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Originally Posted On: https://onpointlegalleads.com/injury-leads/generate-and-convert-personal-injury-leads-part-1/

Attorneys who want to increase their intake in personal injury leads should consider third-party legal lead generation companies. Often, this is the quickest way to get your law firm intake department up and running.

Under the title of this article are example of words spoken from attorneys every week when considering different options for personal injury marketing campaigns.  Many pursue motor vehicle accident and workers compensation cases. Others are interested in social security disability, bankruptcy, and tax claims.  And still, others focus on defective drugs and defective medical devices within the mass torts vertical.

Often, an attorney doesn’t have a pipeline of business. Perhaps because the law firm is new, the attorney never successfully cultivated referrals from previous clients and networking opportunities, or there were questions regarding the return on investment among the different marketing platforms available.

Either way, if you’re an attorney in this position, the next step towards increasing your intake likely is to engage in some type of contemporary legal lead generation. Pursuing the right personal injury leads for sale while employing proven and ethical sales and marketing practices should provide a quality return.

“Lead generation” is what I consider to be the most generic term that other sales and marketing professionals sometimes refer to as “direct response marketing” and “inbound marketing.” Broadly, all three terms boil down to the same thing: driving qualified prospects to your law firm.

The typical approaches for generating personal injury leads include:

(1) utilizing attorney SEO services for law firms;

(2) hiring third-party legal lead generation companies;

(3) utilizing paid advertising services;

(4) engaging in broadcast television and radio media;

Identifying the approaches to generating and converting car wreck, mass tort, and other personal injury attorney leads is the easy part. Identifying the companies and strategies to employ in order to implement them – affordably, of course – is the difficult part. The competition for lead generation from all the options is well-numbered, as personal injury and auto accident attorneys are a competitive group of type-A personalities with much to gain. That alone drives pricing upwards. They’ll turn over every rock within the scope of professional responsibility guidelines in order to win the opportunity to fight for justice. Just like any highly motivated entrepreneur, right?

Nonetheless, attorneys are no different than other legal professionals who’ve started their own firms or ran an intake department: when they find a good lead generation solution, they will work hard to maximize returns. As long as the volume of personal injury leads and cost-per-case are viable, a law firm can enjoy a sustainable business.

This 5-part series will start with a snapshot of 4 different approaches towards online and media lead generation, then discuss each separately. The premise is two-fold. First, to provide general background on how each of these methods may work separately and together. Second, to offer ideas that could substantially increase the return on investment from each method.

Personal Injury Lead Generation Companies: Where We Are Now

Personal injury lead generation companies that provide inquiries of prospective claimants to law firms have existed for many years. And it appears the industry isn’t going anywhere soon, especially with the proliferation of the Internet.

Without going down a long trip down history lane, the arena of attorney lead generation was born following the assertion of First Amendment freedom of speech rights. When print advertising was in its heyday, yellow page and newspaper ads ruled. Then television and radio media broadcast the faces and voices of many of the attorneys we still see and hear today. Now that the internet has exploded; statistics abound regarding the droves of consumers who are making more buying decisions in the online world. Below are some examples.

• 76% of people looked online at some point when pursuing legal services, according to a LexisNexis survey that asked 4,000 adults between February 9-15, 2012. The Attorney Selection Research Study was completed by The Research Intelligence Group (TRIG). “Most consumers turn to the Internet before making any major purchasing decision and that holds true whether they are buying a house or hiring a lawyer,” said Philip Livingston, CEO of Web-Based Marketing Solutions at LexisNexis Legal & Professional. “Attorneys and law firms must build a robust and effective online presence in order to tap into this market.”

• 38% of people stated they would retain a lawyer by using the internet, according to a FindLaw.com survey conducted in 2014. Notably, the company survey stated that the 2005 number was a paltry 7%. Using a friend or relative was second at 29%, and that number was more than double in 2005 as it registered 65%. “The Internet provides a faster, easier and more thorough method to find an attorney, compared with the alternatives,” says Stephen Noel, Vice President of Strategic Development and Audience at Thomson Reuters.

