As with so many other legal areas, education law encompasses two very different types of practices: those that represent schools, boards of education and other government entities; and those that represent children.
For those education attorneys seeking to represent children, and thus are inherently promoting to parents, there are many ways to market one’s services. This is because families who have a child with a special need are a relatively easy group to target. There are lists to be rented, content-specific magazines in which to advertise, trade shows in which to exhibit, and organizational web sites on which to place banner ads.
More important however, are the opportunities that inherently exist which allow such practitioners to take a grassroots approach to the legal marketing function. Those who require representation in this area of the law are a) hungry for information and b) eager to network and give/receive referrals. It is important to remember that because children are involved, this target audience is a relatively small community of individuals who are often desperate for a champion.
As such, anything that allows the education lawyer to interact with parents of a child with special needs must be seen as a plus. The aforementioned trade shows is one way, but even more than that, that “hunger” for information lends itself well to the implementation of seminars and workshops – especially since this is an area where scores and scores of potential topics abound. Further, where making such presentations is either logistically difficult or financially unfeasible, the employment of online webinars may offer a very viable alternative.
In addition, because the subjects of these legal matters are primarily children, being recognized as both proactive and compassionate takes on critical importance as well. Hence, appearances at and sponsorship of special events makes good marketing sense. Better still, the education law attorney should consider developing cause marketing events which a) generate exposure for a particular issue (and thereby the firm as well) and b) actually produce tangible results that are beneficial to the target market (and thus provide opportunities for firm publicity). For example, at A.L.T. Legal Professionals Marketing Group, we have developed such efforts for law firms that were designed to promote the arts among students, deter texting while driving, generate greater awareness of domestic violence, etc.
There is also much to be gained by becoming recognized as an authority on topics related to education law. This can be done through the aforementioned seminars and webinars. But it can, and should, also be accomplished by the consistent publishing of relevant content on the firm web site, on social media, through e-newsletters, and blogs, as well as via the more mainstream media. All of this will, of course, only work to improve firm rankings on the online search engine rankings.
Finally, because this community is as close as it is and because referrals are such an integral piece of the marketing puzzle, it is also important to reach out to what we would call “gatekeepers” – professionals such as educators, mental health professionals, physicians, other attorneys, etc. who may be in a position to recommend the firm. It is the wise practitioner who promotes his/her services to both the end user (i.e., parents, children) as well as a pool of referral sources.
To discuss how A.L.T. Legal Professionals Marketing Group can help your education law practice, contact us at 856-810-0400 or submit the contact form on this page.
