may want to start using polls that are part of your news feed.  These polls will be seen by your friends and fans, and if they like the poll and answer it, it will show up in their friends' news feeds as well.

Another way to advertise on Facebook for little or no money is to make some videos.  While the initial camera setup may cost you some money, afterward you can make regular video updates that can help your friends and fans know what your firm is up to.  This type of Facebook advertising draws a lot of “likes” and can help increase brand awareness in your local community and beyond.

Targeting Your Facebook Advertising

When you run actual display advertising on Facebook, you'll have to pay money for every click made on your ads.  This means that it's really important to target your Facebook advertising well, so that the clicks are likely to lead to an actual new lawyer-client relationship.  If you advertise on Facebook with poor targeting, you'll be wasting money by paying for impressions and clicks that never really give you any additional value.

For many small firms, the best targeting options available on Facebook are geographic and demographic.  Try advertising to people one zip code at a time—this kind of hyperlocal advertising on Facebook will target only the people who are closest to your office and most able to visit for a consultation.

Demographics are sometimes underutilized by law firms that advertise on Facebook, especially the gender demographic.  There's no reason not to segment your advertising on Facebook for men and for women, especially if you're in an area like family law where gender differences lead to differing legal concerns.

Facebook Advertising for Mobile Users

One of the easiest ways to check up on what your friends, family, and colleagues are doing on Facebook is to use the mobile app.  Mobile web usage is soaring, and advertising on Facebook is one of the best ways to take advantage of app advertising without needing to join any new ad networks.

Recent studies have shown that people now spend more time using their smartphone apps than they do browsing the internet through a traditional mobile browser.  This means that when you advertise on Facebook mobile, you're reaching a crowd that uses traditional search methods less and less.  Because of this, it's often a great idea to do advertising on Facebook if you're already doing some search ads for desktop searches—you'll be reaching crowds that don't always overlap.

The Most Important Facebook Advertising Rule: Change

When you start to advertise on Facebook, it's probably a good idea not to get too comfortable with things the way they are.  Facebook's a new enough website, and its stock has had enough problems, that it's likely we'll continue to see changes to advertising on Facebook for the next several years.

One of the most crucial things you can keep in mind when you advertise on Facebook is that users and advertisers alike have been unable to stop unpopular changes.  You're much better off just learning about new features and advances as they're made, and rolling with the changes instead of clinging to the old way of doing your advertisements.
 

Potential Disadvantages and Dangers of Affiliate Internet Marketing

Weighing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Affiliate Internet Marketing

There are multiple advantages to internet affiliate marketing such as increased levels of revenue, a continuing and satisfied reader base, and the ability to increase the popularity of your website within search engines.  However, there are many potential dangers with internet affiliate marketing in the legal field, including the following and more:

·         vulnerability of brand

·         stacking and overload of advertisements

·         lack of contracts and permanency

·         fraud

·         harmful software

·         lack of control over ads

Potential Disadvantages of Internet Affiliate Marketing

1. Vulnerability of Brand in Internet Affiliate Marketing

The biggest potential disadvantage associated with internet affiliate marketing and a firm is the public recognizing your brand as unprofessional.  This is the reason you don’t see a large amount of advertisements on legal blogs and websites for attorneys.  If a firm is not careful with the types of advertisements they’re posting, the public may assume that the firm is mainly concerned with filtering in clients and readers for profit instead of educational purposes. 

There are steps to protect your brand while engaging in affiliate internet marketing though.  For example, if you’re an affiliate for Amazon, you should only advertise products that can supplement your services such as legal books and pamphlets for the areas of law you cover. 

2. Stacking of Advertisements in Internet Affiliate Marketing

The trick to internet affiliate marketing is using the least amount of advertisements as possible in order to generate the most revenue possible.  The key to such success includes choosing respectable merchants that offer reasonable amounts of commission for the legal publisher.  This can be hard though, especially for newer websites or blogs. 

An inexperienced legal publisher may try to overload their sidebars with a large amount of affiliate internet marketing advertisements in order to try and get their readers to click on at least one of the advertisements.  Not only can this technique in internet affiliate marketing damage the reputation of your brand, it can cause readers to visit your website once, notice the large amount of advertisements, and leave the website and never come back. 

3. Lack of Contracts and Permanency in Internet Affiliate Marketing

Just as a legal publisher can choose what affiliate internet marketing to post on their website, a merchant can decide what advertising to offer to whom.  In some cases, a merchant can choose to offer a website certain types of affiliate internet marketing, but some networks are allowed  to post such advertisements whenever they want and even take the advertisements off the website whenever they choose.  This is a major concern to many legal website and blog publishers. 

For example, let’s say a legal website just landed a great advertisement and they’ve been writing reviews about certain products and received success.  Then, the merchant and the network decide that they want to shift their internet affiliate marketing strategy somewhere else.  The website is left without future revenue and they have material that is now irrelevant. 

