A Beginner’s Guide to Branding Your Law Firm

When you're building your business in the legal industry, it's important to be consistent with your law firm's brand. The quality of your work is of paramount importance, but you can't stay in business without attracting customers. When strategizing about your brand identity, think about what you want potential clients to know about your law firm.

Law firm branding can be tricky, and you want to make sure your brand strategy is one that will appeal to your ideal clients. The branding process is more than a new logo or designing a business card. There are probably hundreds of other law firms within your practice area. It's important to develop a strong brand based on your unique legal perspective in order to stand out.

Define your brand

Thinking about brand strategy as it relates to the legal profession presents unique challenges. One thing all experts recommend is consistency across your various touchpoints (ads, social media, your firm's website). Synthesize your mission and philosophy into a clear, concise idea that you can use to develop your law firm's brand. It's also a good idea to look at your competitors and see if there are any voids in the market or an immediate need you can address.

Build branding elements

It helps to make a list of everything that your firm needs first. Branding elements can include a mission statement, law firm logo, direct mail campaigns, office décor, advertising, social media, web design, community events, and more. You need to look at all of these aspects of your business and make sure they're consistent with your law firm's desired identity.

For example, if you're looking to present a high-end, elegant image, designing something busy and informal wouldn't be useful to bring in your ideal clients. What are you trying to communicate to a potential client? Be smart and be specific. Enlisting the help of marketing experts and professionals and using all available legal resources is a good idea to make sure you're presenting the highest-quality representation of your firm's brand to your new clients.

Make a plan

Once you have your brand identity and a comprehensive list of all of the branding elements you need to develop, it's time to strategize to bring it all to life. Think about what your biggest priorities are so you can be smart about allocating your budget.

The amount of work you have to do to build your firm's brand depends on how much work your image requires. Do you need to start from the beginning with your web design or can you get by with just a few tweaks? Do you already have a social media presence or do you need to build one? There's no timeline that will fit every situation and you shouldn't rush. Your brand strategy is a crucial part of your business.

Branding and law aren't two things that the average person thinks about in conjunction, but for anyone with a law firm, it's essential. Identifying your mission statement as a lawyer and using it to convey an appealing message to your community is the key to keeping a business afloat.

Finding a legal need that isn't being served in the market is also a great way to create a niche for yourself and your firm that can help you reach your target client. Consistency, strategy, and strong design elements are the three most important elements to crafting a brand identity, and law firms aren't exempt from needing to think carefully about what they're conveying to their audience.

Whether or not most lawyers realize it, branding is often the difference between success and failure for a small business. Make sure you're investing time and money into your branding and you'll likely be rewarded with the new clients you're seeking.

A freelance writer with a BA in English from Sarah Lawrence College.