The Difference Between Inbound Marketing And Content Marketing
Apr 11, 2016
10 min read
I have been a content writer for a long time now and it was a dream that I was living until someone asked me to explain the difference between Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing. I honestly replied to him that I had no clue and did not want to give a wrong answer to the question so I told him that you please give me sometime and let me find out. Even here at the office we used to use the words interchangeably for both content and Inbound Marketing. But when I got hold of the truth through a prolonged research, I knew that it was a big mistake and it is important to know the difference between the two terms.
So a lot of research and time went into it and then finally got hold of HubSpot’s annual survey that they conducted with 3500 marketing and sales professionals.
The Question that was specifically asked was that What is the relationship between Inbound Marketing and Content Marketing? And was a multiple choice question with the options:
- They are synonymous to each other.
- Content Marketing was the subset of the Inbound Marketing.
- Inbound Marketing was the subset of the Content Marketing.
- The two are fundamentally different.
- Don’t know the answer.
Before we dive into the answer that was voted the most, what I think is that Content Marketing was the subset of Inbound Marketing but I wanted others to give me confidence on what I think. And it turns out I was right and don’t we all marketers think alike? Even after what we think we should also understand one thing that without content Inbound Marketing is nothing, content marketing is the heart of Inbound marketing that pumps blood into its veins. 
When it comes to a discussion about both, marketers should rather use the terms with “and” not “or” for content and Inbound marketing relationship. What not is included within the scope of a content marketer is the keyword analysis, SEO, freemium trials, social media management, etc. All that core content that is made by a content marketer is the white papers, blogs, case studies, and ebooks. So it is understood by the fact that marketers, sales people, customers or non-customers, they all had one notion and the correct understanding that Content marketing was a subset of Inbound marketing. Another survey that was conducted with the other marketing professionals who use marketing automation as a platform, even then the data that was received supported the same idea. 
A company that employs Content marketing and not the other parts of Inbound marketing, it is making a big mistake in thinking that they are using Inbound marketing to its full potential and have leveraged its beauty in its entirety. All they should focus on is to create content and use Inbound Marketing to its full potential so that they can help themselves to get found, get leads and close sales. Creating content to answer the customer’s questions, and then optimizing it for keywords or sharing it on blog sites, social media sites to get found, to bring in new audience to your website and to close sales is what a typical operation of Inbound Marketing means.
Content marketing is not limited to the time when you have successfully closed in a sale, but as believed by many it extends beyond the sales funnel and contributes to an ongoing communication with the existing customers as well. For example, a customer who has a long time relationship with your company and now the company is into a process of releasing a new product or service and it needs to make all its existing customers aware of the new product or service. So the company decides to create a blog content or a case study around how this new product or service can help solve their problems and sends the blog content via an e-mail or simply puts it up on the website and performs the optimization of keywords over it so that it gets found. That’s how people leverage both content marketing and Inbound marketing to grow their company.
We would sincerely want to know about how useful did you find this blog and if there’s anything that we missed out on any point of difference between content marketing and Inbound marketing it would be a pleasure for us all to learn from you.
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What Are Horizontal AI Agents? How Generalized AI Can Scale Businesses Faster
The global AI market is projected to reach $738.8 billion by 2030, with a significant annual growth rate. Do you see where we are going? AI is revolutionizing industries, helping businesses automate operations, improve decision-making, and drive revenue growth. While vertical AI agents focus on specific industries, horizontal AI agents are designed for broad applications across multiple sectors. Horizontal AI agents are generalized AI systems that handle various tasks, making them versatile and scalable across different industries. These agents power everything from customer service chatbots to data analysis tools, helping businesses automate repetitive tasks and optimize workflows at scale. In this blog, we’ll explore horizontal AI agents, their characteristics, how they compare to vertical AI, their applications in B2B companies, and the key trends for 2025. What Are Horizontal AI Agents? Horizontal AI agents are AI systems that provide generalized solutions across multiple industries rather than being tailored to a single sector. These agents can perform various tasks, such as natural language processing (NLP), predictive analytics, data automation, and customer support. For example, a horizontal AI agent like ChatGPT can handle inquiries, automate workflows, and enhance productivity in marketing, sales, finance, and customer service. In contrast, a vertical AI agent in healthcare would be built specifically to diagnose medical conditions. Using generalized AI models, businesses can scale operations quickly, reduce costs, and drive efficiency across departments without requiring industry-specific customization. Partnering with an AI marketing agency ensures seamless integration, maximizing AI-driven automation and data insights for growth. Key Characteristics of Horizontal AI Agents Horizontal AI agents have several distinct characteristics that make them effective in their specialized roles: 1. Versatility Across Industries Unlike vertical AI, which is limited to specific industries, horizontal AI agents can be applied across multiple business functions, making them ideal for companies seeking scalability and cost-effectiveness. 2. Pre-Trained on Large-Scale Data Horizontal AI systems leverage vast datasets from multiple industries, allowing them to efficiently process and analyze structured and unstructured data. 3. Automates Repetitive Processes These agents can handle customer service queries, content generation, lead qualification, and workflow automation, reducing manual labor and freeing up employees for strategic tasks. 4. Scalable for Growth Since horizontal AI models are designed for broad applications, they scale effortlessly with business growth. AI can expand its capabilities with minimal adjustments, whether a company is a startup or an enterprise. 5. Cost-Efficient and Fast Deployment Unlike vertical AI, which requires industry-specific training, horizontal AI solutions are often ready-to-use, reducing implementation time and costs. Horizontal AI vs. Vertical AI While horizontal AI provides generalized solutions applicable across industries, vertical AI is tailored for specific sectors with specialized data models. Both are used to streamline business operations in multiple ways but serve different purposes; here are some key differences. Feature Horizontal AI Agents Vertical AI Agents Scope Limited customization; broadly applicable Highly specialized for industry needs Scalability Easily scalable for businesses of all sizes Industry-specific scalability Data Utilization Uses large, diverse datasets Uses industry-specific datasets Implementation Time Quick deployment with minimal setup Requires in-depth training and integration Cost Efficiency More affordable due to general application Higher costs due to specialized training Horizontal AI agents offer scalability and adaptability, making them ideal for various businesses' CRM, automation, and analytics. In contrast, vertical AI delivers deeper insights within niche industries like healthcare, finance, or manufacturing. Suggested Reads: Click here to learn the difference between Horizontal and Vertical AI. Applications of Horizontal AI Agents in B2B Businesses Horizontal AI agents transform B2B operations by automating workflows, enhancing customer interactions, and optimizing sales processes. From AI-driven CRMs and chatbots to predictive analytics for demand forecasting, these solutions drive efficiency and revenue growth. 