• 15.5% of people surveyed by a law firm said they went online to obtain a lawyer, according to a survey by law firm Moses & Booth, based in Orlando, Florida. A deeper inquiry reveals that 21.0% of people searching for a specialty lawyer would go online; people whose annual income exceeded $150,000 would be more inclined to use the Internet, and that only 17.8% of adults between 18-24 years-old would turn to the Internet. The last statistic is interesting, seeing how younger generations are far more internet-savvy when purchasing services online. The survey, conducted in 2015, was based upon 1500 people who had hired an attorney within the previous year. The survey results also put word-of-mouth in the lead at 38.6%

Although results from the three most commonly cited surveys touching on consumer-legal buying behaviors appear inconsistent, there is no doubt that many law firms are pursuing online personal injury leads as a highly profitable intake platform.

If you’re interested in joining the ranks of those attorneys who are successful at making the most out of personal injury lead generation companies, then keep reading.

Four Ways to Dominate With Personal Injury Generation

(1) Utilizing Attorney SEO Services for Law Firms

Let’s face it. Local SEO rules the day pursuing personal injury lead generation.

In fact, if your law firm is listed within the top 3 ranking positions within Google’s geo-targeted Google My Business directory (GMB), which is a business listing on Google that provides results of different companies within a local region, then you’re probably generating some of the best real-time, exclusive leads available. After all, this is one of the most competitively pursued areas among all online marketing mediums.

What’s even better is getting listed in both Google My Business results and standard search results, which are the listings beneath the GMB and corresponding map.

For those who don’t know the difference between local GMB results and standard search results, simply type “personal injury lawyer New York” into your browser and you’ll see the listings of each category. The GMB results are displayed below the map. Here, Google displays results of attorneys for claimants interested in legal representation in the geographic region requested. And the map above the listing shows the corresponding locations. Ultimately, this is a highly valuable opportunity for all types of attorneys to capture clients. The results below the GMB listing are standard results that don’t require specific submission to Google based upon the GMB parameters.

Interested in more detail on dominating personal injury lead generation? Below you can check out the Top 3 Reasons You Should be Pursuing Attorney SEO Services for your law firm.

#1. A High Percentage of Claimants Go Online to Find Personal Injury Lawyers

Many people analogize Local SEO like the Yellow Pages. In the past, when a person wanted locate a business they would simply check out the giant yellow book.

Nowadays, people go to their desktop, laptop, or smartphone and use their browser. And one of the most common search queries includes “near me” or the name of their city and state. Next, Google shows results that correlate the search according to what is most relevant.

BrightLocal recently performed a survey with results showing that a minuscule 5% of consumers have never conducted an online search to locate a local company. And if you’re a lawyer worth his fee, you know the flip side of this: 95% of people have gone online to locate a business.

Now combine this with the figures listed earlier regarding searching for an attorney and you should see the significance. If that doesn’t sell you, the survey also found that 53% of people search for local companies at least once per month.

So at the end of the day, if you’re an attorney interested in legal lead generation, Local SEO is an important consideration.

#2. Personal Injury Claimants Need Your Help NOW. . . and Attorney SEO Services Provides Exposure 24-Hours Per Day

When consumers need legal help, there are only so many places to go. First family and friends. Then business associates. After that, people typically are left to their own resources. Based upon statistics like mentioned earlier, the Internet is heavily favored.

When you generate a GMB page for your law firm, you pick the practice areas you want to display, including description, website, keywords, hours of operation, etc. Ultimately, you have a great degree of control about the type of claimants you attract.

But make no mistake about it: if you want to attract with honey, the sweetest brand is GMB. These listings generate consumers who are in the ideal stage of the sales cycle: those who are purchase-ready. The rest is up to you and your intake department to retain the exclusive lead coming your way.

#3. Local SEO is a Very Cost Effective Way to Generate All Types of Personal Injury Leads . . . if You Can Find a Reliable SEO Expert

Google doesn’t charge anything to setup a GMB page, but the ROI to get top listings is where your focus should be here.

First, gauging the quality of your personal injury leads should be your first consideration. A recently posted article on Search Engine Land, one of the top sources for SEO lead generation, mentioned that consumers who engage in a local search from their mobile device visit the company within 1 day, and 18% of those lead to a sale. The statistics were based upon a Google article titled Understanding Consumer’s Local Search Behavior.

And according to HubSpot, 97% searched online to find a local business.

Second, locating a good attorney SEO service is potentially the most important. I would certainly be remiss if I didn’t use this opportunity to plug the On Point Legal Leads Attorney SEO Service. Our services are based upon many years of combined experience among partners who have optimized over 10,000 websites and achieved top first page position rankings for law firms around the U.S.

