COVID-19: Ad Credits and Cash Grants From Facebook

Many companies are taking steps to help out business in response to the COVID-19 pandemic – recently we covered the Google Ad credits – and now Facebook is stepping up as well.

According to this post from Facebook:

“We know that your business may be experiencing disruptions resulting from the global outbreak of COVID-19. We’ve heard that a little financial support can go a long way, so we are offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits to help during this challenging time.”

Is Facebook going to make those options available to law firms? We have been asked this with increasing frequency as of late, and fortunately two of our team members, Kenneth Harris and Matt Smyers, have created this video to give you the latest information on how this program may may affect your law firm’s digital advertising and cash-on-hand.

 

Matt: Good afternoon, everyone. This is Matt Smyers with Consultwebs. And I’m joined today by Ken Harris, he is our digital advertising director and we are going to be talking today about Facebook advertising and what Facebook has to offer in terms of free advertising, advertising credits in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

We’ve talked to you already about Google’s offerings, a lot of people have been asking questions about that, but some people may not be aware that Facebook is also rolling out a similar program that law firms are going to be able to hopefully take advantage of. So, Ken, tell us what you know so far about what Facebook is offering.

Ken: Sure thing. It’s not only ad credits but it’s also cash grants for small businesses. You can find all the information about what Facebook is offering on their website. We can post the link to that along with the video when we post it up on social media.

But essentially, what they’re offering is ad credits and cash grants for businesses who qualify. And there’s a list of criteria there. You have to be a for-profit company, have between 2 and 50 employees, you have to have been in business for over a year, have experienced challenges from COVID-19, and be in or near a location where Facebook operates.

And that last one’s really the caveat because there’s a pretty finite list in the United States in particular where Facebook has operating offices.

Matt: So, when you say it’s going to be advertising or a cash grant, so do we know at this point, I mean, are they offering it as just credit towards advertising or do we have any further detail on the financials of it?

Ken: What I know, and I’ve spoken directly with my contact at Facebook about this, is that it could be cash grant to keep the lights on and/or advertising credits. So, businesses who qualify could qualify for both.

Matt: Okay. Do we know…do you have to be a current or existing Facebook advertiser in order to qualify?

Ken: I don’t think so. That wasn’t in the list of criteria.

Matt: Do we have any idea, if it is an advertising credit, is it going to be limited to a particular type of advertising on Facebook or is it going to be, you know, can you apply that across the board?

Ken: Should be wide open as long as it’s promoting your small business.

Matt: Okay. So, you know, obviously, we’re talking about this from Consultwebs in the context of law firms and law firm marketing and, you know, can we assume that law firms will qualify for this?

Ken: I would assume as long as they meet the criteria listed that they are 100% eligible.

Matt: Anything else that comes to mind that we want to share with our clients that are in law firms around the country as it pertains to this or Facebook advertising in general during this crisis?

Ken: I think what you want to keep in mind with this is that the details are still not solidified. What Facebook knows for sure they’re posting on their website and you can sign up to receive updates via email on that page. You can also check the list of locations where qualifying businesses would be. And, in general, what you should be doing on social media during this crisis is if you’re operating, remind people that you’re operating.

A lot of law firms are reminding people, “Hey, we’re working remotely. We can still serve you from a contactless point of view.” You don’t have to expose yourself to this virus in order to get legal help.

Matt: Fantastic. Great advice. So, that’s what we know at this point, folks, in regards to the Facebook advertising credits that are going to be offered. Ken and his team is in constant communication with our representatives from Facebook. As soon as we know more, we’ll be sure to let everyone know. We’ll, obviously, be in communication with our clients. But beyond that, we’ll continue to post information on our website through our blog.

We’ll also be pushing out updates on both the Facebook and the Google advertising credits through our newsletter. So, subscribe to the newsletter and we’ll continue to push out information as we get it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us directly. 

In the meantime, stay safe and thanks so much for joining us.