1. Marketing & Sales Automation Horizontal AI is widely used in B2B marketing automation to streamline lead scoring, email personalization, and campaign optimization. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants handle customer queries, while predictive analytics improve sales forecasting. Example: HubSpot AI automates lead nurturing and email marketing campaigns, increasing business conversion rates. 2. Customer Support & Chatbots AI-driven chatbots like Intercom and Drift provide 24/7 customer support, reducing response time and improving user experience across industries. Example: Zendesk AI offers automated ticketing and chatbot support for multiple businesses, improving customer retention. 3. Finance & Risk Management Horizontal AI is used in B2B finance for fraud detection, credit risk assessment, and financial forecasting, helping businesses make data-driven decisions. Example: IBM Watson AI provides risk analytics solutions for banks, ensuring compliance and fraud prevention. 4. HR & Talent Acquisition AI-powered recruitment tools analyze resumes, schedule interviews, and streamline hiring processes, improving HR efficiency. Example: LinkedIn Recruiter AI filters candidates based on skills and experience, helping companies hire top talent faster. 5. Business Intelligence & Analytics Horizontal AI agents enhance business intelligence (BI) by analyzing vast amounts of market, customer, and operational data for better decision-making. Example: Salesforce Einstein AI offers predictive analytics for sales teams, improving revenue forecasting. Businesses integrating horizontal AI can scale faster, reduce costs, and make data-driven decisions. Trends in Horizontal AI for 2025 As AI adoption accelerates, horizontal AI is evolving to offer more scalable, adaptive solutions across industries. In 2025, advancements in multi-modal AI, real-time automation, and AI-driven decision intelligence will redefine business operations. Companies leveraging these trends will gain a competitive edge in efficiency, cost savings, and revenue growth. 1. AI-Powered Revenue Optimization Businesses are leveraging AI-driven pricing strategies and demand forecasting to maximize profits. AI models analyze market trends to adjust pricing dynamically. 2. Enhanced AI Personalization Horizontal AI will continue to evolve with hyper-personalized experiences for customers, improving engagement in B2B sectors. 3. No-Code AI Tools for Businesses More no-code AI platforms will emerge, allowing non-technical teams to deploy AI-driven automation without coding expertise. 4. AI-Generated Content for B2B Marketing For lead generation and customer acquisition, B2B content marketing will heavily rely on AI-generated blogs, social media posts, and email sequences. 5. AI for Revenue Growth & Lead Qualification Horizontal AI will be crucial in predictive lead scoring, helping sales teams prioritize high-intent leads and close deals faster. Conclusion Horizontal AI agents are game changers for businesses looking to scale faster, increase revenue, and automate industry workflows. From marketing automation and customer service to finance and HR, these AI solutions drive efficiency, reduce costs, and improve decision-making. If you want to integrate AI-driven automation into your business strategy, Saffron Edge can help. We provide AI-powered marketing, sales automation, and data analytics solutions to help B2B businesses scale faster and optimize revenue. Contact us today to learn how AI can transform your business! ...
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Top NJ Social Media Agency that Delivers Results
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Thanks to this massive online presence, businesses have a great opportunity to communicate with their target audience, establish connections, and finally see an increase in revenue. At Saffron Edge, we understand that successful social media advertising and marketing in New Jersey requires a comprehensive strategy that incorporates creativity, fact-driven insights, and a deep understanding of customer behavior. Crafting Captivating Social Media Campaigns Being New Jersey's top social media marketing company, we are experts in creating engaging social media campaigns that connect with your target demographic. Our social media campaign firm creates programs that grab attention, encourage meaningful participation, and result in conversions by utilizing state-of-the-art data analytics and consumer insights. In our never-ending quest for social media perfection, we tackle everything from visually spectacular social media advertisements to engaging competitions and influencer partnerships. To create campaigns that stand out in the congested digital scene, our team of social media marketing professionals blends strategic thinking with creative thinking. Paid Social Media Advertising: Reaching Your Target Audience Like our natural social media marketing services, our sponsored social media marketing options offer a successful way to reach a wider audience and build a relationship with your target audience. With fact-driven optimization and precise targeting capabilities, our social media advertising firm ensures that your message reaches the ideal individual at the appropriate moment to maximize the return on your marketing expenditure. Whether you're looking to launch a large-scale social media advertising campaign or leverage the effect of sponsored social media advertisements as part of a wider digital advertising plan, our crew has the know-how to provide outstanding results. From Facebook and Instagram ads to LinkedIn and twitter marketing, we handle the nuances of every platform to increase conversions, offer leads, and entice centered site visitors. Social Media Management: Consistency is Key Creating enduring connections with your target audience and encouraging brand loyalty on social media platforms necessitates maintaining a consistent and engaging presence. Our social media management services relieve you of this responsibility while ensuring that your brand is consistently and authentically represented on all channels. Our committed social media managers work directly with you to identify your company's unique identity and produce content that targets your target audience. We manage every aspect of your social media presence with skill and expertise, from creating engaging content and responding to comments to keeping a watch on social media trends and implementing best practices. Comprehensive Social Media Marketing Solutions At our NJ social media marketing agency, we pride ourselves on offering comprehensive solutions that address all facets of your social media marketing efforts. Our services encompass: Social Media Strategy Development: We begin by conducting in-depth market research and analyzing your industry landscape to develop a tailored social media marketing strategy that aligns with your business objectives. Content Creation: Our team of creative professionals specializes in crafting visually stunning and engaging content that captures your brand's essence and resonates with your target audience. Influencer Marketing: Leveraging the power of influencers, we collaborate with industry leaders and tastemakers to amplify your brand's reach and credibility. Social Media Advertising: From Facebook and Instagram ads to LinkedIn campaigns, we leverage the power of paid social media advertising to drive targeted traffic and generate