The program is unique because individual services are divided into the different packages. So, law firms are able to understand specifically what is being purchased. This removes the disconnect between the service provided and the results expected. It also allows for adjustments every day, week and month. Other SEO companies provide a package that could change monthly, which can leave the consumer confused about the services being used and the corresponding impact on rankings.

Ultimately, it keeps attorneys informed and keeps us honest in terms of the exact work being performed. Do you know what your attorney SEO or legal SEO service is doing to get your website ranked? Well with us, you know precisely what is being done at each stage of the process. This approach is educational and should provide much more understanding and education regarding it takes to succeed in the online marketing world.

(2) Use Third-Party Personal Injury Lead Generation Companies

The amount of case inquiries generated from online-based personal injury lead generation companies has been increasing since the proliferation of the Internet.  Other practice areas within the legal industry are no exception.

As for compliance, in 2012 the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association (ABA) amended their Advertising Rules “to provide guidance regarding lawyer’s use of technology and client development” that mentioned in part “a lawyer may pay others for generating client leads, such as Internet-based client leads…”

Moreover, there are reports that up to 12 different state bars expressly approved third-party legal lead generation. With the continuous adding and changing of laws combined with their corresponding complexities, consumers rely more on legal help. So from a policy standpoint there are solid arguments for its benefits to society.

Regarding the effectiveness of third-party personal injury lead generation, the outcome can be very positive. These services often focus on generating car accident leads and workers compensation leads.

Notably, third-party lead generation can serve as a primary or secondary source of client acquisition. Often, the first source of prospective claimants is the law firm’s website.

Nonetheless, law firms should leverage their website to increase conversions of third-party leads.

Initially, the website should be optimized to take advantage of the increasing amount of consumers sourcing the Internet for potential law firms. The site provides an excellent opportunity to show prospective claimants why that law firm is best suited for them. Adding testimonials and trust symbols can dramatically increase consumer confidence and conversions. According to Big commerce, testimonials can increase conversions by 62%.

Then, when third-party personal injury lead generation companies send exclusive, real-time personal injury leads and is contacted by a legal advocate, the claimant can visit their website for additional information.

Third-party lead generators engage in attorney advertising typically with generic websites through Facebook and search engines.

First, a prospective claimant answers qualifying questions based upon a certain claim type. These include date of the injury, type of injury, at-fault status, whether an attorney was hired, whether medical attention was provided, and possibly other information. Then the person adds relevant contact information and clicks the submit button, which serves as the requisite express written consent required by TCPA.

Next, the law firm is notified by email, text, or via direct post to their Customer Retention Management (CRM) platform. This occurs within a fraction of a second. If an attorney is using On Point Legal Leads, they can enjoy several remarketing options that employ TCPA compliant auto-response text messages, ringless voicemail messages, and an email drip campaign. These are designed to increase contact and retention rates.

And, if the law firm does not have its own legal intake center, a qualified and experienced call center can be provided. It has been long recognized that firms that employ an in-house intake center or outsourced call center have the highest client retention rate.

Other benefits third-party generated personal injury leads include:

 

• More Overall Personal Injury Leads. When you get attorney leads from a third party rather than from your website or from a referral, you’re getting a prospective client who may never have come your way.

• Higher Conversion Rates. When you get a claimant who has taken the time to input their information, which could include up to 15 questions, you’re getting a quality lead. This person has taken the time to input specific information about his or her accident-injury. Most law firm websites only request general contact information. Typically, a person who inputs more information is in a purchasing state-of-mind rather than in a window shopping mindset. In other words, they are interested in discussing their legal matter now and pursuing legal representation.

• Increased Efficiency. Time spent networking and generating referrals the old fashioned way is highly valuable. But it doesn’t tend to generate immediate results. Neither does optimizing your website; however, third-party lead generation is geared at driving prospective claimants immediately. Compared to local SEO, the time value of funds spent on a cost-per-case basis is much better at the outset. Law firms can generate personal injury leads quickly and can reinvest in other legal marketing opportunities as they grow.

• Increased Cost Savings with Personal Injury Leads. When a legal lead generation company provides accident injury leads to your law firm, you only pay for those that meet certain qualifications. These could include requiring valid contact information, not having hired an attorney at the time, having an actual injury, not being at fault, and being within the statute of limitations. Getting attorney leads with this set of criteria can save on marketing dollars, as the focus is on quality cases.

