Best Practice: Adding videos to law firm websites
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the partner in charge of marketing for our 12 attorney firm located in the Dallas suburbs. We are an estate planning/estate administration firm exclusively. We have a pretty good website with attorney bios and photos, articles, practice area descriptions, client testimonials and a blog that is updated weekly. We have been discussing the pros and cons of adding videos to the site. I would appreciate your thoughts.
A. I believe that videos can add to the quality of the site if done properly. A quality video can help you showcase your personality and bedside manner and help a potential client "get to know you." What you say may not be as important as how you say it. However, unless the video is a quality video and well done - it can do more harm than good. Here are a few thoughts:
1. Consider a video introduction by the managing partner introducing the firm linked off the home page.
2. Consider a video by each attorney linked off their bio pages.
3. Consider your audience - mom and pop individual clients as well as potential referral sources. Since your clients are individuals - dress and set your tone accordingly. Be a little less formal - speak to your client concerns. Think about their concerns.
4. Smile and be friendly.
5. Hire professionals to help you script and film professional quality videos. (Quality lighting and sound separates professional looking quality from homemade looking videos.)
6. Provide on-camera training and have your attorneys - Practice - Practice - Practice before live filming.
7. If you don't have anyone that looks good on camera - don't do it.
8. Use your own attorneys - don't hire outsiders to be presenters in the videos.
9. Don't let the videos sound like ads or commercials.
10. Presentations should be educational in nature and goal should be to enable viewers to get to know you. Presentation style is critical.
Done well - quality videos can improve the performance of your website - done poorly videos can reduce the performance of your website.
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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC,(www.olmsteadassoc.com) is a past chair and member of the ISBA Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics. For more information on law office management please direct questions to the ISBA listserver, which John and other committee members review, or view archived copies of The Bottom Line Newsletters. Contact John at jolmstead@olmsteadassoc.com.