4. Fraud in Affiliate Internet Marketing in Internet Affiliate Marketing

There are two main types of fraud associated with internet affiliate marketing: CPC fraud and CPA fraud.  Cost per Click fraud can occur when competitors intentionally click on advertisements in abundance so the legal publisher is left to cover the cost without little return in revenue.  There is a large amount of protective software out there now to protect against CPC fraud, but some scammers can still slip through the system. 

CPA fraud, or cost per action fraud, is more of a concern for merchants than publishers, but the fraud has brought serious concerns within affiliate internet marketing.  This type of fraud may allow a publisher to earn large amounts of unearned commissions by a process called “cookie stuffing.”  This allows the publisher to gain revenue even though there was no real referral to a merchant’s website.  Such practices in internet affiliate marketing can land a firm in a huge amount of trouble. 

5. Harmful and Disadvantageous Software in Internet Affiliate Marketing

Although harmful software like spyware has been targeted and seriously reduced in the last couple of years, there is still a large amount of harmful software in affiliate internet marketing than can take away business from a firm.  For example, there is some software that will monitor other websites, see what techniques they’re using to bring in readers, and then target those very same readers in order to take away business. 

There is also software that can allow a person to receive promotional offers from a publisher without actually clicking on an advertisement.  The software places cookies within a client’s browser and then tracks the person’s navigation to a site offering good deals.  This type of software is still a serious problem in internet affiliate marketing. 

6. Lack of Control over Ads in Internet Affiliate Marketing

This potential disadvantage within affiliate internet marketing can be avoided by using a respected and highly rated network.  Networks that are less known and less respected can actually place ads within your sidebars and other areas of your website that may have nothing to do with your content.  This action within internet affiliate marketing goes back to the first and second points, which may cause damage to the image of your brand.

In order to find ratings and reviews for the best networks for affiliate internet marketing, refer to the recommended articles on this website. 

Conclusion: Internet Affiliate Marketing

You shouldn’t be scared off from internet affiliate marketing because of the potential hazards associated with the type of advertising.  Instead, let the potential disadvantages serves as a guide to let you set up the best affiliate internet marketing.  The disadvantages are avoidable if your take the right initiatives.  If you’ve taken the wrong initiatives, it’s never too late to revise your affiliate internet marketing campaign. 

A recent study showed that behavioral targeting outperforms contextual ad targeting by 22 percent.  If your law firm has been looking for a new strategy to target only the people most likely to become conversions, behavioral ad targeting may be just what you need.  Keep reading to find out more about the data behind the transition to behavioral systems, and why behavioral ad targeting isn't just a fad.

Demographics vs. Behavioral Data: Which Works Best?

Today, many attorneys have been able to capitalize on two types of advertising.  The first, contextual ads, involve a user seeing ads that are based on the context of the website they're using.  Contextual ads have been used by many law firms for targeting clients who are likely to need legal assistance.

Lawyers have also relied on demographic data to decide who to show their message to.  Some services, like the direct ad services from both LinkedIn and Facebook, make advertising based on a desired client's demographic criteria easy and fast.

However, when compared to both of these methods for targeting clients, behavioral ad targeting outperforms them handily.  Studies have shown that behavioral advertising can actually be up to twice as effective as advertising based on demographics or context alone.  What's more, studies have shown that very few websites are actually taking advantage of behavioral targeting so far.  This means that you have an opportunity to use behavioral ad targeting before much of your competition.

Using Behavioral Ad Targeting for Segmentation

Today, great advertising campaigns rely on extensive segmentation.  You can't just use the same advertisement for everybody, because their idea of an appealing ad will be different.  What behavioral ad targeting allows you to do is segment how your ads act depending on how someone has behaved in the past.

Ideally, once a website uses sufficient behavioral targeting, two different potential clients will see very different things when they land on the home page.  For instance, someone who has been recently reviewing a lot of websites pertaining to divorce may be shown a deep link to part of your webpage where divorces are discussed thoroughly.

Now, not every website will be able to create totally different user experiences using behavioral ad targeting.  However, you should be thinking about ways in which you can differentiate experience with behavioral targeting to make your potential clients more likely to call.  Depending on a client's behavior, your “call to action” on a landing page may differ.  

You can be as creative as you want to with behavioral targeting: odds are, someone makes the software to help you make your targeting dreams a reality.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost: Behavioral Targeting and Remarketing

When someone looks at your website, more often than not they'll leave it rather than making a call right away.  One of the best ways to turn those hits into clients is to “remarket,” that is, to show them another ad for your law firm after they've already closed your website.

Remarketing is a form of behavioral ad targeting that Google now makes easy.  Using Google's tools, you can now ensure that potential clients see an ad for your firm whenever they search after visiting your website—even if their searches aren't necessarily related to their legal issue.

