The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

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In the last blog, we discussed the value of video to your law firm Internet marketing plan and how it enables you to stand out from the competition.  

There is more to online video than simply adding it to your law firm Internet marketing efforts.

Like many things, if video is done well, it can have a significant, positive impact on your law firm Internet marketing – by attracting clients and increasing visibility.

Done poorly, however, and online video can hurt your credibility, sidetrack your law firm Internet marketing goals, and even detour clients from choosing you.

With that in mind, below are five simple tips to help you make a highly-effective online video for use in your law firm Internet marketing efforts.

1. Use real people, using real words. One of the biggest mistakes attorneys make is using video the way they use PowerPoint. Stringing together static images accompanied by a faceless voice on audio is not an effective use of online video. While this may get seen by some potential clients, it is not nearly as valuable as giving them a chance to see your face and hear your sincere words.
2. Create a well-thought out script designed to persuade potential client to call you. To accomplish that, ask yourself what makes your law firm different from, and better than, your competition – and then build your script around those key points.
3. Focus on the viewer, not yourself. It is easy to get caught in the trap of thinking potential clients want to hear about all of your qualifications. The real truth is they want a law firm that understands their problems, and knows how to solve them. Your script should describe some of the problems clearly, and then explain how  you can solve them.  
4. Use side bars to emphasize key points. The time to use still images in your online video is in a sidebar comes in the form of clear, concise messages that emphasize your most important points – such as key statistics related to your area of law. You can see a very good example of excellent use of sidebars in the Law Offices of Fern Trevino video. 
5. Include your contact information 2-3 times within your video. The objective of your online video (as part of your law firm Internet marketing) is to persuade potential clients to call you. Yet no matter how well-crafted your video is, if those clients do not know how to reach you, it goes for naught.

With that in mind, “say” it once within the video, usually at the end, and “write” it at least  once in full screen, at the beginning and the end, like the Laura Margulies & Associates LLC, Maryland Bankruptcy Lawyer video.

By including it at the beginning, return viewers can quickly get your contact information without wading through the entire video again.

In Sum: Apply these proven methods to your online video, and you will be certain to enhance your visibility, your credibility and your law firm Internet marketing effectiveness.