If you want to get the latest updates on Facebook Ad Credits and cash grants as well as other important legal marketing news, sign up for our newsletter and we will be sure to keep you informed and up-to-date with the information you need to keep your law firm marketing effective:

The post COVID-19: Ad Credits and Cash Grants From Facebook appeared first on .

from https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/covid-19-ad-credits-and-cash-grants-from-facebook/
via https://www.consultwebs.com

How Law Firms Are Marketing During COVID

As the story of COVID continues to unfold, and certainties and social behaviors fluctuate, law firm marketers are faced with many challenges, one of which is striking the right tone with their marketing, advertising, messaging and PR.

There are, in fact, several ways law firms can market their practices in ways that positively impact the community and serve as a reminder of the firm in a tumultuous time.

In this article, we feature real-life examples of law firms focusing their legal marketing during COVID on three themes, all related to Community; In The Real World, Online Connections, and Content Marketing.

In The Real World

While the circumstances we face seem unprecedented and new, we believe successful legal marketers are focusing on connecting with their communities.

Hermann & Hermann, a Corpus Christi PI law firm, has been giving away masks and safety kits to their community, since March, and the turn-out and results have been truly inspiring. Yes, that’s the head partner in gloves and a bandana; talk about walking the walk!

Cesar Ornelas, another personal injury lawyer based in New Mexico, is doing something similar with mask giveaways in his community, with the same positive response.

Mask giveaways aren’t just for the lay folk. Edelson PC in Chicago and Saxena White PA in Boca Raton, Florida, teamed up to send almost 6,000 masks and other pieces of Personal Protective Equipment to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Dept. in Michigan,

Briding the gap between offline and online, the Law Offices of Michael Gopin and their “Pay It Forward” campaign, highlights local businesses and individuals in their community.

With a mix of digital, offline, and TV, this law firm is bringing attention to itself for all the right reasons.

Online Connections

Another law firm that is supporting their community local businesses while getting their name out there on social media, is Joye Law Firm, out of South Carolina.

Since the first restaurant gift card giveaway was so successful, they’ve been running giveaways almost weekly to support local restaurants, and the response could not be more positive. A big win-win for everyone involved, plus, it’s marketing you can feel good about.

Donate Ad Space & Unblock COVID Keywords

One of the many negative side-effects of COVID, is that as searches and traffic on coronavirus-related topics are rising, digital advertisers are pulling back their spends and blocking COVID keywords, which has dealt a massive blow to revenue-strapped local news outlets.

Law firm marketers that have digital advertising campaigns running and are targeting keywords, should make sure they are unblocking all COVID keywords. The ad space is cheap, and you’ll be supporting local media outlets, which in turn support your clients and community with trusted content.

With food insecurity becoming a rising issue from COVID, another positive idea for digital marketers wanting to make an impact in their communities, is to donate your display ad space to a local food bank.

Luckie, an ad agency working in the southwest US, partnered with Regions bank to create this “Bank 2 Bank” campaign, where they donated all of their digital ad space to raise money for local food banks. Talk about a win-win, and a chance to do something inspiring with marketing!

Content Marketing

Advertising is good, giveaways are great, but during these chaotic times, there is a desire in the marketplace for content that is purely entertaining, something to escape into.

The St. Louis-based PI firm of Brown & Crouppen are Emmy-award winning masters at content, and their flagship series, Ed Versus, (which feature one of the partners, Ed Herman, comedically discussing mundane things like naps, airplane etiquette, cereal,) recently took COVID on in the hilarious, Ed vs Quarantine video.

We interviewed Ed on the LAWsome podcast about legal marketing and connecting with the audience, and why the law firm decided to pursue these “not-about-the-law” videos…

Another thing Brown & Crouppen have been doing is remote drops for their local TV station, plugging food banks and other local businesses that deserve highlighting, and the law firm’s social media has been chock-a-block full of legal advice and helpful videos.

Podcasts have been seeing a resurgence since COVID hit, because everyone now has time and needs a reason to escape into their closets for some “peace and quiet.” Along with new ventures from legal media companies and solos, we counted 5 new podcasts popping up on the legal landscape as of the last week of April.

As these podcasts heap themselves onto the millions-deep pile of choices for audio entertainment, one has to wonder at the odds being ever in anyone’s favor, the more people play the hunger games of attention with content.

