How are you going to market and grow your law firm in 2026?

Marketing, especially digital, is not optional anymore, most clients begin their search in Google, or a modern LLM like ChatGPT or Gemini

To win enough new clients in the year ahead, you need a law firm marketing strategy executed with the confidence that you’re using the right tools and services.

With the growth of AI, law firm marketing strategies are having to evolve rapidly to prevent firms getting left behind but that’s no reason to abandon tried and tested methods.

I’ve compiled 21 law firm marketing strategies to consider adopting in 2026. Each strategy includes practical steps, recommended tools, and examples that apply regardless of your firm’s size.

Let’s get straight into them.

You likely already have a logo and name for your firm, but do you have a brand?

Most law firms sound the same. Define what makes your firm unique, build an original brand story around it, and stand out from the crowd.

Start by answering these questions:

• Who are you?
• Who do you serve and represent?
• What sets you apart from other attorneys/law firms?

Think about the type of firm you want to be. Your brand is more than what clients see on letterheads and business cards—it’s what springs to mind when your name is mentioned. It drives them to call you when they need a law firm offering what you do.

This is how our criminal defence law client in Calgary does it:

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Once you work out what is unique about your firm, use it to tell your target audience who you are. If your firm focuses specifically on a particular area of law, a narrow focus to your brand may be more appropriate, like this 9/11 victim’s attorney in New York:

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Another example of a law firm dialling in its branding comes from this multi-service firm in Calgary. Multi-service firms often struggle with brand clarity, but Lito Law focused on clearly communicating its true value: working with lawyers you’ll love.

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Unique selling propositions (USPs) and marketing messages are closely connected to your brand, working together to define how your firm is perceived, remembered, and differentiated.

Think of it this way:

• Your brand is the “who”.
• Your USP is the “why”.
• Your marketing messages are the “how.”

In each of the above examples, the firms create web pages and other content that consistently highlight their USP, why you should get in touch with them, and align with their brand.

Strategic Criminal Defence highlights its 5-star Google reviews. This trust indicator is featured prominently on the website, and reviews are also shared across social channels.

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Weisfuse & Weisfuse, LLP highlights its work supporting 9/11 attorneys and advocating for September 11th World Trade Center families and survivors. The firm features successful cases prominently on its website.

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Litco Law prominently showcases ratings and reviews from more than 700 clients, providing clear proof behind its Lawyers You’ll Love promise.

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Three very different law firms, with different practice areas, but all with powerful messages explaining why you should get in touch.

Artificial intelligence is not only being used to review legal documents. It is also rapidly changing the face of law firm marketing through software platforms that use AI to automate, optimize, or enhance marketing tasks. Over 70% of firms now use AI-driven tools for client acquisition and engagement.

Some popular AI marketing tools include:

• LawDroid: LawDroid is an AI chatbot and automation platform for law firms that helps engage website visitors, collect intake information, and automate routine client interactions.
• Smith.ai: Smith.ai provides AI-powered call and chat intake with optional human receptionists, ensuring law firms capture, qualify, and schedule leads 24/7.
• Intaker.ai: Intaker.ai uses conversational AI to automate legal intake through chat and text, instantly qualifying leads, booking consultations, and following up to improve conversion rates.

AI tools can analyze data, generate content, personalize outreach, and improve decision-making. Their integration into the way law firms market themselves is inevitable, in some form at least.

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More specifically, AI can be used to assist with:

• Content creation
• SEO
• Analytics and insights
• Customer service (chatbots and AI assistants)
• Email and CRM Automation
• Ad optimization
• Review and reputation management

AI is helping firms get found online, increase the number of leads, and get more bang for their marketing buck—but this comes with a caveat. Implementation should be managed cautiously to maintain ethics, compliance with legal marketing standards, and accuracy.

AI agents on law firm websites are particularly popular, with 37% of law firms currently using AI-powered chatbots or AI chat agents for client intake, inquiries, or support functions:

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AI tools like Birdeye can also help law firms respond to reviews and manage reputations, like this, for example:

Reviewer: “Great experience with Smith Law! They helped me through a tough time and kept me informed every step of the way.”

AI-generated reply: “Thank you for your kind words! We’re delighted that our team could support you during a difficult time. Your feedback helps our entire firm continue delivering excellent service.”

The Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free online listing that’s so important to claim and optimize, it deserves special attention—no law firm should miss it.

The GBP is essential for generating local leads. Google directs those searching locally for your practice area services to your website. Without optimizing your profile, you won’t get the benefit of this valuable free marketing channel.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Claim your profile

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2. Fully complete every section with up-to-date information

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3. Reap the rewards (qualified leads) by demonstrating relevance, expertise, and trustworthiness when potential clients search for legal help.

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The key things to focus on with your Google Business Profile are:

• Entering your business location accurately on the map.
• Listing your official business website.
• Adding your business hours, etc.
• Maintaining consistency with your business name, address, and phone number (“NAP”) across the web.
• Selecting the most appropriate primary category for your firm.
• Gathering reviews.
• Adding photographs.
• Adding regular GBP posts that link to your content and practice pages.

5. Attract at least 10+ 5-star reviews

Law firms that ably demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EEAT) generally do best in search.

Reviews help with all that and are essential for firms to gather as quickly as possible. Not only do they convince prospective clients to sign on the dotted line, but they also help you attract more online leads by improving local search engine rankings.

