Law firm buyer personas
In order for your law firm to be a success, you are going to need to try and do whatever you can to know your clients; and I mean really know them. There are a variety of ways to do this, however, one that has proven to be most effective is by putting yourself in their shoes.
By doing this you are giving yourself the tools and information that you are going to need to allow you to build a “buyer persona” This will then in turn help you to work on offering the services that these buyers want from you.
What is a buyer persona?
The best place to start is by asking what exactly is meant by buyer persona. The idea of this term is that it is a persona, a representation of the characteristics of your client base. However, unlike some forms of research, this is entirely fictional.
Whilst the persona may be fictitious, the information that is used to create it is real. It covers a range of characteristics of that client base including their age, their lifestyle choices, what they do for work and also what pain points (and frustrations) they may have in their life.
What do you need to know to build a buyer persona?
In order for your buyer persona to be as detailed as possible, there are a few things that you are going to need to know. These things will provide the information that you need and will ensure that you can have as accurate a picture of your target audience as possible.
Their personal information
Of course, you are never going to be able to find out everything about your target audience, but you can try to find out as much as possible. The more of this personal information that you have, then the better chance you are going to have of building a complete picture of them and what they are likely to want from you as a law firm.
The types of personal information that you are likely to want to know are:
- Their gender identity
- Their age
- Whereabouts they live
- Their marital status
- Whether they have children
- Their income
- Their household income
- The type of home they have
All of these things come together to create a portrait of the person that you are trying your best to appeal to and can be used in order to create advertising and marketing that is going to appeal to them.
Their career path
You are also going to want to know what type of career path they are on, whilst this information may not seem entirely necessary to you as a law firm, it is a great way to see what type of work they do and what type of knowledge they may have too. Plus, any information is good information when it comes to marketing.
Their business
Whilst many of the clients that a law firm will work with are going to be personal clients, there are also those that deal with business clients. These law firms are going to need to know what type of business client they are trying to appeal to.
There are lots of things that you may want to know, however, one of the first things is the nature of their business. Once you know the type of business, how long it has been running and the work that they do, then they can start to think about whether their business law services are going to be the right fit.
Lifestyles
Not only do you want to know about the lifestyle choices that clients make in their working life, but also their personal life too. By identifying what makes them feel motivated and what makes them feel productive, you, as a law firm, can tailor a service to them.
It is also worthwhile knowing more about what keeps them interested in their personal lives too. As this information can help you to work out what things are going to appeal to them.
Their buying journey
It is always a good idea to know more about what type of buying journey people go on in order to find a way to appeal to them. Are they a client who is impulsive and makes quick decisions, or are they someone who likes to take their time and consider their options?
Having this knowledge can help you to think about what type of marketing approach you want to take and ensure that you stand the best chance of securing their business.
As you can see, there are lots of things that you can do to try and form a client persona for your law firm. The important thing to do is to remember that this is a fluid process. You should repeat it every few months to ensure that the information that you have is up to date and that it is actually working for you as a law firm, else you may need to think about a different way to market and move forward.
Take a look at some of my other blogs you may be interested in:
How to put the human into your law firm’s marketing strategy
Need help?
If you would like help with your marketing then bringing on a marketing consultant with a fresh pair of eyes can make all the difference. I work with B2B businesses and professional service firms in London, Kent, UK and Europe as well as specialising as a Legal Marketing Consultant. Please get in touch or book a free 30-minute consultation.