high-quality leads. Community Management: Fostering genuine connections with your audience is at the core of our community management services, ensuring that every interaction is handled with care and professionalism. Social Media Analytics and Reporting: Data-driven insights are the foundation of our approach. We provide comprehensive analytics and reporting to measure the success of your campaigns and continuously optimize our strategies for maximum impact. Elevating Your Brand in the Digital Realm Working with a reputable social media advertising and marketing firm like ours may be crucial to opening up new doors for growth and success in the always-shifting virtual landscape. Our team of seasoned professionals stays ahead of the curve by regularly modifying our methods to take into account the newest developments and best practices in social media marketing and promotion. Regardless of your size—a small, local business in New Jersey or a large, international agency—our social media advertising solutions are customized to your specific needs and deliver noticeable results. We're your go-to partner for navigating the complexity of social media advertising, from increasing brand visibility and engagement to generating certified leads and increasing revenue. Unlock the Full Potential of LinkedIn Marketing LinkedIn is an effective tool for business-to-business (B2B) marketing and expert networking. With more than 200 countries and 900 million users, it presents incredible opportunities for agencies to establish their brands, find top talent, and interact with business executives Our LinkedIn advertising employer creates customized tactics to assist you optimize your effect and reach since they are aware of the subtleties of this site. Our services range from agency website optimization to content monetization and targeted advertising and marketing to make sure your brand stands out in the business world. Through the promotion of employee engagement, the dissemination of pertinent material, and the utilization of LinkedIn advertising, we assist you in establishing a strong online presence on this platform and cultivating deep relationships with your target audience. Embrace the Power of Social Media Marketing Our method is based on a strong commitment to information-driven insights. We are aware that in the always-changing world of social media, it is essential to regularly monitor and assess performance indicators to provide the best possible outcomes. Our team of statisticians and analysts uses cutting-edge tools and techniques to glean priceless information from your social media marketing. Our thorough analytics and reporting, which include conversion metrics, demographics of the target audience, engagement rates, and return on financing, explain our tactics and drive ongoing optimization. We will make well-informed decisions, improve our strategies, and ensure that your social media advertising initiatives are yielding real results and driving business growth by utilizing information-driven insights. Data-Driven Insights for Optimal Results The world of social media advertising is always changing along with technology. To ensure that our clients remain at the forefront of digital innovation, we at Saffron Edge take great pride in being ahead of the curve and adopting emerging technologies and processes. We are constantly looking for new methods to improve your brand's social media presence and engage with your target audience in unique and engaging ways. From harnessing the power of augmented reality and digital reality to investigating the potential of Web3 and the metaverse, we never stop learning. Our team of innovative professionals is committed to keeping up with the most recent advancements in social media advertising, so that our clients may access the most up-to-date solutions available hold them in advance of the competition. Unlock the full potential of your business with Saffron Edge Success in the ever-changing world of social media marketing and advertising is more often than not an ongoing journey. At Saffron Edge, we're committed to being your trusted partner on this journey, offering the expertise, materials, and steadfast direction you require to unleash the full potential of your brand. Make use of social media's power to elevate your logo to new heights. Reach out to our premier social media marketing and advertising company in New Jersey right now to schedule a consultation and learn how our creative solutions can help your company succeed in the digital sphere. ...
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Marketing Law Firm Trends: Attorney Marketing Guide
Updated on Nov 17, 2023 If we talk about online marketing strategy for any niche, most of the time it remains the same. But when it comes to competitive niches, you need to play smart. You need to bring creativity to the regular marketing strategies. Why Online Marketing for Law Firms is Competitive? Legal Services is one of the most competitive yet profitable niche in the digital industry. According to Statista, it was listed as the 3rd most profitable niche in the United States in 2017: With such a great profit ratio, this industry is constantly getting over-saturated. More and more people are investing into the legal services. The revenue of legal services is also constantly growing year over year: Traditional vs. Digital Marketing for Law Firms A business without a customer is nothing but a well without water, and for acquiring customers you need to adopt versatile marketing strategies. The digital media and targeted advertising has taken a great edge over the traditional marketing activities in terms of leads generation. There are various reasons behind the downfall of traditional marketing, including: Lack of interaction with the targeted audience Cost is usually high compared to digital marketing Inaccuracy of ROI measurement Lack of customer feedbacks Poor conversion rate Lack of personalization No long-term benefits For the same reason, most business owners have started focusing on the digital side and consider it worth investing. Here is a statistic on the change of spending in digital marketing and traditional marketing: What is Legal or Attorney Marketing? If you own a law firm and want to generate leads for your business, then it is recommended that you opt for digital marketing instead of burning all your investment on traditional marketing. Before proceeding into the depths of attorney online marketing strategies we must learn what exactly it means by legal or attorney marketing. In simple words, Law Firm Marketing can be defined as: Law Firm Marketing is all about utilizing all the online marketing channels to brand your legal services achieving your goals in terms of website traffic, engagement and lead generation. But, before kick starting your first law firm marketing campaign you need to know the following crucial factors: Digital Marketing Objectives Setting up marketing objectives is one of the basic and prior needs of your digital marketing strategy. Working hard with your marketing plan won’t help your law firm if it’s being done in the wrong direction. It is mandatory to set up your legal marketing objectives and goals so that you can easily track whether or not the strategy is working out for your law firm. Digital marketing objectives could be: Conversions or lead generation Increase website traffic and engagement Brand awareness Community building Adresta recently revealed some great statistics on the importance of setting the right digital marketing objectives. Here are the findings of that research: Competitive Analysis One of the great quotes of Sun Tzu applies really well in order to analyze the real importance of competitive analysis: If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. If you are running a law firm, it is important for you to know who your competitors are in the digital landscape. Once you succeed to find the right competitors who are doing really well with their online marketing campaigns then it would be an easy task for you to craft an effective digital marketing strategy for your attorney website