Many law firms us personal injury lead generation companies to increase their intake of prospective claimants. We have a well-rounded approach that provides exclusive, real-time, qualified case leads within the personal injury field.

(3) Imitate Marketers Who Offer Personal Injury Leads for Sale: Use Paid Advertising Services

 

Paid advertising, which generally revolves around a pay-per-click model, can yield great dividends. But be careful because it could be an extremely expensive way to pursue case leads.

Companies that provide personal personal injury leads for sale specialize in paid advertising and can be a terrific example; however, you’ll want to make sure they know what they are doing.

Among the most frequently used sources to generate personal injury leads for sale is Facebook and Google Adwords.

At the outset, one of the main issues with each platform is the return on investment (ROI). And one thing that can hurt is lack of experience.

For starters, it takes time for Facebook and Google to learn about your website. Each has algorithms designed to determine the best ads to show the best audience while also creating a good user experience.” This is important to understand, because the algorithms used to list results is not all about the cost-per-bid. Rather, the focus is on increased user satisfaction by serving ads that match the users intent when searching and do not put them off. These platforms put a heavy focus on page load speed, among many other factors.

Law firms that perform their own attorney advertising also need to ensure they originate leads within the scope of what your practice area. For example, attorneys seeking auto accident leads typically exclude terms like “free” or “pro bono” from their Google Adwords search terms. This is done by entering them into the negative keyword fields on the back end. So anyone searching with those negative keywords won’t be delivered impressions of your ad.

If you are interested in jumping into the paid advertising arena, especially Adwords, you’ll need to make sure that you understand a few things.

 

#1. Understand Your Keywords, Including Long Tail Keywords. The most popular keyword tool is Google Adwords Planner. Obviously developed by the company whose name is behind it, this tool can be accessed by anyone who has setup an Adwords account. It is easy to use, but it provides less keywords than other free tools elsewhere. Many well-respected seo experts suggest using at least two other keyword generators. I will show you one of the best in one of my subsequent related blog articles. But one you may be interested is Neil Patel’s Ubbersuggest. You’ll also want to know your “long tail” keywords, as up to 80% of traffic from websites comes from these 3-5 word combinations that you may not be aware.

#2. Understand the Paid Advertising Options. If you’re interested in generating attorney leads through paid advertising channels, you’ll need to know what your choices are. Below are some examples.

• Google Adwords. This could be the top choice for many companies and can be seen following most Google-based searches. It combines a bidding system – the most obvious component – and a Quality Score index that many people don’t know about. The Quality Score is a factor that should be among the most important aspects a company focuses on here.

• Facebook and Linkedin. Social media has proliferated more than many expected. Like the platforms mentioned, these provide text and display components. However, they could provide more targeted demographics. Facebook is becoming a bigger part of formula that generates personal injury leads.

• Bing and Yahoo Search. Microsoft’s Bing Ads announced in early 2019 that it will be the exclusive search adverting platform for Verizon Media properties, including Yahoo and AOL. The combined companies are now called Microsoft Advertising, or Microsoft Ads. This new combined platform widely is considered secondary to Google Adwords and Facebook simply because of the different volume in searches and customer base sizes. Microsoft Ads still is considered a viable alternative and some claim it can offer even better ROI. But you may not be able to survive, or likely not thrive, on these alternative platforms.

#3. Understand How to Monitor Legal Lead Generation with Reporting. As Justin Brook from IM Scalable states, if you don’t know your numbers than you don’t know your business. This applies to all areas of lead generation. You need to know your metrics regarding your conversions, you need to know what it costs to get a legal lead, which ads help the most, and which ads help the least. If you’re into Adwords, then you should visit your Google Analytics page, which is the most frequently used data analysis tool for websites. It instantly can show you in-depth statistics about your website, such as where your visitors are coming from, how often your site is viewed, and what percentage of visitors leave shortly after landing on your site.

#4. Understand That You May Need a Landing Page to Generate Auto Accident Leads, Mass Tort Leads, and Personal Injury Leads. Paid advertising is not necessarily the same as search engine optimization. Facebook and Instagram serve image and text ads ads Google search is a query intensive. Visitor behavior and experiences between the two is different. Consumers who click on paid searches often want information fast and to the point, and are often at a higher stage of the sales cycle. Consumers who click on organic and paid listings often have more questions and are seeking more background information before making a final decision. Thus, different and images may be required.

