Estate Planning Lead Generation: How to Get More Clients for Estate Planning Attorneys

Estate planning ensures lifelong financial security for individuals and their families. However, many fail to prepare adequately, as only about 33% of adults have an estate plan.

As a legal field dedicated to facilitating legacy protection through tools like wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, estate planning rests at the heart of long-term wellness planning. Attorneys help concerned clients avoid probate delays and protect heirs from unnecessary taxes.

Fortunately, targeted lead-generation strategies exist to help practices connect with individuals thoughtfully and effectively. This guide evaluates techniques effective for nudging important discussions around generational wealth, care directives, and peaceful transfers.

Plus, don't miss our podcast episode "How to Build a Life and Practice You Love" with Ali Katz, founder of The New Law Business Model, for further insights into thriving in the legal landscape.

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How to Get More Clients for a Law Firm

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What Is Estate Planning Lead Generation?

Estate planning lead generation is a strategic process designed to attract and convert potential clients interested in organizing their financial affairs and securing their legacy. It focuses on implementing marketing strategies and tactics to generate leads for estate planning attorneys or firms. This can be achieved through various channels, including online advertising, content marketing, referrals, networking events, and partnerships with financial advisors or other professionals.

The goal is to nurture these relationships into long-term clients by addressing concerns, answering questions, and demonstrating the value of enlisting professional guidance. 

Lead Generation Benefits for Estate Planning Lawyers

Lead generation brings numerous benefits for estate planning law firms, enabling them to expand their client base and grow their practice. A few of the key benefits include:

• Increased visibility as more prospective clients learn about the practice through optimized digital content and events. This builds familiarity and trust over time.
• A continual influx of pre-qualified prospects ready to discuss unique situations to retain the attorney. Lead nurturing helps move contacts further down the sales funnel.
• Demand generation to stay busy as interested parties actively request consultations, prompting many to become paying clients. This enhances revenue and utilization of existing staff.
• Valuable market data collected through lead capturing about the types of protections most needed. These insights guide business development and personalized service.
• Opportunity for upselling and cross-selling additional legal solutions to the growing client base over time as their requirements evolve with life stages.

10 Strategies to Get More Estate Planning Clients

As an estate planning attorney, establishing approaches to connect with these individuals is paramount for practice development. Implementing proactive strategies opens doors to potential new clients who may never seek counsel. This section provides actionable tactics to add more estate planning clients to your firm.

1. Optimize Your Estate Planning Website

When a prospective client searches for terms like "estate lawyer near me," your law firm can appear on the Google Maps pack if you have optimized your GMB profile. This is why you need to optimize your law firm website for a strong online presence. Here are some tips to help you optimize your estate planning website for conversions:

• Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant terms and phrases that potential clients may use when searching for estate planning services. 
• Incorporate these keywords strategically throughout your website's content, including headings, page titles, meta descriptions, and body text.
• Create informative and engaging content that explains different aspects of estate planning, such as wills, trusts, or probate, and address frequently asked questions.
• Include clear and prominent calls to action throughout your website so visitors can contact you for a consultation, download a helpful guide, or subscribe to your newsletter.
• Ensure your website has an intuitive, user-friendly design to accommodate different devices and screens.
• Incorporate testimonials or reviews from satisfied clients on your website to build trust and credibility. 
• Make sure your contact information, including your phone number, email address, and office address, is prominently displayed on your website. 

2. Claim GMB Profile for Your Estate Planning Law Firm

A Google Business Profile is like your digital phonebook for clients to search for you. GMB profiles provide a platform for businesses to showcase their services, addresses, hours, and contact information, making it easier for customers to find and connect with them. A GMB profile enables your law firm to appear on Google Maps and other Google-related services.

To claim your GMB profile:

• Visit the Google My Business website (google.com/business) and click "Manage now."
• Sign in with your Google account or create a new one.
• Enter your law firm's name, address, and contact information.
• Verify your estate planning business ownership through a verification process, including receiving an SMS or a phone call from Google.

Once your business is verified, you can complete your GMB profile by adding important information such as your law firm's hours, contact information, and services offered. You have to optimize your profile with high-quality photos. 

3. Register for Estate Planning Lawyer Directories

Registering with lawyer directories can help attract new clients looking for legal services in your area. Unlike general online directories, legal directories specifically cater to people needing help, in this case, with wills, trusts, and other estate services. Individuals often search these niche directories when looking for an estate planning attorney.

Some well-known estate planning lawyer directories to consider are:  

• EstatePlanning.com
• Lawyers.com
• Nolo
• Avvo
• FindLaw

The directories allow you to create a detailed profile showcasing your credentials, services, and contact information.

Many directories also allow clients and even peers to leave reviews, which can build credibility.

Listing with estate planning directories gets your name in front of motivated prospects during their research process.

4. Improve Your Estate Planning SEO

A strong search engine optimization for your estate planning website can help drive new website traffic from organic searches. SEO helps your website rank higher in search engines when people look for terms like "estate lawyer [your city]" or "estate planning attorney [your city]." Higher rankings lead to more people finding and clicking on your website from the search results.

Some best practices for improving estate planning SEO include:

• Optimizing page titles, headers, URLs, meta descriptions, alt text, and content for relevant keyword terms. This helps search engines understand your pages' focus.
• Regularly publishing fresh, useful estate planning content on your website's blog. Unique, updated content signals to search engines that your site is authoritative and worth ranking.
• Structuring your website's navigation intuitively around core estate planning services like wills, trusts, probate, etc. This improves site architecture.
• Building high-quality backlinks from other legal industry websites to signal trust and relevance.
• Leveraging schema markup to highlight key professional credentials and optimize snippets.
• Monitoring your site's search rankings and traffic in Google Analytics to refine efforts.