Science has proven why this method works: the short and long term memory.  Long term memory is best stimulated by repetition, so behavioral ad targeting relies on putting your images and information in front of people more than once.

Avoiding Privacy Invasion Issues

While studies show that behavioral targeting is effective, other studies indicate that Americans are wary about it.  Consumers tend to believe they aren't affected by behavioral targeting, with only 15 percent saying that they would be most likely to purchase a product or service because of behavioral ad targeting.

Because behavioral targeting typically relies upon “cookies” that track a person's internet behavior, there are some ethics concerns.  You should always make sure that people are informed about any cookies being used on your website.

You should also use only the most reputable behavioral targeting services.  If behavioral data leaks through any kind of invasion of privacy, you don't want your client base to be compromised.  The amount of behavioral data that is collected by behavioral targeting services could be a hacker's wildest dream.

It's also very important to avoid scaring off your clients with behavioral ad targeting on your website.  Differentiating user experiences is great, but if your website visitors feel like the amount of information you know is “creepy” or “spooky,” they're likely to leave and never come back, fearing a major invasion of privacy.

Could Behavioral Ad Targeting Land You In Hot Water?

Another cautionary tale comes in the form of a complaint against an attorney who used what he thought were clever behavioral targeting techniques.  He actually tried to capitalize on people who were searching for the services of his biggest competitor, underselling a larger law firm and meeting with some success.

The complaint alleges that this was unethical behavior that should be prohibited by the state bar association.  Because behavioral targeting is relatively new, this is a very rapidly developing field from a legal perspective and you should always check with your state or local bar before beginning a new behavioral ad campaign.

Final Thoughts: The Future of Behavioral Ad Targeting

As behavioral targeting matures, it's likely that the amount of data marketers will obtain will be even greater.  The range of behaviors that you will be able to target in the future will likely be much wider than it is today.

However, as an attorney, you'll have to decide what kind of targeting to use based not only on your bar association's recommendations.  Your own personal sense of ethics and fair play, as well as that of your clients, will be of paramount importance when you're trying to decide how far to go with tracking behavior.  If you're committed to finding a great behavioral targeting solution, you'll be able to find something that works without feeling like an invasion.

Some of the Best Free Affiliate Marketing Tools on the Web

Why do I need to Use Affiliate Marketing Tools?

If you chose to go through an affiliate marketing network, they may provide certain tools along with their service.  However, many networks provide limited affiliate marketing tools, and it’s a good idea to access free tools if you’re already spending money on the network.  Some of the best free affiliate marketing tools are listed throughout this article.

A Free Affiliate Marketing Tool for your Campaign

If you’ve chosen to pursue your affiliate campaign, an affiliate marketing tool listed within this section or several tools at a time can help you make your campaign as successful as possible:

Google AdWords Affiliate Marketing Tool

This service provided by Google is one of the most widely accessed tools by attorneys in the internet today.  The affiliate marketing tools within this program can give you an estimate for a keyword’s search volume for the last month, and it can provide other terms that may be a better choice for your campaign.  You can search for search trends, local search volume, and most importantly, keywords in connection to advertiser competition. 

Google Alerts Affiliate Marketing Tool

This is one of the best affiliate marketing tools you can use for your campaign.  You can establish alerts by day, week or month and see what people are saying about the legal products on other websites.  The same applies to your marketing campaign.  If you have a website or blog that is used for affiliated marketing, you can see what readers are saying about your website. 

Firefox SEO Affiliate Marketing Tool

If you use a Firefox browser, this a great free tool for your affiliate marketing campaign.  The toolbar is plug-in and only takes a couple of minutes to download.  With this tool, you can analyze your own legal website’s figure and you can also analyze the statistics on competitive websites.  You can track things such as backlinks, projections, and much more.  This is one of the most popular affiliate marketing tools offered for free. 

Tynt Affiliate Marketing Tool

This is one of the most helpful affiliate marketing tools if you have a large amount of original content on your legal website or blog—especially if you’re writing product reviews and similar articles.  This affiliate marketing tool allows you to see if your content or original pictures were copied.  If so, the tool can provide links to redirect readers back to your legal website. 

This affiliate marketing tool also provides other services such as reports on where your readers are coming from, content reports, and even help with your SEO. 

Tracking202.com

This is one of the best free tools for an attorney in affiliate marketing that relies heavily on pay per click advertising.  The affiliate marketing tools offered by this website allow you to note conversions, but you can track campaigns across several different networks at a time.  You can also use the website to track your return on investment (ROI), and you can find more services as well. 

Traffic Travis Affiliate Marketing Tool

This free tool is highly regarded according to multiple user reviews and provides results comparable to some of the costliest software for SEO.  The tool can give you close estimates for keywords across several different search engines like Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and more.  You can also plug in a keyword and see how similar keywords will perform. 

