3 Ways You Can Create Impactful Legal Marketing Videos

This is a guest post by Robert Weiss, President of MultiVision Digital.

Successful attorneys are spending less on traditional networking and advertising these days, instead opting for video marketing as a critical way to win new business.

One of the things that attorneys LOVE about video is its many tangible benefits, including:

• Higher lead conversion rates from online searches

• Increased lead conversions from referrals

• More time spent on web pages (a key Google algorithm metric)

• Showcasing partners’ human side

• Increased brand awareness

Lawyers still gain many new clients with face-to-face personal relationships. But video marketing can contributes to these new client engagements, adding to top of the funnel case work while traditional sources decline.

In today’s economy, clients are on the lookout for video. We have all grown up watching television and we are very comfortable making purchase decisions based on video marketing efforts. Lawyers can capitalize on this behavior by creating their own video marketing campaigns to convert leads and build trust.

Make an Investment in Attorney Video Marketing

Video saves clients time in evaluating you as it gives them more information more quickly than reading. Video provides visuals that text and images just can't match. There are three ways that law firms can approach video marketing, from low cost to higher investment (and quality):

1. Do it yourself video production
2. Hire a video production firm that has a remote video recording solution
3. Hire a professional video production company for an on-location shoot

Each of these options will give you video content so clients can see and hear your “bed-side manner."

DIY legal video production

With the array of prosumer video cameras, smartphones with cameras that shoot 4k, and cheap accessible equipment, everyone can be a video producer.  So producing your own video content has become much easier than it ever has been.  

Thus, it may be tempting to start legal video production for your firm on your own rather than hiring a professional video production company. The FREE guide 5 Tips to Look Your Best on Camera provides some valuable tips for do-it yourselfers.

Tip #1 - Align Video to Your Business Objective

Tip #2 - Focus on 3 Bullet Points

Tip #3 - Get in the Mindset of Talking with a Client

Tip #4 - Proper Framing

Tip #5 - Proper Clothing 

And one more — smile and have fun!

It takes time to gain experience of producing your own video, and you want to ensure that what you produce professionally reflects your organization. Given that, you should consider starting with a video production company. Once you gain more expertise, then you can balance your internal DIY content with a professional video production services company.

And the great news is that you SHOULD be producing your own video. Video marketing is about creating a consistent flow of video content, so types of videos that are great for a DIY approach are:

• Social media videos

• Commentary on a seminar or trade show

• Videos for recruiting sites

• Company events / celebrations

There is no exact answer for what the ratio of DIY to professional video is as every firm will be different. Select a few people in your firm to handle the logistics and evaluate as time goes on to discover what works best for your budget, quality, and frequency. Once you find a pattern that works, you’ll be able to do the smaller projects in house and leave the bigger video projects to professional video production services companies.

Leverage remote video production

Remote video production has become popular these days. It decreases the investment involved in producing attorney video marketing content by eliminating on-location pre-production, equipment set-up and break down, and having an on-location video production crew.

In any economy, remote video recording solutions are a fantastic way to create quality video content like thought leadership videos, FAQ videos, and testimonial videos. Any type of video that is mainly driven by a talking head and does not require lots of B-roll footage of the location or action shots of people working.  

Whether you’re trying to save money from on-location shoots, or an event like COVID-19 has made them challenging or impossible, remote video production gives law firms the ability to continue to expand their B2B online marketing presence with video.

The value of remote video production gives you a cost-effective solution of using your smartphone, with the direction video creator, to record videos of yourself and include on-screen text, charts, graphs and stock footage to create a coherent business communication. 

NOTE: Remote video production is not a solution for firm overview videos, client case studies and practice area videos.  Because they are among your most prominent pieces of content, they should call for higher quality investment.

Hire a professional video production company 

Attorneys are a professional service. And so are video production professionals. Just as your clients don’t see most of the research, preparation, and expertise that goes into how you handle their case, it's easy to overlook how much more goes into making a quality promotional video beyond the cameras and equipment. 

While many lawyers are great in front of clients and in the courtroom, performing in front of the camera can be a challenging and even humbling experience. Thus, if you don’t have experience with making videos, it’s a good idea to solicit the expertise of a professional video production services company. They have the knowledge and expertise to: 

• Ensure your message is clear and on point

• Allow you to visually connect with your audience so you appear open, re-assuring, and human

• Create a set that is visually appealing with proper lighting and framing

• Edit the video so it ends up being as professional as your office, your clothing and your other marketing materials

Just like any professional service, it is the experience involved in producing, directing, and getting the message of your video perfect that is the secret sauce.

There is a common, and mistaken, belief that hiring a professional video production services company is a huge investment. This deters some firms from taking advantage of this vital resource. But there is not just one investment bracket for law firm video marketing, just as we have varied individual budgets for cars, houses, and furniture. I recommend doing more research: I find there are five main areas that will drive the cost up or down on your video project. 

People from solo entrepreneurs to global companies leverage video towards a solid return on investment. Each firm has their own approach, quality level, budget and cadence. What’s important is to find the one that fits for you.

Conclusion

Having legal video marketing assets is about responding to what people are looking for. Video content is often the first thing that prospective clients seek when they go on a search for solutions to their problems. Chances are visitors are going to view your video before anything else available online.

Integrating video content into your law firm’s website and digital footprint will differentiate you from your competition by clearly communicating your value proposition, build relationships with viewers and motivate clients to move into and through the buying process.