Before you hide in your closet and record your law firm’s first podcast, read about our Podcast Production services here.

Want more advice on law firm marketing? Sign up for the Consultwebs newsletter, follow us on social media, and subscribe to the LAWsome Podcast.

The post How Law Firms Are Marketing During COVID appeared first on .

from https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/how-law-firms-are-marketing-during-covid/
via https://www.consultwebs.com

Changes Amidst COVID-19 to Google My Business Law Firms Should Know About

Over the past 4 weeks, we have seen pretty consistent changes and issues with Google My Business. Some of the features that stopped are now coming back, while other issues still persist. Let’s go through each feature and what is happening currently with them.

Google Reviews, QA, and more

New reviews were blocked a few weeks ago. They have begun to function again and people are seeing them beginning to appear on listings now. Google has updated their page to state the following:

Review replies are now available. New user reviews, new user photos, new short names, and Q&A will gradually return by country and business category.

So while we have seen reviews start-up in some business categories they have not returned to all of them within the United States but should be fully functional again soon.

This as you can see in the Google statement also applies to user photos, profile short names, and Q&A features. So if you have not seen any action on these or have had issues adding to or editing any of these areas do not worry it is to be expected currently.

Google My Business Profile Edits

At this time we recommend you do not try to do any updates or changes to your listing. We are seeing edits sit pending for weeks on end right now. Google has prioritized reviews of edits for health-related businesses currently.

They say they will also prioritize reviews for open and closed states, special hours, temporary closures, business descriptions, and business attributes edits for other verified businesses but these are some of the areas we are seeing things sit pending review for longer periods of time.

Google Posts

These were disabled for some businesses for a short period but now seem to be working again. If you have edits you wanted to apply via your profile but they are sitting in pending review as mentioned above we recommend you leverage a Google Post to publish that information out to your profile.

They have also created a new post type. COVID-19 update posts they state will be featured more prominently within your business profile. So you might try these for changes to your hours or contact details. These are staying up on the profile for 14 days currently.

New listings, claiming, and verification

If you are setting up a new listing, trying to claim one or verify a listing you should expect delays. Like many other areas, Google is prioritizing this for health-related businesses at this time. If you do not have access to a GMB profile to do hours and other updates we highly recommend you get these added prominently to your law firm website.

Hours of operation

If you are open in some capacity we recommend you input your special hours if you have access to your profile. This will remove the little alert showing up saying hours may vary due to COVID-19.

Google My Business COVID-19 Guidance

You can find updates and resources and other guidance from Google on this page

https://support.google.com/business/answer/9773423

Want more advice on law firm marketing? Sign up for the Consultwebs newsletter, follow us on social media, and subscribe to the LAWsome Podcast.

The post Changes Amidst COVID-19 to Google My Business Law Firms Should Know About appeared first on .

from https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/changes-amidst-covid-19-to-google-my-business-law-firms-should-know-about/
via https://www.consultwebs.com

COVID-19: Ad Credits for Google Ads

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are taking steps to help out business.

According to this post from Google:

“We want to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) stay in touch with their customers during this challenging time. That’s why we’re giving our SMB customers worldwide $340 million in ad credits, which can be used towards future ad spend, until the end of 2020 across our Google Ads platforms.”

Is Google giving out ad credits to law firms? We have been getting that question quite a bit, and fortunately two of our team members, Stefanie LeBlanc and Matt Smyers, have created this video to give you the latest information on how these ad credits may affect your law firm’s digital advertising.

Matt: Good afternoon, everybody. This is Matt Smyers, and I’m joined today by Stefanie LeBlanc, our PPC manager.

There’s been a lot of questions recently from clients and other law firms around the country about the program that Google has announced where they’re going to be offering businesses free advertising. We wanted to try to provide you with the answers that we have, right now, and then please stay tuned as this situation develops. But Stefanie, can you tell us a little bit about what Google is offering, and what we know so far?

Stefanie: Yeah, sure, of course, Matt. So, as Matt alluded to, Google made an announcement where they’re going to be giving $340 million in ad credits to help support small to medium size businesses around the world. So what that looks like is the credits are going to be given to those who have been active advertisers since January 1st of 2019. And so, yes, this is going to apply to law firms, if they meet those requirements.