Pingler.com Affiliate Marketing Tool

These tools along with pingomatic.com are some of the best for getting your content indexed and getting it indexed quickly.  For example, if you’ve just launched a new legal website or even a new post on a legal blog, these affiliate marketing tools allow you to alert other blogs and search engines that you’re content has been updated.  These tools will increase how fast readers travel to your website, and the more you update the page, the more you should use these affiliate marketing tools. 

Dropbox Affiliate Marketing Tool

This is a great tool if you you’re constantly traveling and want a secure place to save the things you’re working on during travel.  The service provides several options to the legal affiliate marketer, and the tool even allows you to share your Dropbox with other people if you choose to do so, such as other partners in your firm.  Some versions of this affiliate marketing tool require a fee, but there is a free version as well. 

GoGodes Affiliate Marketing Tool

This is one of the greatest affiliate marketing tools/plug-ins for adjusting your domain names.  If you have a large domain name, you can use this plug-in to reduce the length of your link in order to perform more efficiently on a search engine and look more professional overall. 

Affilorama Affiliate Marketing Tool

This website also provides a large amount of free affiliate marketing tools.  You have access to tools for research and other tools such as a domain locator, an earning calculator, a URL redirect tool, and more.  This service also provides free educational material on affiliate marketing and other advanced affiliate marketing tools for a fee. 

Conclusion: Affiliate Marketing Tools

If you’ve started an affiliate marketing campaign, sometimes the best choice is to start with free affiliate marketing tools and progress to tools that charge a fee once you become accustomed to the practice of affiliate marketing for legal products and services.  You’ll want to start off slow and adjust your content along the way, and the free tools listed within this article will help. 

If you’re going through an affiliate marketing network, they will usually provide you with a large number of affiliate marketing tools—especially if they charge a fee for the service.  If you’re not using a network, you’ll have to decide  the level of your demands.  What kind of things do you need to track, and what are you planning to do with the results?

All the best technology forecasters agree: the future of the web is mobile.  Mobile advertising and marketing are changing the way businesses all over the world sell their products and services.  What's more, when people use their mobile devices, they're using the web differently: no longer confined to web browsers, most mobile users now spend more time using internet-connected apps than their mobile browser.  The time is right to change your mobile marketing and advertising strategy.  If you want to learn how, keep reading this guide.

Why Now is the Time to Learn About Apps

Even two years ago, it would have been pretty strange advice to tell a law firm that learning about apps needed to be part of its mobile advertising and marketing strategy.  In that time, however, smartphones have come to dominate the cellular phone market in the United States.  The two main operating systems for these revolutionary mobile devices, iOS and Android, are largely app based and give developers the opportunity to create purpose-built applications for nearly any business.

As apps have become more popular than traditional browsing, it can be a great time to learn how to use a mobile marketing and advertising strategy in other people's apps.  Ad networks allow you to put your mobile advertising and marketing campaigns into display banner ads that will be shown when people are using their apps.

If you're more ambitious, you might want to try a bigger mobile marketing and advertising project: building an app yourself!  The kind of app that will be most effective for your mobile advertising and marketing purposes will be based firmly in your law firm's niche.  Try to figure out how an app could make your typical client's life easier, and then use one of the easy app building programs available online to create it.

How Mobile Advertising and Marketing Networks Work

Not all apps use the same mobile marketing and advertising networks.  If you want to get in front of the best viewers for your ads, you need to ask some questions about any mobile marketing and advertising network you're planning to use.  

You should find out what their demographics look like, and what apps their ads are displayed on.  A mobile advertising and marketing network that primarily advertises on games played by teenagers probably isn't what you're looking for when it comes to your mobile strategy.  Instead, try to focus on the mobile marketing and advertising companies who are putting banner ads on applications used by adults in the age range your law firm caters to.

The New Trends In Mobile Marketing and Advertising: Social/Local

In addition to looking at mobile advertising and marketing in apps, you should consider advertising in the mobile Facebook app by posting “sponsored stories.”  You can target these stories based on demographics, geolocational boundaries, or even by people who already know the people who are your fans and friends.  Because sponsored stories appear directly in people's news feeds, they are already more than ten times more likely to be clicked on than a traditional sidebar Facebook advertisement on the desktop site.

Facebook is just one of several companies that is now offering better opportunities than ever for marketing to people who are very near to your location.  Local ads are very appealing from a mobile advertising and marketing perspective, because it puts ads right in front of the very people who are most likely to be able to act on them immediately.  As mobile marketing and advertising becomes integrated with smartphone GPS, it has finally become possible to target people specifically when they're close to your office right now.

QR Codes

Quick response (or QR) codes are everywhere today.  You've probably noticed them yourself: the little square boxes of black and white static that you can photograph with a smartphone to go to a website.  Using QR codes in your print advertisements can be an easy way to link your mobile website with your print advertising presence.

