MCINTYRE THANASIDES CASE STUDY
McIntyre Thanasides has been providing legal representation to those living in the Tampa Bay area since 2005. The legal industry is primarily made up of many small firms focused on a narrow practice area and a few large firms that offer services in a number of practice areas. McIntyre Thanasides is somewhere in the middle. The firm offers a broad spectrum of legal practices while maintaining strong client relationships.
Marketing Objective: Because McIntyre Thanasides offers such a broad range of practice areas while maintaining a close relationship with their clients, the firm wanted to position itself as a law firm that can represent clients in any legal matter. They refer to this as being your "lawyers for life.""
THE CHALLENGE
There are several challenges presented when working with any legal clients.
The first challenge is the level of competitiveness within the legal marketplace. The legal industry is one of the most competitive niches in both traditional and digital marketing. Unless your client has a large budget, it will be difficult to compete with the firms that do. You only need to drive down the highway to see attorneys on billboards, bus stops and almost every other conceivable form of advertising.
The second challenge is that lawyers are subject to strict rules that govern if any how they may pursue a particular marketing channel. Failure to adhere to bar guidelines can lead to fines and even disbarment.
McIntyre Thanasides needed:
- To develop a strategy to increase online visibility for the firm.
- To measure performance across marketing channels and focus on the most effective channels.
- To redesign the firm’s website to reflect both its personality and marketing message.
- To generate leads through digital channels.
SOLUTIONS
Strategy
With consideration to the firm’s marketing budget, we were able to create a marketing strategy that focused only on particular practice areas that had the highest chance of success. We performed a situational analysis that looked at the firms past history, a SWOT analysis, and the competitive landscape. We then used this analysis along with the firm’s vision statement and goals to create a set of objectives. We then developed a strategy to achieve those objectives. Our strategy included the following tactics.
Search Engine Optimization
We performed detailed keyword research and collected a series of long-tail and mid-tail keywords that would serve us as we developed content. Using the keywords, we developed engaging website copy as well as a consistent flow of blog articles. We also performed technical SEO audits to ensure that the entire website was well optimized and free of anything that could trigger a penalty.
Content Marketing Strategy
We developed a robust content marketing strategy that included blogs, videos, news articles, presentations, whitepapers and infographics. We also developed a process to increase the effectiveness of our content through improved distribution channels.
Legal Directory Management
After performing keyword research, we learned that a majority of head terms and mid-tail keywords are dominated by legal directories. In order to appear, a legal firm or legal individual must be listed prominently on legal directories. At Absolute, we developed a system for adding, monitoring and optimizing listings to ensure consistency and that all listings were up-to-date on some influential sites such as AVVO, Google My Business, Bing for Places, and other local directory listings.
Local SEO
Although their attorneys are able to practice throughout the state of Florida, and in some cases in other states, most law firms draw their clients from a smaller geographic area. For this reason, local SEO marketing is critical to success for law firms. We implemented tools and processes to ensure that McIntyre Thanasides’ citations are consistent, not duplicated, and contain the most up-to date information.
Social Media Management
Social media marketing for law firms can be a tricky area to navigate. We worked with our client to establish a tone, brand guidelines, and an etiquette for conducting interactions with their audience through social media. In addition to posting original and curated content, maintaining an editorial calendar for the firm and generating engaging multimedia content, we leveraged social media marketing for the firm in a way that bolstered its reputation as "Your Lawyers for Life".
Media Outreach
The attorneys at McIntyre Thanasides have been involved in several high-profile cases that have been picked up by the media. At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we developed, produced, and distributed press releases and performed media outreach activities to increase coverage of notable cases including the Curtis Reeves Stand Your Ground case, the killing of Jason Wescott by the Tampa Police Department, the Johnson & Johnson ovarian cancer case, and other class-action lawsuits.
RESULTS
INCREASE IN ORGANIC TRAFFIC (117% IN 24 MONTHS)
SEARCH VISIBILITY UP 43.57% IN 18 MONTHS
MORE THAN 25 KEY-TERMS RANKING ON FIRST 2 PAGES OF GOOGLE
INCREASED IMPRESSIONS (240% IN 12 MONTHS)
INCREASED GOOGLE CALLS TO BUSINESS (27%)
ADDED TO MORE THAN 75 DIRECTORIES
"The team at Absolute has worked extremely hard to help us enhance our online brand. They’ve built a beautiful and distinctive website that speaks to who we are and they’ve used innovative strategies to grow the audience around our brand."