as well. Because competitor analysis helps you understand: Which law firms are performing well on which digital marketing channel? How to prioritize your digital marketing activities? How an ideal law firm website should look like? Where your brand is currently standing and how much time will it take to get an edge? What are your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)? How to allot your marketing budget among different channels? How Competitive Analysis can be done? Each of the marketing medium has a different way of performing competitive analysis. The following comprehensive hierarchy chart will give you a better understanding of competitive analysis on each of the aspects of marketing: Execution Plan a.k.a Marketing Plan Let’s move forward to the execution stage once you are done with the competitive analysis on all the grounds of online marketing for your law firm. Following are the areas that you need to dive in to in order to bring qualified traffic and leads to your attorney business. Rise of AI-powered Legal marketing trends Data-Driven Insights: AI algorithms play a pivotal role in legal marketing by processing vast amounts of data to gain insights into client preferences, behaviors, and industry trends. This data-driven approach enables law firms to make informed decisions about their marketing strategies, ensuring a more targeted and effective outreach. Personalized Messaging: Leveraging AI in legal marketing allows for the creation of personalized messages tailored to specific client needs. By analyzing client data, AI algorithms help legal professionals craft content that resonates with their audience, enhancing engagement and building stronger client relationships. Predictive Analytics: AI's predictive capabilities assist in forecasting future legal trends and client behaviors. This empowers marketing initiatives with the ability to proactively address emerging issues, positioning most law firms as thought leaders in their respective fields and staying ahead of the curve. 24/7 Customer Support: AI-powered chatbots contribute to a seamless customer experience in the legal industry by providing 24/7 support. These virtual assistants can answer queries, offer basic legal information, and guide potential clients through initial inquiries, ensuring round-the-clock accessibility and responsiveness. Optimized Marketing Spend: AI facilitates programmatic advertising, allowing many law firms to automate the bidding and placement of digital ads. This optimization ensures that marketing budgets are used efficiently, reaching the right audience with the most relevant legal services, thereby maximizing the impact of marketing initiatives. In recent years, AI-powered marketing has emerged as a transformative force in the field of advertising and promotion. Artificial Intelligence has helped marketers harness the power of data and automation in ways that were previously unimaginable. This technology is revolutionizing the way companies connect with their target audiences, understand consumer behavior, and optimize their marketing efforts. Using AI is one of the ongoing marketing law firm trends, which is helping legal firms gain a competitive edge in the market. AI in marketing is used for a variety of purposes. For instance, AI algorithms can process and analyze massive amounts of data, providing insights that help marketers understand consumer preferences, behaviors, and trends. This data-driven approach allows for more precise targeting and personalized messaging. Additionally, AI can forecast future trends and customer behavior, helping marketers make informed decisions about content, product development, and advertising strategies. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants provide 24/7 customer support, answer queries, and engage with website visitors, enhancing customer service and user experience. Programmatic advertising, enabled by AI, ensures real-time, automated bidding and placement of digital ads, optimizing ad spend and reaching the right audience at the right time. AI-driven tools can even generate content, including articles, social media posts, and video scripts, saving time and resources for marketers. Key legal marketing trends: First party data First-party data refers to the information collected directly from customers by a business. This data is considered the most valuable and reliable because it comes directly from the source. With the surging data privacy concerns and regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, first-party data is becoming increasingly important for marketing strategies. It includes customer demographics, including information like age, gender, location, and income, which can help marketers target their audience more effectively. Behavioral data, detailing how customers interact with a company's website, products, or services, informs personalized marketing campaigns. You need to understand the customers' purchase history to allow tailored recommendations and upselling. Additionally, first-party data includes feedback and reviews, providing insights into satisfaction, pain points, and areas for improvement. Utilizing first-party data responsibly and effectively requires a deep understanding of data privacy and consent. Marketers must ensure that they have the necessary permissions to collect and use this data while respecting privacy regulations. Video marketing domination Video marketing has become a dominant force in the marketing world for several compelling reasons. Videos are inherently engaging and captivating, surpassing the appeal of text or static images, making them highly effective for conveying messages and stories. Social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram have made video content more accessible and shareable, enabling brands to reach a wider audience. Moreover, video content can improve a website's search engine ranking, driving more organic traffic and expanding online visibility. With the rise of mobile devices, video is easily consumable on smartphones and tablets, making it a preferred format for many users. Additionally, live streaming, such as webinars and social media live streams, allows for real-time engagement with the audience, increasing the interactive nature of video marketing. As a result, video marketing has become an essential component of many marketing strategies, enabling brands to connect with their audience in a more interactive and dynamic way. Demonstrating legal purpose and responsibility In the age of data privacy and heightened consumer awareness, marketers must demonstrate legal and ethical responsibility in their practices. Key considerations include ensuring explicit consent to collect and use personal data, providing transparent information about how the data will be used, protecting customer data through robust cybersecurity measures, adhering to data protection regulations like GDPR and CCPA, and maintaining open and honest communication about data practices and privacy policies. Moreover, marketers should only retain data for as long as necessary and have a clear policy for data disposal. To exemplify legal purpose and responsibility, marketers must establish a comprehensive data governance framework that outlines how data is collected, stored, and used. This framework should incorporate compliance with relevant regulations, regular audits, and data protection measures to safeguard customer information. Additionally, marketers should proactively educate their teams on data privacy and ensure that all stakeholders are aligned with the organization's commitment to legal and ethical marketing practices. Ultimately, demonstrating legal purpose and responsibility is not just about complying with laws but also about fostering trust with customers, which is invaluable in modern marketing. Privacy centric legal marketing Privacy-centric legal marketing refers to marketing practices that prioritize and respect consumer privacy while staying within the boundaries of the law. This approach acknowledges that consumer data is a sensitive asset that must be handled with care. Legal marketing trends