SEO is like a tree. Once it grows, it bears fruits that deliver a steady flow of organic traffic that converts into new estate planning clients.

5. Create Effective Estate Planning PPC Ads

PPC advertising for estate planning lawyers puts your practice directly in front of homeowners actively searching online for ways to get their affairs in order. Key estate planning search queries like "will lawyer" or "trust attorney near me" can be targeted, with Google Ads displaying your contact details prominently.

Unlike organic search results, paid advertising provides immediate visibility for your estate planning practice. Moreover, well-optimized ads introduce your legal expertise while compelling call-focused individuals to set up consultations with just one click.

With PPC advertising, you have control over your budget. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, making it a cost-effective marketing strategy. You can set a daily or monthly budget that aligns with your goals and monitor the performance of your ads to optimize their effectiveness.

6. Create Converting Landing Pages

While ads bring new prospects, it's important to capture critical contact information from these potential clients.  Landing pages allow you to provide a focused and relevant experience for visitors who arrive through various channels, such as PPC ads or social media campaigns.

A well-designed landing page includes a clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA) that prompts visitors to take the desired action. Whether it's filling out a contact form, downloading a resource, or scheduling a consultation, a prominently placed CTA guides visitors toward conversion.

Furthermore, include lead capture forms on your landing pages to collect essential details, such as names, email addresses, and phone numbers, allowing you to follow up with potential clients and nurture them through the client acquisition process.

Conduct A/B testing by creating dedicated landing pages for different campaigns. This involves experimenting with various elements such as headlines, layouts, call-to-actions (CTAs), and images. Through these tests, you can gain insights into what resonates most effectively with your target audience and steadily enhance your conversion rate over time.

7. Start an Estate Planning Email Campaign

Email marketing is a consistent yet personalized way to keep existing clients informed while attracting new readers over time. The key to success is targeting subscribers' interests with concise, skimmable legal updates and answers to common concerns. Email marketing is also a cost-effective way to reach clients, with minimal costs associated with sending emails.

To make the most of your estate planning email campaign, consider the following strategies:

• Divide your email list into segments based on demographics, interests, and stage in the client journey. 
• Offer valuable and informative content in your emails, such as tips on estate planning, changes in legislation, case studies, success stories, and relevant industry news.
• Grab your recipients' attention with compelling subject lines that entice them to open your emails.
• Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) that guides recipients toward the desired action, such as scheduling a consultation, requesting a free guide, or contacting your firm.

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8. Create Social Media Accounts for Better Engagement

Social media platforms provide a vast audience base and allow you to showcase your expertise, build brand awareness, and foster meaningful connections. They allow you to engage with potential clients in real-time, providing a more personalized experience. 

Best practices for creating social media accounts: 

• Select the social media platforms that are most popular with your target audience, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
• Use social media to provide valuable information about estate planning, such as tips, resources, and news, to establish your law firm as a trusted authority.
• Respond to comments and messages promptly to provide a more personalized experience.

9. Attend Networking Events for Lawyers

Face-to-face interactions remain influential in developing new relationships. Cultivating relationships opens the strongest pathways to new business leads. Come prepared to discuss services helping specific professionals. Collect numerous high-quality leads through mingling rather than just distributing brochures. Follow up promptly and treat referrals courteously to motivate future introductions. 

Remember, people do business with people they know- network purposefully to expand familiarity within the local legal ecosystem.

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10. Offer Free Consultations for Your Estate Planning Clients

Providing initial guidance gratis helps prospective clients realize the value of services while experiencing an attorney's personable assistance firsthand. It allows addressing concerns to alleviate uncertainty over costs, meriting professional involvement.

When you offer free consultation, you should: 

• Clearly communicate the scope and duration of the free consultation to potential clients.
• Use the free consultation as an opportunity to provide value to prospective clients, such as answering questions and providing guidance.
• Follow up with potential clients to provide additional information and encourage them to become clients.

How to Build a Life and Practice You Love with Ali Katz Founder of The New Law Business Model, in the Podcast Series

In the podcast, Sasha and Ali advocate for a fulfilling law practice by focusing on high-value offerings, attracting the right clientele, and optimizing time and resources. They emphasize a client-centric approach that connects with individuals on a personal level, understanding their unique needs and aspirations. This heart-centered methodology has proven successful for estate planning lawyers and is applicable to other legal fields. It's essential to acknowledge that success in law requires not only legal expertise but also business acumen, effective systems, and a client-centered approach.

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Ali Katz

Founder of The New Law Business Model

Ali Katz is a trailblazing lawyer, entrepreneur, and the visionary founder of The New Law Business Model. Driven by a passion to transform the legal industry, Ali empowers lawyers to build thriving, fulfilling practices that prioritize client relationships and well-being.

With a background as a top-ranking graduate from Georgetown University Law Center and experience at a prestigious law firm, Ali brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her work. She is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and has been featured on major media outlets like Good Morning America and the Today Show.

Get More Estate Planning Leads with Grow Law Firm

At the end of the day, generating more leads and converting them into clients is about building genuine connections and creating value for people. While optimized digital strategies are important, the heart of growing a trusted law practice lies in how you touch and improve people's lives.

Navigating the intricacies of digital marketing and lead generation can be time-consuming, especially when focused on serving your clients and managing your estate planning practice. That's where Grow Law Firm, a trusted lead generation service, can be your invaluable partner. We offer lead generation services like lawyer SEO services, PPC, and web design to boost your online presence and ultimately grow your client base.

Keep learning from each new connection and working to understand each person's distinct needs and goals. Contact Grow Law Firm today and let us help you achieve your goals.