You might also consider having a QR code as part of a mobile marketing and advertising promotion.  For example, if your mobile advertising and marketing strategies include advertising a free consultation, the QR code could take potential clients to a website with a contact form to claim this consultation.

Mobile Marketing and Advertising Mistakes to Avoid

Because mobile advertising and marketing is still a young field, a lot of people are still making amateur mistakes—don't be one of them.  Make sure that your mobile marketing and advertising consistently directs to a website that has content that is completely readable for mobile viewers.  

Don't forget to leave your phone number off your mobile website, and make sure that the number appears in text form (which becomes clickable for smartphone users).  If your number is a graphic, smartphone users won't be able to click on it and will have a much more difficult time contacting your office for a consultation.

Finding Mobile Marketing and Advertising Tips

It's likely that this won't be the last article you read on mobile advertising and marketing.  You can find a wide range of other mobile marketing and advertising on lawfirms.laws.com or by doing some Google searches.  It's important to find information on mobile advertising and marketing that is relatively recent—because the mobile market is in a state of perpetual change, what works in 2012 might not be what works in 2015.

When you're looking for mobile advertising and marketing tips, take into account the source where the tips are coming from.  Some articles about mobile marketing and advertising are trying to get you to buy a specific piece of software or use a method you can read about in a certain book (which, of course, costs money to buy).  Those kinds of mobile advertising and marketing articles should always make you suspicious.  Only take advice on your mobile marketing and advertising campaigns from sources that don't have a financial stake in your strategy.

Statistics from 2012 show that nearly there are nearly twice as many attorneys graduating from law school as there are new positions.  That's a competitive legal market, and responding to it requires learning what is niche marketing. Whether you're just looking for a niche marketing definition or you really want to know how to use niche marketing for your law firm, keep reading this guide to find out more.  

What is Niche Marketing: a Niche Marketing Definition

When you're first beginning to learn about niche marketing, it's good to start with a basic niche marketing definition.  So, what is niche marketing?  In brief, niche marketing just describes a business that is narrowing down its focus in order to stand out more from a marketing perspective.

Niche marketing has become a huge factor for businesses in the age of web marketing.  While many businesses never really thought about what is niche marketing before, today the niche marketing definition is of great interest to tens of thousands of marketing professionals.

Narrow, Double Narrow, and Triple Narrow Niche Marketing Definition

For law firms, “what is niche marketing” is a question you need to be asking now.  The niche marketing definition has become of critical importance to attorneys in a pressed job market, and in order to have a sufficiently narrow niche marketing effort, you'll probably need to do some brainstorming.

Let's say that you've started as a criminal defense firm.  What is niche marketing going to look like for you?  Well, criminal defense is already a “single narrow” niche.  That means that it's narrower than a “general practice,” in which just attorneys will serve clients with just about any legal need at all.

The double narrow niche marketing definition is when a niche market has been made, well…”niche-ier.”  For example, let's say you took the same criminal defense practice and decided to make it double narrow.  According to this niche marketing definition, a double narrow practice would be a criminal defense practice that only took DUI cases.

Some attorneys, especially those in small to mid sized cities or rural areas, can stop there.  But if you're in a big city, what is niche marketing but a way to set yourself apart from the competition?  You may already have competitors in your double narrow field, so try narrowing your niche marketing definition even further.  Now you can be a DUI defense law firm that specializes in handling cases for Spanish speaking clients.

What is Niche Marketing Doing for Law Firms?

Understanding the niche marketing definition and how to apply it to your own firm can be a lifesaver in today's economic climate.  Niche marketing is especially important if you're planning to start a new firm or have recently begun a new firm and don't yet have a great deal of name recognition or an existing client base.

By understanding what is niche marketing, you get a head start on your competition whenever you advertise on the web.  The majority of the research people do for attorneys today is through search engines.  By applying the niche marketing definition, your website will become narrower and more likely to attract clients who are searching the web the way real clients search—with long keywords including a location and a specialty practice area.

Making Niche Marketing Work For You

Some attorneys are concerned when they hear the niche marketing definition, because they are worried about putting all their proverbial eggs in one basket.  While it's true that overspecialization can cause a niche marketing effort to backfire, nothing about the niche marketing definition says that you're required to have just one niche.

Try having several niches, which may or may not have significant overlap.  This way, even if one of the niche marketing areas you chose isn't a sustainable practice area, your firm can still thrive as long as the other niches are going strong.

You may want to avoid niche marketing if your advertising and marketing strategies are primarily based in the offline world, unless your niche marketing strategy is very specifically geared to attract people in your immediate area.

Expanding Your Niche Marketing

Maybe you've already known what is niche marketing for a long time, and have even successfully inserted yourself into a local niche.  That's great, but what's wonderful about niche marketing online is that you can actually expand these marketing efforts.

No matter what kind of niches you already have, software exists that can help you find new, similar niches.  Each of these niches can be developed into sections of your website, or even fully separate websites, that are search engine optimized to drive traffic to your website.