involve collecting only the data necessary for specific marketing purposes and avoiding unnecessary data accumulation. Protecting customer identities by using anonymized data whenever possible. Implementing top legal marketing trends for data collection ensures that consumers actively consent to sharing their data, which is among the major marketing law firm trends. Using strong encryption methods to protect data during transmission and storage and conducting regular internal audits to ensure data protection compliance and security. By adopting privacy-centric legal marketing strategies, businesses can build trust with their customers., avoid legal complications and maintain a positive brand image in an era where data privacy is important. UX Design Trends for Law Firm Law Firm User Experience Design refers to a process of designing a platform where attorneys cater the users’ problems by offering them best-in-class online experience. So, UX is not just a website instead it’s all about designing online experiences for users. Majority of the lawyers consider it as just an online company profile. They are totally unaware of the hidden benefits of a user-friendly legal services website. You might get shocked with the fact that in this digital era, around 40% of the small law firms don’t even have a website. If you are compromising on having a user and conversion friendly website, then you are missing a big chunk of a targeted market. Source: Profitworks.ca Having a legal services website helps your law firm in accessing potential customers who are looking for legal services online. Nearly 70% of law firms have earned potential law cases through their online presence with a website. Characteristics of a Marketing Centric Website Imagine a client comes onboard and you miss the commitments, what’s gonna happen? He will bounce back, right? Similarly, it happens the same way when your law firm's marketing strategy is driving traffic to your website but it’s unable to meet the users’ expectation. Most of the people value their website no more than a business profile. It’s actually a lead generation machine if it is properly utilized. If you are building a website, it must contain the following characteristics from a marketing standpoint: Mobile Optimized After the Google’s Mobile-First Indexing update, mobile websites have become a center point of attraction for the business owners. According to which, the mobile version of your website will be given the priority over the desktop while indexing by the Google. So make sure that your mobile’s website structure is user and search engine friendly. Additionally, the mobile traffic of the website in most of the niches is increasing drastically. According to a data by Stone Temple, Legal Services or Law Firm niche is among the most mobile-centric industries. Accessibility Having a creative website containing captivating visuals does not consider as a user-friendly website. Accessibility is one of a major factor of user-friendly website. Your website design should be capable to cater users’ problem within the matter of milliseconds. According to a legal research study, a user takes 50 milliseconds to make an opinion about a website. So considering the fact that the first impression of a user is a crucial one since it will decide that whether or not he/she is willing to proceed the journey. While designing a law firm website, you need to follow certain rules of accessibility. The best way is to consider the ADA Compliant Website checklist which will give you an exact idea on what needs to be done in order to make it accessible for all sorts of audience. Conversion Centered A website without conversion centric elements is like a product without a manual. It actually helps customers in a positive ending of their journey. According to HubSpot, following are 7 principles of a conversion centered web design: Now let’s take a look how these principles could be implemented on your law firm website. Encapsulation This technique is mainly used to bring the attention of a user to a certain spot of the website where your CTA is placed. It could be done via using contrast colors or dynamic shapes. One lawyer website, WACHP.com did a really good work with the encapsulation technique. Main tagline along with a CTA is being placed on the torn part of the box. Contrast and Color It simply refers to playing with contrast colors. When you use a totally different color on your call-to-action button compared with its background color, it will automatically bring the user’s attention. Here is another great example of a law firm website, “Malman Law”, who played around the contrast and color strategy. Directional Cues It refers to visual indicators which are normally used to direct a user towards a certain call-to-action button. YLaw Group is doing really well with this technique. As shown in the above screenshot that the dog ear is in contrast color and is pointing towards a call-to-action button to generate more phone call leads. White Space White is a color that can make any color pop up. When it comes to CTA placement white spaces usually help them in making them stand out. Take Bighorn Law as an example and see how they utilized their white spaces in their website design. Urgent and Scarcity This rule is mainly used for e-commerce or SaaS business. But it could be done in several ways, like: Offer free consultation for a certain period of time Download a free resource i.e. e-book and whitepaper Try Before You Buy Offering a free trial to your clients can even generate massive leads for your law firm. So, if you are looking to expand the growth canvas then this is something that can surely bring an impact. West Coast Trial Lawyers are really doing well with this free trial strategy. Social Proof It basically refers to showing a crowd around your brand in order to build trust among the customers that other people are engaged with your business. This could be done by showing certain numbers, statistics and demographics of users who are currently engaged with your business or may have hired your services in the past. This is how you can also do it with your law firm website. Pay Per Click Marketing Trends for Law Firm Before digging into the pay per marketing strategies for attorney’s website, it is important to know the basic function of different paid campaigns for sure success: When investing into the PPC, you need to be very careful since its one of an expensive niches. According to an infographic found on WordStream, law industry has the highest average cost per click in the search ads. So here are some core pay per click marketing techniques that can help you make an effective paid campaign: Ruling Locally with a Proper Geo-Location Targeting Law firm marketing is mainly dependent on the local keywords so it is mandatory that you are targeting the right region in your campaigns. Around 36% of the Google searches belong to certain region/location. This seems to be a very basic factor but still many of the law firms avoid it and as a result they ruin their PPC budget. It is a fact that if your business is mainly designed to cater the local audience then your marketing efforts need to be focused towards generating local leads. It doesn’t even matter how much you are specialized in your industry, a person belonging to another region won’t come to ask for your services. Set the radius where you can actually serve your audience. Understanding Search Intent with respect to Budget Search intent is now becoming a very crucial part of both organic and paid marketing. Search Intent refers to understanding the core intention of a user’s query. Before proceeding with this discussion let’s learn the common search intent types: Branded Keywords: These are the queries when you are very much in the market and users are aware of your brand name. Informative Keywords: These are also known for problem solving queries. When a user seeks information using search query on Google. Transactional Keywords: These are actually money making keywords helping you generate more qualified leads for your business. qualified leads for your business. Transactional