Matt: So do we have any idea when these credits are supposed to hit or take place, or how a law firm or business might, look for these credits?

Stefanie: Google is currently in the process of building them out within the accounts, so they’re not going to show immediately. We were told that those credits will start to appear within the Google Ads accounts, beginning in late Quarter 2, so in this quarter to those who are eligible.

The way that a law firm can know whether or not they have an ad credit coming to them is starting at the end of this quarter. If they’re running their own in-house advertising or if they’re working, you know, directly with Consultwebs, with us, they’ll see those notifications within their Ads account.

Matt: Do we have any idea how Google is going to determine how much credit each business will get?

Stefanie: We don’t. Unfortunately, that’s not information that they’ve shared with us and how they determine the actual dollar amount. But we do know that we’ll know that amount as soon as that credit becomes available.

Matt: And can that credit be used for all types of Google advertising, or is it for PPC search campaigns only?

Stefanie: Yeah, that’s a good question. And it’s important that clients know that they can use this across all of Google’s products. So that can apply to search campaigns that they’re running, display or remarketing, and video campaigns on YouTube. So they can choose to use that ad credit in any way, shape, or form that they want.

And once that credit becomes available, they have until the end of 2020 to use the credit. So it’s not [that] they have to use it, right off the bat, in the very first month that it becomes available. They can use it at any point during 2020.

Matt: Great. Thank you. So, there you go, folks. That’s what we know, so far, about this pending Google advertising credit. Obviously, we’re keeping our clients informed about any developments. We’re in constant communications with our team at Google. As soon as we know more, we will continue to post these videos and content.

If you want to get the latest updates on Google Ad credits as well as other important legal marketing news, sign up for our newsletter and we will be sure to keep you informed and up-to-date with the information you need to keep your law firm marketing effective:

The post COVID-19: Ad Credits for Google Ads appeared first on .

from https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/covid-19-ad-credits-for-google-ads/
via https://www.consultwebs.com

Marketing For Law Firms – Navigating Through A “New” Digital Landscape

Are you concerned about your law firm’s marketing in these uncertain times? Are you wondering how lawyers can identify opportunities, maintain market share, and set up for success in the evolving digital marketplace?

In this webinar on-demand we cover these topics and more:

• The Legal Marketplace: Dynamics & Perspectives
• Remote Operating Tips: Communication + Community
• The “New” Digital Marketplace: Maximizing Your Brand During This Time to Come Out Stronger

We’ve included advice, guidelines and tips on everything from remote operations to finding new marketing opportunities for your law firm that can help take some of the uncertainty and apprehension out of your firm’s marketing and management.

We hope you find it valuable and informative. If you have any questions please feel free to CONTACT US and we will follow up with you promptly.

 

The post Marketing For Law Firms – Navigating Through A “New” Digital Landscape appeared first on .

from https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/marketing-for-law-firms-navigating-through-a-new-digital-landscape/
via https://www.consultwebs.com

Five Common Mistakes in Law Firm Web Design

To be effective and generate leads, a law firm’s website needs to adhere to design rules & norms, that help it convert visitors to clients. Sometimes, the best way to learn how to win a game, is to first learn how to break the rules. In that spirit, here are five common mistakes we see in law firm web design.

Lack of CTAs and trust signals on interior pages.

More and more, people are bypassing the homepage, and the first page they land on is an interior page which is focused on a topic they searched for in Google.

This can be a big problem because the homepage tends to be the most sales-focused page on the website. The homepage distills the entire website into a pretty package that includes the unique value proposition (UVP), calls-to-actions, videos, testimonials, results and awards. If users miss the homepage, they may miss out on the sales pitch, why they should hire you.

For this reason interior pages should include strong calls to actions and trust elements just like the homepage.

Every page should be considered a sales page that is focused on converting users into clients.

We often see interior pages that are almost pure text and this is a missed opportunity. If the pages are long, it may help to have multiple calls to action placed within the content along with a closing CTA. Some design elements that convey trust and can help to re-engage users on interior pages are testimonials, awards badges, results, links to the attorney bios and links to related topics.

