key takeaways | branding for estate planning law firms
With personal connection and focused attention, in-person workshops offer higher conversion rates and can be more effective at turning attendees into clients.
Webinars are more convenient for you and your audience, will generate more registrations, and reach a wider set of potential clients. This is a great top-of-funnel strategy that works well for ushering leads into a nurturing sequence.
Guest speaking and co-presenting can help you share the responsibilities and costs of running a workshop, and can afford you the opportunity to put yourself and your firm in front of a much more qualified and engaged audience.
No law firm marketing strategy is complete without a workshop or webinar program. Workshops, webinars, and guest speaking engagements are designed to get you and your firm in front of a captive audience of prospective new clients. Executed properly, these strategies are especially effective for generating qualified leads and bringing in new clients—fast! Every time you put your firm in front of a new audience it’s an opportunity to provide them with valuable education that underscores your industry authority and credibility—not to mention the brand awareness benefits you’ll undoubtedly reap.
Pre-COVID-19, in-person workshops were the norm for most law firms. During the pandemic, however, lawyers were forced to shift to a virtual webinar-based model for these events—and many of them never shifted back. Still, others shifted away from live events altogether, using pre-recorded “evergreen” webinars to drive lead-gen for their firms.
So, which law firm marketing strategy is most effective?
The truth is that each of these strategies has its pros and cons. We’ve helped our legal clients plan and promote hundreds of workshops and webinars over the years, and we know a thing or two about a thing or two. Below, we break down what’s good and what’s not-so-good about each of these approaches.
live workshops: the in-person advantage
Hosting a live workshop offers many benefits that webinars or other virtual-based approaches simply can’t.
To a prospective new client, nothing is more valuable than in-person face time, especially while they are trying to decide who to hire for their legal needs.
People connect with people, so being able to shake hands, make eye-contact, and smile at your prospects is a priceless advantage.
In fact, studies suggest that in-person workshops boast conversion rates of around 20-25%—and our clients often see conversion rates upwards of 45% at their live workshops, you know, because we’re awesome at law firm marketing.
Other benefits of hosting an in-person workshop include:
focused attention
In a dedicated physical space, distractions are minimized. Attendees are more likely to be fully present and engaged with your content, which means they’ll absorb more information, and are more likely to be compelled by your call-to-action.
relationship building
The face-to-face interaction fosters trust and rapport between the attorney and audience. This can make attendees more receptive to marketing messages encouraging them to take the next step.
Urgency and scarcity
Limited seating at in-person workshops creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity. This can motivate attendees to act before they miss out on their opportunity.
brand image & professionalism
In-person workshops require time, energy and money, and your prospects know that. A law firm with the resources to host an in-person workshop will be perceived as more professional and credible than other firms.
expanded offerings
Hosting a live workshop allows you to choose a venue with added value, for example, a winery or brewery. Being able to offer more than just legal education is a huge value-add, and can make the workshop feel more approachable and less intimidating to prospects.
Of course, it’s not all roses for in-person workshops. The downside of this strategy is:
registration is limited
Most venues—at least, most affordable venues—have a fairly strict (and fairly small) capacity, meaning you can only register so many guests. About 30% of free workshop registrants will no-show, making it extra tricky to plan for. You’re also limited to attracting guests from a smaller geographic radius, since people will only drive so far to attend a free legal workshop.
it's expensive
Renting a venue, sourcing A/V equipment, supplying food and beverage, and just the general logistics of an in-person workshop can get expensive. This drives up the average cost-per-lead.
webinars for the win?
Let’s discuss the pros and cons of another popular law firm marketing strategy: live, virtual webinars. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we all got reaaaal good at using Zoom, and a lot of attorneys have never looked back. But, is a virtual webinar truly a viable alternative to in-person workshops, especially now that the pandemic is safely in the rearview?