keywords like “injury lawyer Sanford” are commonly used in most of the law firm PPC campaigns. However, informative keywords could be used as well depending on the budget. Informative keywords have long-lasting impact on your business sales. Assume that a user is landing on a blog post or resource page containing in-depth guide through a keyword like “how to find the best divorce attorney”. Solve the problem of that user through your content and convert them through powerful call-to-actions. Magnetizing your Ad Copies Your ad copy actually decides whether users will continue their journey with your website or choose an alternate one. Consider following these ad copywriting techniques for an optimum quality score: Keep it relevant with the targeted keywords and landing page content Personalize your ad copies by serving 2nd person instead of 1st person Include facts and figures to gain the trust i.e law case winning numbers or number of clients, etc… Interrogative headlines sometimes do wonders in terms of increasing CTR Discuss the users’ benefits like ‘Free of Cost Consultation’ Play around the ego-bait technique to grab the user’s trust and attention Keeping your Audience Near to your Brand with Near Me Keywords Adding near me to your main service based keywords is now becoming a trend in the online marketing industry. It is actually getting hype and businesses are making dollars out of it. Here is a 5 years comparison of near me related keywords in the law firm industry: As you can see that near me related user searches are increasing over the span of last five years. Make sure that your pay per click strategy contains near me related keywords. Optimizing your Landing Pages Efficiently Here we need to understand a fact that PPC landing pages are different from regular service/product pages. Once a user lands on your website’s landing page, make sure to display only that content which is relevant to his/her search query. Following are some crucial factors: Avoid using unnecessary menus in the header navigation that can lead users to other pages Add a video which can help grabbing users’ trust either it could be testimonials, service overview, success stories, etc… Content relevant to the targeted keywords along with attractive visuals Add elements that indicate social proof around your brand Include phone number, email address, live chat and contact form for an ease to contact Mobile design should be user-friendly Social Media Marketing Trends for Law Firm Attorney at Work conducted a social media marketing survey and got responses from 406 legal professionals, including 183 lawyers. 85% of lawyers believes that social media is a part of their marketing strategy. Social media marketing not just helps you in branding your legal services but also helps you in bringing more potential clients for your business. Effective Social Media Platforms for Law Firms LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the 3 top most preferred social media platforms in the marketing strategy. Most of the law firms underestimate the power of social networks because they are unaware of the hidden benefits of this medium. Let’s learn how to promote your business on various social channels. Embracing LinkedIn for Lawyers Since, LinkedIn itself is an entirely a professional network, it works both the way i.e. create a personal profile and create a business page. Using Personal Profile for LinkedIn Marketing I won’t dig into a general discussion by listing down steps to create a LinkedIn account. Let’s proceed on how to brand a law firm on the most lawyers’ preferred social media network. Never let your LinkedIn profile be a resume by just listing your core skills, qualification and employer history. Instead make it look like profile of a thought leader by including the following elements: Add a professional profile photo and cover photo in order to grab optimum number of views. According to LinkedIn, a profile with a profile picture can have 21 times more views and up to 36 times more messages. Add all the niche related publications i.e. Blogs, E-Books and White Papers in your profile so that users can know the level of your expertise. Add your past achievements in your profile in order to retain the trust among the users. Get endorsements and recommendations from your clients and industry’s experts. Start adding relevant and potentials users to your account. Use a LinkedIn search feature to discover lawyers with in your niche and location. You can also add different niche lawyer belonging to a different geographical area. It has numerous benefits including potential referrals, builds community which can actually support your content. Once you are done with adding people of the same profession, then also consider adding people who could be a potential customer. Let’s say you are a Tax Lawyer then your potential users on LinkedIn could be CEOs, CFOs, Entrepreneurs and those who own any company within your geographical location. Once you found that you have a decent number of potential users on your LinkedIn account, then proceed with sharing your knowledge and experience in the form of posts, articles, videos or even slideshares. It is considered as one of the finest content distribution channel.Try focusing on crafting some unique, in-depth guides, how-to’s and listicle posts. Here are some jaw breaking facts about content marketing on LinkedIn: 45% of the LinkedIn article readers are in top-level positions including managers, VPs, and Directors (Source: LinkedIn) Maximum number of shares are acquired by long form content. (Source: OkDork) Even influencers are adopting this distribution channel and according to statistics 30 most shared content of 2015 & 2016 on LinkedIn were composed by LinkedIn Influencers. Using Company Page for LinkedIn Marketing Make sure that your official LinkedIn page is active and contain fruitful content for your targeted audience instead of just promotional stuff. The content mentioned above could also be shared on your company page. Follow the valuable company page management techniques guided by LinkedIn . Empowering Facebook Ads for Law Firm Marketing Let’s talk about the 2nd most preferred social media channel among lawyers. It is a common misconception that Facebook ads are only for promoting your product and services. Most of the business owners focus on a user-group who are in the purchasing phase. Source: Vendasta Though, that particular group of users can definitely offer the best ROI but it could be further improved if users from the previous groups are also being served. In this regard, your Facebook ads could be run for the following purposes: Blog Ads: Write a blog post on a common problem being faced by the audience in your niche and promote it on Facebook. E-Book Ads: In-depth content in the form of an e-book or whitepaper could be a value added asset for your business. Bring engagements on your assets effective ads campaign. Free Consultation Ads: Offering something free of cost to your users could increase the chance of optimum conversions. It must be a part of your Facebook ads. Video Ads: Video content could help users in getting their problem solved with in a matter of a minute. So, it is recommended to boost it on your Facebook to empower your video marketing. Legal Form Ads: Once you feel like users are now under your trust, start promoting your services. Lead ads are usually expensive than the rest of the campaign types so you need to make sure that users have a strong belief on your business. Retargeting Ads: Users who had shown certain interest in your brand could be a greater prospect. Don’t forget to show your upcoming ads to them using ads retargeting. Utilizing Twitter for Law Firm Marketing When you talk about Twitter, it doesn’t even matter which industry your business falls in. It is a powerful source of branding, community building and lead generation for any business. Here are some quick tips to boost your law firm marketing using Twitter: Follow the right people: Most of the people just randomly start following accounts regardless of knowing the niche of that person. It is recommended to follow