An e-book is a digital publication, like an in-depth report, that provides comprehensive information, usually in PDF format. E-books for lawyers are all the brilliance of content marketing in its purest form. Content marketing is an effective technique because it offers something of value, no strings attached, to your target audience in an effort to grow trust and demonstrate your expertise. If you can see the value in offering free, informative articles on your law firm’s website, then the appeal of offering a full law firm e-book is merely an extension of that.
This powerful tool can be used by law firms to educate potential clients, establish themselves as industry leaders, and even streamline certain client processes. By offering more extensive and thorough guidance through a practical e-book, you can engage with your ideal clients on a deeper level and demonstrate your firm’s commitment to service. If you want to leverage the power of law firm e-book marketing, Lexicon Legal Content can help.
What Is an E-Book?
Before diving into the benefits of using an e-book in your law firm marketing, let’s start with the basics. The kind of e-book your law firm would ideally create isn’t anything that would have to be viewed on a Kindle or require any special software or app. Readers can quickly download them and read them on a tablet, laptop, or smartphone. Today, most e-books are attractively formatted to read in columns like a magazine and feature catchy images, graphs, charts, full color, and embedded videos rather than boring black and white documents.
What’s the Point of Offering a Freebie Legal E-book?
Offering a giveaway e-book on your law firm’s website is what’s called a “lead magnet.” Website visitors will provide you with their name and email address in exchange for getting access to the e-book. All of this is automated and easy for your web designer to install. Providing a free e-book allows you to convert readers into leads, grow your email list and social media following, and promote your brand.
Creating a Proper Law Firm E-book Sales Funnel
To get the most out of your e-book, you’ll need to gently guide your website visitor to take the desired action (i.e., downloading the e-book), which is known as getting them into your “sales funnel.” A sales funnel is like the dating process: start slow and build. You don’t want to ask them to marry you on the first date or never ask them out—build trust and then go for it. Here’s how a law firm can set up a solid e-book sales funnel:
- Introduce the e-book: Mention the title and give a brief description.
- Highlight benefits: Why should someone visiting your law firm’s website download this e-book?
- Create Urgency or Discuss Pain Points: Depending on what kind of law you practice and the subject of your e-book, you might explain how time is of the essence and encourage the reader to get your e-book right away. On the other hand, it might be more appropriate to show how your e-book addresses particular pain points you know your clients typically have.
- Provide a call-to-action: Tell the website visitor what to do, like, “Download this e-book now” or “Get started today.” Be specific and include a time frame like “now” or “today.” Here is where you want to put the contact form for viewers to provide their names and email addresses.
- Sprinkle e-book download forms throughout the site: If your main e-book sales funnel is on your homepage, still put little reminders in your blog sidebar, site footer, and so on gently reminding visitors about the e-book.
- Measure and optimize: Monitor the performance of your e-book by tracking metrics like conversion rates, email open rates, and click-throughs. Use this data to make any necessary tweaks.
At Lexicon Legal Content, we can not only create your law firm’s e-book but also audit an existing sales funnel or create one for you.
Law Firm E-book Topic Ideas
For your law firm e-book marketing to be most effective, whatever you offer really needs to be your magnum opus, so to speak. Not only do you need an attention-grabbing headline like “7 Things Texas Divorce Lawyers Won’t Tell You,” but you need the content to be thorough and complete. To get inspired, here are a few thoughts:
- What is one of the most common conversations you repeat over and over again with new clients? Not only can you bring in new leads, but you can give the e-book to existing clients.
- What is your particular niche or specialty in your sector of the law? For example, a personal injury lawyer might have an extensive background with dog bite cases and create an e-book dedicated to that specifically rather than personal injury in general.
- Were you ever involved in a high-profile case? Discuss the legal aspects from your “insider perspective.”
- What do your clients need that isn’t currently available to them? Dig deep. What is being overlooked?
- What questions does one of your new clients not even realize they should be asking?
The more you can include detailed information about the local nitty gritty, the better. Divorce or bankruptcy lawyers might include, for instance, detailed instructions and a map of where to find free parking near the courthouse, warn people about wearing shorts, and recommend clients use the side entrance for less waiting at security.
Create an Email Follow-Up Series
Someone downloading your law firm’s e-book is the beginning of the journey, not the end. Set up an automated email sequence to check in with, share insights with, and, in a non-aggressive way, nurture the relationship of those who download your e-book. Your follow-up emails should be short, gentle, and of value. Include your contact information, but remember that being too sales-y can turn people off.
How to Get a Law Firm E-Book Made
Lexicon Legal Content can curate a detailed and thorough e-book with your input. Our talented team of writers has extensive experience creating content in all practice areas, and our graphic design team can turn their words into an attractive, modern e-book that will get downloaded and convert readers to clients. We consider not only the target clientele you are looking to attract but also make sure your e-book will stand out in a crowded marketplace. E-book marketing is under-utilized in the legal industry, and, in many markets, you could easily be the first attorney to offer one.
Get Started with Law Firm E-Book Marketing Now!
Lexicon Legal Content understands content marketing and leveraging e-books as lead magnets inside-out. Let us get your law firm ahead of the competition with this tried-and-true strategy, which, unlike blogging, is a one-time investment. Let’s start brainstorming topics! To get started, contact our friendly staff now.