Many firms create a different landing page based upon different campaigns and different practice areas. An attorney advertising for car accident leads through paid advertising should have a different landing page compared to an attorney pursuing cases from Rispedal leads, Xarelto leads, IVC Filter leads, Taxotere leads, and Talcum leads. The effect you are having is three-fold:

• Landing pages allow you to maintain a consistent message. When you have an advertisement about a mass tort, you’ll want the visitor directed to a page that continues the message. That visitor likely doesn’t care to read about another practice area and why the attorney specializes in it. Keep the user experience as relevant as possible in order to keep the highest conversion ratios.

• Landing pages allow specific actions. Perhaps you want your visitor to download an e-book on what do if they get injured in a car wreck. Or, maybe you want to have them sign up for a free conference you are holding about another area of law. And, of course there is the contact form you want them to complete when interested in legal services. Naturally, landing pages without contact forms virtually are irrelevant when generating leads.

• Landing pages make it easy to track visitors. Want to know where your traffic is coming from? If you proceed with multiple paid advertising sources, you can easily use one page effectively. After all, the message likely is the same, so no need to reinvent the wheel.

(4) Utilize Broadcast Television and Radio Media

Initially, you might think that this section will be solely focused on using television and radio to generate personal injury leads for sale. Although those are the most important components, there is an absolute link between using TV and radio when providing attorney lead generation.

According to a study by the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), 82% of the 125 brands that spent over $30 billion in ad spend “showed a direct correlation between TV advertising and website traffic.” In fact, Sean Cunningham, President and CEO of VAB stated that “TV is the great activator in internet commerce. TV advertising does more than generate awareness: it triggers the most important action at a time when the Internet functions as a brand’s storefront to the world.”

That being said, you should consider the quality of your website’s ability to convert visitors – not just attract – when pursuing broadcast media. Although that is an entirely different topic, it underscores the importance of your website in other mediums when advertising for attorney leads. One metric you should absolutely consider is the increased website traffic witnessed when you broadcast your ads.

Nonetheless, this section is really about describing the benefits of a slightly different approach to the traditional lawyer lead generation model when considering broadcast mediums, and that is a pay-per-call strategy.

Pay-per-call strategies in the broadcast media world can involve two types. First are production-ready, generic commercials that have proven effective in multiple markets.  Second are custom produced commercials that include personal touches, custom geo-targeted phrases, and 5-figure startup costs. Each have their benefits.

Ready-to-go commercials are faster to market, cost less, and have been tested for their ability to provide effective attorney lead generation with a solid ROI. Essentially, an attorney can get into a market and generate personal injury leads, auto accident leads, and mass tort leads faster and cheaper compared to customizing. Further, this avenue of lawyer lead generation can help get the bugs out of the intake department. Or, as those experienced in training sales reps might say, “get the marbles out of the mouths” of the newbies trying to retain clients. You never know what kind of hiccups you’ll run into. If your firm is looking into taking its first steps into TV advertising for its legal lead generation source, this is your best bet.

Custom commercials, although slower to market and more expensive, do offer the benefit of branding. Remember how TV ads and websites have a correlation? Well, that correlation translates into more legal leads, and that improves ROI in the long run. Significantly, On Point Legal Leads also offers a custom pay-per-call model that attorneys can consider. It’s the best of both worlds, as it provides a target ROI (because you have a cost basis for each lead) and it provides a platform to get exposure to your website and brand.

Broadcast media seems to be more popular with law firms who have engaged in attorney advertising for many years. Yet, if you’re an attorney interested in increasing your intake in motor vehicle accident leads, personal injury leads, and mass tort leads, a pay-per-call strategy could generate an excellent ROI that extends beyond your phone and to your website.

The Bottom Line:
Online and Broadcast Media Can Substantially Increase Your Intake of Personal Injury Leads

There are many effective ways to increase your intake of attorney leads. Whether it is through third-party online lead generators, paid Internet advertising models, or through television commercials, the top grossing firms in your region and practice area likely are pursuing them.

If you would like more detail about how we can help increase your intake of personal injury leads, please contact us today. We’re here to help.