people from the same niche or could be with in the arena of law industry. Initiate by tweeting to them or responding to their tweets to build a relation. In a longer run, it will definitely pay you out with referrals. Law isn’t about being too formal: it’s a myth that law industry is a serious and formal niche. Most of the law firms twitter accounts seem to be boring. Don’t be too formal instead share memes, GIFs and videos which are relevant to the context. It actually helps in digesting the information easily than a dry content form. Participate in trending hashtags: When you find a trending hashtag in your specific niche, start tweeting and participating in it. These trending hashtags can assist you in sure-shot visibility on Twitter. Run a custom hashtag campaign: Make sure to run your own custom made hashtag campaign with time to time. Make sure that your hashtag contains your brand name. Search Engine Optimization Trends for Law Firm This is something where your major focus should be. It’s an ongoing process that offer long-lasting returns but you need to make sure that all aspect of your SEO campaign are properly aligned. Most of the SEO agencies cater each project the same way regardless of knowing the trends in that specific niche. Such agencies are considered as Bunny-Bread agencies that tend to implement the same techniques on all niche projects. There are various aspects in law firm SEO where the techniques vary or are different compared with the rest of the niches. What is Attorney SEO? Attorney SEO refers to a process of bringing your website’s ranking on the first page of search engines by adopting search engine friendly techniques resulting in qualified organic traffic and conversions. Effective SEO Strategies for Law Firm Let’s dig in each of the aspect of law firm SEO in order bring qualified organic traffic and conversions for the website. Keywords Research and Analysis When we talk about keywords research, there are majorly 3 types of keywords: Primary Keywords Secondary Keywords Tertiary Keywords But they could be further divided into the following: The entire game of local SEO is based on the location based keywords in which you are actually targeting that specific user group who are at their conversion phase. When it comes to location specific keywords, it is recommended to include ‘near me’ and ‘around me’ related terms instead of just focusing on the main region. Such keywords should be majorly targeted on the home page of the website whereas all the buying intent keywords should be targeted on the inner or category pages of the website. No doubt that these local and buying intent keywords are the money making machine for any law firm but at the same time the importance of long-tail keywords can’t be ignored. Did you know that 70% of the web searchesp are made via long-tail queries? --> Source: Neil Patel Now, here a question arises that how can someone explore the long-tail keywords? My simple opinion would be to strengthen your research skills and find commonly asked questions over the internet. Here’s how you can do it! Using keyword research tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs. Using Google Search BuzzSumo Question Analyzer Discover QnA platforms like Quora. Onsite SEO Strategies for Attorney Website Following are some onsite SEO strategies that need to be adopted in order to make your website up to the search engine standards: Optimize your title tags by incorporating your targeted keywords in it. Don’t spam, make it more natural for the search engines and users. Follow the same rule of optimization for the heading tags as well. Compress your website’s images and attribute them with appropriate ALT text. Avoid using duplicate content on the website instead create unique content for your business website. Proper canonicalization structure needs to be followed. After the Mobile-First Indexing Update, Google is now primarily considering your mobile version of the website. Make sure your website is responsive and its content is similar compared with the desktop version. Build a proper internal linking structure on the entire website. Publish blog post on the website actively to not only generate traffic but revenue as well. Technical SEO Techniques to Follow Following are the crucial technical SEO factors that need to be considered while finalizing your website: Improve page speed scores of both mobile and desktop. Consider using Google’s latest Lighthouse Tool. Optimize the crawl budget by removing the unnecessary resources and redirections from the website. Include a proper XML sitemap and submit it to the Google Search Console. Upload robots.txt file to let Google know about the unnecessary paths to disallow. Implement Schema Markup of Local Businesses and Reviews on the website. Add SSL certification to your website. Eliminate the overall number of broken links on the website. Avoid using flash elements on the website. URLs should be search engine and user-friendly. Add breadcrumbs for a digestible website structure. Local SEO Strategies for a Surefire Success Source: SEO Expert Brad Google Maps plays a vital role when your business is located in a certain region. It is mandatory that your business is accessible to your audience on the map results. The local search ranking is based on the theory of NAP+W. N = Business Name A = Address P = Phone Number W = Website It is important for any webmaster to have all the above information in order to rank in the local search results. Beside this, following factors have a strong impact on your website’s rankings in the SERPs: Accuracy Number of Local Citations User reviews Accuracy of Business Information Accuracy is a core element of Google Trust on which it actually decides which businesses to index high in the local search results. Below image from Moz’s Whiteboard Friday will easily define the main factors that influence local listings’ accuracy: Source: Moz In short, you need to make sure that the following information of your business should be the same on all the local directories over the internet: Business Name Business Address Business Primary Phone Number Business Hours Business Website Business Email Most of the business owners and marketers avoid this inaccuracy concern but the truth is that $10.3 billion worth of sales are being wasted every year because of missing or incomplete business information. This will eventually result in losing customers’ trust in your brand and here is a statistical data which will prove the given statement. There are various other factors that influence the accuracy of a business information but the above mentioned are the ones that actually impact your online and offline conversions. Moz listed the main local data providers on their website, make sure that your business information is correct on these data sources. You can also run a local citation test by hiring services or tools like Yext, WhiteSpark, BrightLocal, TheHoth and PlacesScout. Number of Local Citations Get your attorney featured on optimum number of business submission platforms. This will actually give signals to crawlers which will eventually increase your website ranking in the local pack search results. Your primary focus should be getting your business submitted on the following websites: Google my Business Yelp Bing Local.com Merchant Circle Foursquare YellowPages.com Whitepages Yellowbook CitySearch User Reviews Acquisition As you can see in the above screenshot that Google gives importance to the businesses having good customer reviews. Users prefer reading business reviews before hiring any law firm for their cases. Source: Bright Local Here are some best practices for reviews acquisition and management: Ask your clients to review your law firm on Google my Business Avoid posting fake reviews. Cater the negative reviews as well. Create a separate reviews landing page which can direct the users to your GMB page. Ask for reviews from industry experts and influencers in your circle who has different expertise than yours. Link Building Techniques for Law Firm Link building plays a vital role in the overall Local SEO campaign. According to a