Using Technology to Market Your Law Firm

Everyone has undoubtedly witnessed the tremendous rise in the day-to-day use of electronic information devices. Most individuals no longer have the patience to wait even until they get home to Google for information about a subject or business that interests them. They use phones, PDAs, or other handheld devices to instantly absorb information. So it only seems natural that advertisers and businesses would follow suit and try to gain a share of the information overload.

In a recent article in Law.com, Zoe Tillman explored some of the more alternative methods to reach this instant gratification information society. One such method is through a company called textMyCity, which allows individuals to text message the name of a company they are interested in to textMyCity who then instantly replies with contact and other information on that company. In order to use the service, companies are charged a monthly fee and then five cents per text. While, there is little doubt that text messaging is a major craze, Tillman reports that few law firms are currently using this service. However, this isn’t surprising given that most law firms have a gut wrenching, pull your hair out kind of acceptance policy of anything new.

Another technique that is being heavily pursued by businesses is creation of a more “Google friendly” website. Google’s user-friendly nature has attracted millions of consumers to its search engine to locate information on services and products. As a result businesses are trying desperately to make sure they are highly visible on Google. In order to become more popular on the Google site, firms are often told to dial down the graphics and opt instead for a text only page. This will allow everyone access to your site and will therefore make you the more popular choice during a search.

Firms and businesses are also entering the online marketplace sites like Craigslist or social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. At the moment these sites do not have a very large legal presence, but with the increase in these sites’ adaptability to fit a company’s needs many firms will most likely be interested in tapping into a market with more than 80 million users.

The age of instant information is here, and the variety of mediums appear endless, so if firms and businesses hope to compete in the next few years they need to be willing to expand into these new markets. If they don’t they may just find themselves collecting dust on the shelf with the phone book.

Source: Using Technology to Market Your Firm. Law.com Tillman, Zoe.