When you've begun to expand the niche markets you're working with, you'll want to keep track of which ones are generating more client conversions.  This helps you plan further niche marketing efforts and get rid of the campaigns that are persistently less successful than you had hoped.

What is Niche Marketing for the Future?

Niche marketing trends today include developing niches that take into account the current demographics of the United States.  For example, with a large number of people born during the Baby Boom beginning to retire, attorneys who are learning what is niche marketing may want to begin catering to that demographic.

Another niche marketing trend is marketing toward the increasingly mobile consumer.  In addition to making your website friendly for search engines, you need to have niche marketing landing pages that are easily viewable by mobile consumers.  You'll also want to think about mobile advertising options for your website.

You'll also want to look at hyperlocal niche marketing.  What is niche marketing at the hyperlocal level?  Well, advertising specifically to people who live in very small towns or suburbs that are often overlooked by the large firms can be a great way to do niche marketing online.  This can be a great way to pick up a new client base without even having to slightly alter the kind of law you're practicing.

According to Alexa.com, Youtube has now become the fourth most popular website in the entire world.  With over 70 percent of web viewers using Youtube at least occasionally, advertising on Youtube has now become a great way for attorneys to get their names heard by the people most likely to give them a call.  In this brief guide, you'll find out why Youtube advertising is still being underutilized by attorneys, and how to create the best Youtube advertisements possible for your firm.

Advertising on Youtube: The Best Tool You're Not Using

Studies show that videos are one of the best tools that you can use for your marketing strategies.  Youtube advertising can put your ad in front of the right people at the right time.  Advertising on Youtube has been made very easy since Google bought the website, and you can now use the Google AdWords interface to help you distribute Youtube advertisements.

When you use Youtube advertising, you're up to three times more likely to get conversions.  Why?  Several reasons.  First of all, it's been proven that consumers like video ads like Youtube advertisements better than text ads.  Youtube advertising lets you put yourself front and center, showing clients how you interact and what kind of personality you have.

Second, when you start advertising with Youtube, it's easy to target exactly the type of clients that your law firm is best at talking to.  You can run dozens of different targeted ad campaigns if you wish, so that your Youtube advertising is seen by all of the different groups you're trying to attract.

Different Types of Youtube Advertisements

If you're not sure that you want to start producing actual video Youtube advertisements right away, you can also have text advertisements displayed in searches or while people are browsing for videos.  Text Youtube advertising also appears underneath videos and before the comments.  In addition to being easier to set up, text ads are also substantially cheaper on a per-click basis than other types of advertising on Youtube.

If you already have someone in your office who can design print ads, you can create display Youtube advertisements that will be broadcast before someone watches their video.  These display ads are a nice way to dip your toes into the water of advertising on Youtube without feeling the need to dive in right away.

Of course, some of the best advertising on Youtube is in video form.  You can create thirty second Youtube advertisements that will appear before the other videos your desired clients are watching.  This type of Youtube advertising is harder to produce—you should always make sure you're using professionally produced video, not something you've made yourself—but can definitely be worth it.

Depending on what kind of Youtube advertisements you're producing, you can choose to either pay for your ad per thousand impressions, or per click.

Targeting With Youtube Advertisements

Internet advertising has been great for smaller law firms with low budgets, because it is substantially less expensive to advertise when you can target your potential clients.  The days of using television ads and billboards to reach huge audiences (most of whom have absolutely no need for the services you're offering) are gone for many small firms.  Instead, today's solo practitioners and small firms like to use advertising on Youtube, Facebook, and Google to find most of their new business.

When you target your Youtube advertisements, you can base your targeting on keywords just like you would with Google AdWords.  You can also limit your advertising budget, and make sure that your advertising on Youtube is only seen by people who are in particular demographic categories or geographic regions.

It's a good idea to test your targeting by doing split tests.  Keep track of all of your different campaigns and who they see the best results with.  By building targeting data over a long period of time, you'll slowly improve your ability to target the right customers without wasting money on people who are unlikely to convert.

Mistakes to Avoid When Advertising on Youtube

If your Youtube advertisements will take site visitors to another Youtube video, make sure that video has relevant information and isn't just advertising.  If someone follows a piece of advertising on Youtube only to find even more Youtube advertising, they're not going to be happy and you'll have wasted money on their click.

Trying to be clever in your Youtube advertising may work, but it can also backfire.  If your ads are too cleverly written, they may seem confusing or difficult to interpret for clients.  Instead, if you have a text-based ad, try using your text to ask a question that a potential client may have, so that they'll click for the answer.

Ad fatigue sets in quickly for internet ads, so if you're leaving up the same Youtube advertisements for a long time, you're probably wasting money.  Consider changing the content of your advertising on Youtube at least once a week, and possibly twice a week.  Youtube advertising will work better for you if it's constantly updated and fresh.