statistic by Bright Local, 72% believes that link building is one of a very important task in their SEO campaign. There are numerous benefits of building high authority and relevant links for the website including: Increase page and domain authority Increase referral traffic Increase brand visibility and exposure Links from high authority websites increase syndication opportunities Increase website’s trust and credibility Edge over the competitors Additionally, you need to look in to different metrics before proceeding towards building a link which includes: Domain Authority (DA) Domain Rating (DR) Page Authority (PA) Page Rating (PR) Spam Score Trust Flow Organic Traffic Let’s learn some profound link building techniques for the law firm industry: Legal Directories Relevancy matters the most when it comes to building links for the competitive niche. Directory submission that exactly falls in the law category could be very powerful for your organic search campaign. Avoid submitting your website on general directory submission websites since you won’t find any value in it instead it would be harmful in terms of website’s ranking in the SERPs. Here are legal directories which will definitely assist you with link acquisition. S. No. Directories DR 1 https://lawyers.law.cornell.edu/ 91 2 https://www.avvo.com/ 90 3 https://www.justia.com/ 88 4 https://www.bestlawyers.com/ 81 5 https://www.leadcounsel.org/ 72 6 https://www.lawguru.com/ 71 7 https://www.ilrg.com/ 67 8 https://www.lawyercentral.com/ 67 9 https://www.elocal.com/lawyers/ 73 10 http://www.morelaw.com/ 54 11 http://www.lawfuel.com/ 51 12 http://lawlink.com/ 54 13 https://www.myattorneyhome.com/ 47 14 http://www.lawyerlegion.com/ 57 15 https://www.listalegal.com/en/ 51 16 http://www.judged.com/ 52 17 https://www.attorneys.org/ 33 18 http://legalpointer.com/ 6 19 https://help-lawyer.com/ 33 20 https://www.legallistings.us/ 31 21 https://www.halt.org/ 43 22 http://www.legalwebfinder.com/ 30 23 http://personalinjuryattorneys.tv/ 7 24 https://allgoodlawyers.org/ 25 25 https://www.dilawctory.com/ 31 26 https://www.familylawcentre.com/ 30 27 https://www.lawyrs.net/ 29 28 http://www.pathlegal.com/ 29 29 https://www.justipedia.com/ 19 30 https://www.lawdeeda.com/ 20 31 https://www.mylegalpractice.com/ 25 32 https://justicefinder.com/ 25 33 https://lawyernext.com/ 2 34 http://personalinjurywarriors.com/ 25 35 http://www.legalfeefinancing.com/ 33 36 http://www.bestattorneysrankings.com/ 14 37 https://biglaw.org/ 23 38 https://www.legalserviceslink.com/ 51 39 https://legaldockets.com/ 22 Guest Blogging Guest blogging is one of the most powerful content marketing technique through which you can acquire some high quality links for your attorney website. As per statistic found on HubSpot, 53% of the marketers believe that blogging is their top content marketing priority. Guest blogging is not about featuring your content on a general and ordinary blog in order to acquire link. Following factors does matter for successful guest blogging: Relevancy Decent traffic (both overall and organic) Decent link metrics i.e. DA, DR, Spam Score, etc… Consider indexability factors Non-PBN Unique C-Block IPs Once you succeed in finding the best prospects for your guest blogging, you will not only obtain SEO benefits but also observe referral traffic coming in. Tim Soulo, the CMO of Ahrefs once did a survey from 500+ bloggers to know whether or not guest post offers referral traffic and here is what he came up with. --> Scholarship Programs Educational or .edu domains carry its own worth in the SEO industry. There was a time when people were actively building links on .edu domains and as a result Google algorithms started ignoring a lot .edu links. If it is properly implemented, then it could be the best link acquisition technique for the difficult niches like law. Try introducing some authentic scholarship programs for the university students through which your website will get featured on an official .edu websites. Link Bait Assets Though marketing in a competitive niche is not an easy job so it is obvious that you need to think out of the box. By producing some unique and top quality link bait assets you can easily attract tons of backlinks towards your website. Here are some common types link bait assets: In-depth content like e-books, resources, whitepapers and case studies Infographics Slideshares Visual assets like statistics, surveys, demographics and charts Videos with a captivating message Roundup Participation This link building technique could be sure-shot for your law firm. All you need to do is to find roundups opportunities over the internet and outreach them to feature your website. There are two common types of roundups in which you can participate: Experts Roundup – Place yourself as an influencer and people will approach you to get your opinion on a specific topic. Your feedback will be featured on their blogs along with your website address. Weekly/Monthly News Roundup – Try producing some quality resources on your website and outreach different niche related website which usually feature news and resources on their website. Growth Hacking Trends for Law Firms Growth hacking simply refers to those strategies which are mainly focused towards the growth of the organization. When businesses are in its early stage and expect an instant growth then it could do miracles if it’s done right. Growth hacking doesn’t belong to separate digital marketing group but its actually a mix of all. Most of the marketing strategies have been discussed in the article which directly or indirectly relate to growth hacking. But here are some ways through which you can boost your attorney’s growth: Video Marketing Video marketing is a content marketing technique through which you can deliver your message in less time. Try creating some unique and emotionally attractable videos and get them posted on your website and other video submission platforms. Consider the following rules before making the video for your law firm: Keep it short and to the point Keep it engaging Attractive video thumbnail Video title that can influence CTR Should be mobile optimized Email Marketing Regardless of any niche, email marketing has proven to be one of the best conversion acquisition channel. The average ROI from email marketing is estimated at 3800% or $38 on every dollar invested. Your email marketing campaign could be design on the following subjects: Offer free consultation Successful Case Story Recent launch of Resources on Website Blog post update News about an offline event Here are the best practices to follow while initiating your email marketing campaign: Attractive subject lines Clear call-to-action buttons Well-designed landing pages Personalization Factor Short and to the point Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing is all about onboarding influencers and experts on an objective to promote your business. This could be done in both the ways: Paid Promotion – Hiring influencers to promote your business across various channels including blog, video platforms, social networks and more. Mutual Benefits – Come up with a deal which can benefit them as well like featuring them on your blog and asking them to share the blog post in their circle. In a Nutshell: Law firm marketing isn’t about promoting your attorney online using ordinary and traditional marketing tactics. it’s among the toughest niches of all the time so you need to bring something extraordinary on the table to outrank your competitors in all the digital marketing grounds. Try executing the strategies mentioned in this article to boost your website performance in terms of traffic and leads acquisition. If you have a decent budget then it’s recommended to utilize it wisely. Paid and organic search marketing should be your prior focus. Spend some budget on money making keywords and if its generating conversions then consider them as main targeted keywords for your organic search campaigns as well. If you’re looking to increase your visibility and generate more clients for your practice, give us a call today. ...
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