Color & contrast issues that affect usability.

Improving accessibility and usability by using high contrast text is low hanging fruit. Yet it’s one of the most common problems I see on websites today. High contrast text is not only helpful for the visually impaired, but it’s also helpful for less than perfect outdoor mobile conditions such as sunny or snowy weather, stressful situations, and side-of-road emergencies. Some rules of thumb to keep you text readable:

• Don’t use distracting background images, this can make text difficult to read for visually impaired.
  
• Super high contrast text can be difficult to read for dyslexic users, avoid 100% black and white combinations. Dark grey is ideal.
  
• No flashing text or high contrast striped or check patterns for epilepsy.
• Text that is part of a logo or brand name has no contrast requirement.There are two accessibility standards: Section 508, which applies to the public sector, and WCAG 2.0, which applies to the private sector. WCAG 2.0 has three compliance levels: A (minimal), AA (mid-range), and AAA (highest). AA is considered the industry standard.

Try it now. It’s easy test if your text contrast is AA or AAA compliant using this tool: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

Not having a clear brand messaging on the homepage.

When people land on your homepage do they know what you do? Do they even know you’re a law firm?

Example of a real law firm homepage….they deal in what? Barn law?

Based on user testing we’ve done in the past few months they may not. Visitors can spend so little time on our homepages that they may not realize what you have to offer. It’s best to have a clear, concise branding message or unique value proposition (UVP), above the fold in easy-to-understand language. It needs to state clearly and succinctly how your firm can help clients and why they should choose your firm.

It can be difficult to step back and and view our website and brand messaging as a potential client or an outsider. We can get caught up speaking in coded language and industry lingo. Simple, everyday language works best. Think of your homepage as a billboard next to a busy highway. People who see it will have a limited amount of time to read and digest what you have to offer before they’ve whisked past down the road with all the other commuters.

Contact forms that are not optimized for usability

Other than getting phone calls, one of the main ways potential clients reach out to us is through contact forms. Drilling down, and designing forms so they are as easy to use as possible is critical for conversions. Some tips for improving contact forms:

• Positioning the label above the form field works best, not beside or within. Placing a label over its input field allows users to see both elements with a single eye movement. Also, if the label is within a field it disappears when the user begins typing and they can forget what the field is for if they are distracted or tabbing through quickly. The label and the text box itself should be large enough to read and tap for easy use on mobile.
• The form fields should be boxed and highly visible. Removing the border, or having only a bottom stroke, for example, removes the immediate recognition that it’s an input field. A bottom border might at first appear to be a separator.

• Submit buttons shouldn’t look like links, and they should not have a pointer cursor. The style of the button is up to you, but they should look like buttons not links. Also, the Submit button’s text is just as important as its style. The button text should describe the action being taken – because it’s an action, it should be a verb. You should try to use as few words as possible because it’s quicker to read. But don’t remove words at the cost of clarity.

Photos of the team and supporting images throughout the website

When potential clients visit our website they want to get to know us. Photography and video is the fastest way to convey warmth and professionalism in web design.

Based on our user research, users can feel intimidated by lawyers. Softening the design with friendly, high quality photos can help put potential clients at ease and make them want to contact your firm over a competitor.

At minimum your website should have a high-quality bio photo of your attorneys. However, to have a web design that stands above the rest and is in the top tier, you should have group photos of your team, exterior and interior photos of your office, and photos of clients working with team members. You should have enough photos that you can add them throughout your website, not just on your Home, About and Bio pages.

It is also helpful to have supporting images on practice area pages. As mentioned above, we often see interior pages that are almost pure text. Breaking up pages that are text heavy with team photos and photos relating to the text is a good idea. Photos can help to open up the design, reducing cognitive load that can wear down users causing them to exit the website.

Want more advice on law firm marketing? Sign up for the Consultwebs newsletter, follow us on social media, and subscribe to the LAWsome Podcast.

The post Five Common Mistakes in Law Firm Web Design appeared first on .

from https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/five-common-mistakes-in-law-firm-web-design/
via https://www.consultwebs.com