The Future of Youtube Advertising

More and more Youtube viewers today are accessing the website from their mobile phone's internet browser or by using a mobile app.  This increase in mobile traffic suggests that no matter what kind of Youtube advertisements you're placing, you should make sure that you're directing web traffic to a mobile friendly website.

Mobile advertising on Youtube is a booming industry.  Because it's so much easier to call attorneys after finding their website using a smartphone, law firms that have used mobile advertising campaigns have seen drastic upswings in their conversion ratios.  While a mobile advertising click may cost you more, it's a click that is more likely to make you money in the long run.

Youtube advertising, as bandwidth becomes cheaper, will probably start to require better resolution video and images.  That may not be an issue for your firm right now, but you should consider either obtaining this kind of video equipment or hiring a company that has professional video recording and editing equipment.  You don't want to come off like an amateur in your Youtube advertisements.

A June 2012 survey showed that the average American with an internet connection is now spending 29 hours a week using the internet.  That's almost as much time as people spend working at full-time jobs!  Because usage of the internet has doubled in just the last couple of years, it's now more important than ever to develop an internet niche marketing plan that puts your firm ahead of your competition.  Keep reading to find 6 tips for helping you make money from your new niche marketing campaign.

#1: Know Your Audience

A huge number of Americans, both young and old and from all backgrounds, use internet services every day.  However, that doesn't mean that every audience uses the internet in the same way.  You'll need to know how your chosen audience interacts with the internet—which websites they use, which ones they stay away from.

For example, let's say that you are trying hard to impress with your new internet niche marketing campaign that advertises help after a truck accident.  While internet forums for accident victims and Facebook might be a great idea for this niche marketing campaign, you might not have an easy time advertising with LinkedIn.  Conversely, if your new niche is defending people from criminal tax allegations, you'll probably have much better luck using LinkedIn for your internet niche marketing than any other social media website.

#2: Know Your Competition and Industry

Internet niche marketing puts you in a position where it's possible to advertise to exactly the right people—if you know where to look.  Let's say your firm has developed a profitable niche suing manufacturers of faulty valves for sewage treatment equipment.  To develop successful internet niche marketing, you may want to start offline—by going to a trade show for wastewater plant operators.

At trade shows and other networking events, you can find out where the people in the industry you want to market to are hanging out online.  Often, people who are in certain job sectors have internet forums completely dedicated to talking about issues arising from their jobs.  These forums are a prime place for you to place your advertising.

You should also make sure that you identify your main competitors and take a look at what they're doing with their internet niche marketing.  It's not usually a good idea to do exactly the same thing as your competition (unless you know you can outspend them and have a much better campaign), but competitors can give you ideas for new places to put your ads that you hadn't yet thought of.

#3: Seek Continuous Feedback

One of the biggest advantages of internet niche marketing is that it lends itself very easily to generating a great deal of feedback.  If you're not getting the results that you want, try asking your niche market what you're doing wrong.  Focus groups made up of the type of people you're trying to solicit as clients will be able to give you some great tips on making your advertising more relevant to their lives.

Facebook and Twitter give you a great way to tell instantly what's working and what isn't in your internet niche marketing campaign.  After making several different Facebook posts or tweets with different content, you'll be able to see which ones got the most attention, were shared most often, and so on.  This makes it easier to decide where to focus your internet niche marketing in the future, and may even allow you to narrow your niche even more.

#4: Keep Your Niche As Narrow as Possible

Keeping a narrow niche is important because it's much easier to get your eyes in front of the right customers when you're marketing to a very small segment of the total audience.  “Long tail” keywords tend to be significantly cheaper per click when using Google AdWords or any other keyword based pay per click advertising platform.  This means that you can not only make sure that you're advertising to the right people, you also won't be overpaying for the privilege.

Even if you think you're already operating in some kind of legal niche market, consider whether you may be able to develop a more narrow niche for your internet niche marketing.  Many larger law firms have begun to use internet niche marketing, even if they have many practice areas, just by advertising to dozens or even hundreds of different niches.

#5: Optimize Your Web Presence

If you're using internet niche marketing for more than one niche, which can be a good idea, you'll want to make sure your website is designed for this kind of advertising.  Every different niche will need a completely different landing page, or even a whole new website designed around the concerns and questions of people seeking help with that particular legal problem.

Many websites for law firms use technical sounding words and jargon rather than explaining the law in terms that clients can understand.  You'll have better luck with your internet niche marketing if you keep the copy on your website understandable even for someone who lacks a lot of experience with the law or hiring lawyers.

#6: Get Help With Software

If you can't figure out how to find a niche market on your own, there are programs that can help you find the niche market you're looking for.  This software can be very helpful, almost like a computer assisted brainstorming session.  You may also want to look into using software to help you manage your bids and advertising budget, as well as programs that can analyze the effectiveness of each ad campaign.