Let’s look at the benefits of a live webinar approach:
convenience
For most of society, webinars are a much more convenient alternative to attending an in-person event. They’re quick, there’s no commute, they can be attended from anywhere with a decent Wi-Fi signal, and are especially convenient for parents of young children. Webinars are more convenient for attorneys, too: there are fewer logistics to manage, and the workshop can be conducted from pretty much anywhere.
quantity of registrants
Since it’s less of a commitment, webinars have much higher sign-up rates than in-person workshops.
Affordability
Webinars cost much less than in-person events. There are no venue rental or food and beverage fees, so you’re really just looking at the cost of the attorney’s time, advertising expenses—both of which you would also incur with an in-person workshop—and the cost of whatever webinar software you are using.
There is an ugly downside to the live webinar approach, and that is:
lower-quality leads
Webinars are about as low-commitment as it gets, which means you may get more “tire kickers” than people who are actively looking to make a purchase decision.
more no-shows
With webinars, there is almost no guilt about ghosting the host, which is why 50-70% of registrants usually don’t make an appearance. However, you’ve captured their information, which means you can drop them into your nurturing sequences (you DO have automated nurturing sequences set up, right?) and let your sales team start working their magic
lower conversion rates
Where we typically see a 40-45% conversion rate for in-person workshops—meaning 40-45% of attendees schedule a strategy session or initial consultation—webinars usually generate a conversion rate somewhere between 10-25%. One major reason for this is that attendees tend to bounce before the webinar ends, and before you’ve presented your call-to-action. Again, you have the opportunity to nurture these leads…but it’s always better to walk away from your webinar with a calendar full of initial consultations.
the evergreen approach for maximum lead-gen
Even with lackluster attendance and conversion rates, webinars offer an unbeatable long-term benefit: on-demand accessibility. Turning your webinar recordings into evergreen lead magnets opens the opportunity for a myriad of benefits:
powerful follow-ups
Having a recording of your webinar allows you to send an impactful follow-up to live workshop no-shows, or those who missed the registration deadline.
content marketing magic
An on-demand webinar can be promoted and shared repeatedly, in perpetuity. Offering your evergreen webinar as a gated piece of content can generate leads for an extended (and indefinite) period of time, thus maximizing your return on investment.
nurturing leads
Send your pre-recorded webinar to prospects who are moseying through your sales cycle—it’s a valuable resource for them, and a way to assert professionalism, credibility, experience, and authority for you.
The greatest value of an evergreen approach is ushering a greater volume of leads into your pipeline. This gives you the opportunity to nurture these relationships, until “unsubscribe” do you part.
Of course, if you’re looking to book consultations, don’t rely solely on an evergreen webinar strategy…especially if you don’t have a dedicated and well-trained client services coordinator who is happy to pick up the phone, sell the ever living daylight out of your legal services, and convert your leads with ease. As far as law firm marketing goes, this is more of a top-of-the-funnel strategy.
another consideration: guest presentations
Most lawyers who lean on a workshop strategy to generate leads have at least one presentation pretty much memorized. So, take your show on the road! Co-hosting or guest presenting is a great way to share the responsibilities (and costs) of planning a workshop, and since you have the trust of your co-presenter or host organization, you’ll have an easier time earning the trust of your attendees.
The benefits of guest speaking engagements include:
shared responsibilities
Be it the promotion, planning, organization, or any other number of logistics, planning workshops with another entity can help split the time, energy, effort, and costs.
reach a qualified audience
When the opportunity presents itself to speak as a guest, it can be a great way to put yourself in front of a highly-qualified audience. Whether it’s a bank, church, non-profit organization, or even an audience of one of your referral source’s clients, the audience trusts the 3rd party that brought you in. They trust YOU by proxy.
grow your referral network
Forming partnerships with local businesses, leaders, and organizations will pay off for both sides in the long run. It’s a win-win.
need help with your law firm marketing strategy?
Want to learn more about how you can use a workshop or webinar strategy to propel your firm to new heights? Or, would you like to learn about the other proven law firm marketing strategies we’ve got up our sleeves? Give our team a call at (617) 433-8026 or fill out the form below to get in touch today.
We can’t wait to help you do more of whatever it is you do.