Using software to help you identify your best internet niche marketing opportunities isn't cheating.  It's a great way to get the edge you need to out-market your competition.  Keeping an eye on new software packages and offerings from major players like Google can help you identify the newest internet niche marketing trends and how to take advantage of them.

Advertising with Facebook is one of the hottest trends in law firm marketing today. Less than ten percent of firms were doing any Facebook advertising whatsoever just 3 years ago (not even having a firm page!). Today, over half of lawyers have a Facebook presence and more are starting to use Facebook advertising every day. Keep reading to find out six different answers to the question “why advertise on Facebook?” that will make you think.

Why Advertise on Facebook, Reason #1: Everybody's Doing It

For many lawyers, advertising with Facebook might have been a waste of money as recently as just a few years ago. The number of Facebook users has been soaring every year since the website began, and only now is it popular enough for it to become an advertising method for marketing to a wide range of demographics.

Today, it's not just college students who are using Facebook. With nearly a billion users looking at Facebook ads worldwide, Facebook advertising is now a way to reach out not only to young people, but to anyone looking to reconnect with old friends or talk to family members and colleagues.

In other words, the answer to the question “why advertise on Facebook?” has changed significantly for most law firms. Almost every forecaster sees Facebook advertising as likely to maintain its relevance for many years to come. As long as advertising with Facebook puts you in front of the biggest B2C audience in the world, you'll want to keep working with it.

Why Advertise on Facebook, Reason #2: Why Facebook Beats Google AdWords

Maybe you already have a pay per click strategy on Google that seems to work. If so, you may be wondering—why advertise on Facebook instead of just continuing with business as usual on Google?

Business owners who are used to doing most of their web advertising with pay per click Google AdWords are often excited by the precision targeting abilities that Facebook advertising has. When you start advertising with Facebook, you don't need to think about what kinds of keywords your target market is looking for—all you have to know is who your target market is.

If you know, for example, that most of your clients come from your zip code and the six zip codes that surround it, you can narrow your focus so that your Facebook advertising is only displayed to people who live in those zip codes. You can also segment your advertising with Facebook by gender, age, and location.

Why Advertise on Facebook, Reason #3: Your Advertising Generates Extra Buzz

When you start running direct ads with another advertising service, like Google AdWords, it's pretty unlikely that anyone is going to show their friends your ad. But with Facebook advertising, this kind of thing happens all the time. Advertising with Facebook gives you the ability to have your ads seen not only by their initial viewers, but also by the people those viewers are connected with.

If your Facebook advertising starts generating “likes” and comments, its visibility will increase substantially. After you have been advertising with Facebook for some time, you'll be able to figure out which ads work best for generating the kind of buzz that your law firm needs in this competitive economic climate.

Why Advertise on Facebook, Reason #4: Mobile Advertising Results

When you do Facebook advertising today, you have more options than ever. Because mobile traffic to Facebook doesn't look at sidebar ads, you can now start advertising with Facebook directly to mobile customers with organic-looking “sponsored stories.”

Why advertise on Facebook Mobile? When you pay for a sponsored story, your advertising with Facebook will get click through rates that are more than ten times better than rates for browser ads. What's more, when you design your landing pages to be conversion friendly, you can take people from Facebook advertising to consulting over the phone in just seconds.

Why Advertise on Facebook, Reason #5: Easy Results Tracking

Not all Facebook advertising works. Why advertise on Facebook if you're not keeping track of the results that you're getting? As soon as you start advertising with Facebook, you need to start testing your ads and applying what you've learned.

The great part about Facebook advertising is that Facebook has simplified results tracking and is great at showing you the information you need to know. Not only can you easily track your key performance indicators when you start advertising with Facebook, you can also ask Facebook to do a lot of the work for you.

Facebook advertising even allows you to decide what your objective is, and can automate a great deal of your bidding if you don't want to outsource but don't have the time to babysit clicks and bids all day long. While this may not be the most cost effective method of advertising with Facebook, it takes a lot of the guesswork out and lets you get back to practicing law.

Why Advertise on Facebook, Reason #6: Beating Your Competition

Let's face it: most consumers only have room to “like” one or two law firms at most. That means that the best way to make sure your firm is liked better than your competitor is simple: get there first. Start advertising with Facebook sooner than your competition does, and you'll be the only game in town. If you delay your Facebook advertising campaign, your competitors will get to those potential clients first.

If your competition is already advertising with Facebook, you have a tougher road ahead of you but it's not impossible. Try to identify the weaknesses in your competitor's marketing strategy. Remember that just having a Facebook page isn't enough to really be strong marketing: is your competition doing all they can do in terms of creating new content, using polls, and asking open ended questions to fans and friends?

If not, there's still room for you to do something different. Different is what the internet notices, and you're better off trying to pick up where your competition left off than going head to head with similar marketing efforts.