NEED A NEW GRAPHIC

Try to quickly get at least 10, 5-star Google reviews. According to Gather Up, 10 reviews appears to be the magic number that boosts a profiles visibility in Google’s Local Search Results.

Once you get 10 Google reviews, get reviews on Facebook, Avvo, Yelp, and other platforms.

This criminal defense law firm in California has a dedicated page for its many reviews. Note how they include a star rating for an immediate visual representation of their success:

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Essential tips for getting more reviews

• Include the request for reviews as part of the client intake process.
• Make it as easy as possible for satisfied clients to write reviews—send an automated message to clients after the case is closed.
• Reply to reviews, and don’t ignore negative ones. Offer to fix the problem if the grievance is genuine.

Your law firm website needs to be professional, user-friendly, and full of great information so that when prospective clients visit, they get answers to questions like:

• How can this law firm help with my specific problem?
• How are they qualified as lawyers?
• How do I contact them?

Visitors to this website know the answers instantly from the homepage or within a few clicks.

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A professional, well-built, informative website works on another level for your marketing too: Google will reward it with rankings. The law firm website highlighted above is the highest in Google rankings for the competitive keyword phrase “divorce lawyers in Maine”:

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Your website needs to be exceptional to stand out these days. When a potential client lands on your site, they’ll decide within seconds whether they trust your firm enough to call.

In addition to what we’ve already mentioned, make sure your website is:

• Fast loading (ideally under two seconds).
• Easy to navigate.
• Measurable with analytics tools (bounce rate, dwell time, conversions, etc.)
• Polished, with a mobile-first and modern design.

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An award that lands on your doorstep is like gold dust. Unfortunately, that’s rare. So, you must actively try to “win” awards and build your credentials.

Remember EEAT: Experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Awards will help you instantly establish most of those qualities.

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The truth is, some awards are paid for, others are merit-based. You’ll need to decide whether the return on investment is worth it if you pay for an award. One thing is for certain, however: your law firm needs authority to thrive.

Some of the top awards/credentials include:

• American Bar Association (ABA)  
• Canadian Bar Association (CBA) National Awards 
• Lexpert Zenith Awards 
• Law Firm 500 Awards 
• Acritas Stars 
• IFLR 1000 
• The Legal 500 
• Best Lawyers
• Super Lawyers
• Consumer Choice Award
• Best Lawyers / U.S. News Best Law Firms
• Law Firm 500 Awards
• Canadian Lawyer Reader’s Choice Awards

Ultimately, if your service is not up to scratch, paying for an award won’t save you. It’s better to earn an award than pay for it. But if you offer a great service and are struggling to establish authority online, consider paid awards.

A law firm is practically nothing if it can’t be found online. That means Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and, yes, even these days as AI search becomes more popular.

The adage that 75 percent of people never go past the first page of Google is still true.

SEO is a subject that requires an article of its own, but a few strategies should form the cornerstone of any SEO campaign if you want to be on Page One:

Target Google’s AI Overviews

Create high-quality content that directly answers your audience’s core questions to increase the likelihood of appearing in Google’s AI Overviews and “People also ask” sections, which surface above traditional organic results in the search results.

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Get more backlinks

Link-building can lead to better rankings and visibility for your firm because high-quality inbound links are viewed as “votes of confidence” by Google.

If you’re unsure what a hyperlink is, it’s the clickable, usually underlined text that connects one website to another.

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As well as creating high-quality content to attract links from authority sites, try guest posting articles in your area of expertise on related websites, creating shareable infographics, and publishing books, eBooks, reports, and other high-quality content.

Here are a few link building recommendations:

• Digital PR: Earn authoritative backlinks by pitching newsworthy stories, insights, and data to journalists, publishers, and industry outlets.
• Directory Submissions: Build foundational links and citations by listing your business in reputable, relevant online directories.
• Sponsorships: Gain visibility and backlinks by sponsoring events, organizations, or community initiatives that feature partner recognition online.
• Guest Posts: Contribute expert content to relevant websites or publications in exchange for attribution and a backlink.’
• Secure Media & Awards:
Secure high-quality links by being featured in media coverage, rankings, or award announcements that highlight your firm’s credibility.

Optimize your law firm website

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On-site optimization is the process of making your website more search engine-friendly by optimizing its architecture, content, and code.

Focus on:

• Adopting Schema.
• Meta titles and descriptions.
• Improving page-load speed.
• Using FB Open Graph (OG) Tags.
• Using multimedia.
• Use keywords naturally, especially in H1, H2 headers.
• Using Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords.
• Including a table of contents with detailed pages.

Here are some of the areas that are optimized on our client Strategic Criminal Defence’s website.

Final Tip:

Most law firms have little in-house SEO expertise. It makes sense to outsource this complex task to reputable law firm SEO marketers.

It should be obvious to most law firms by now that content matters.

Writing articles about the main topics in your practice area demonstrates your expertise, builds authority and trust in your firm, and helps people find answers to pressing questions.

Developing high-quality, in-depth content (think at least 1,000-1,500 words rather than 500) will not only help you engage your target audience but also help you rank higher with Google and potentially feature on the first page.

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Video is playing an increasing role on law firm websites, YouTube channels, and social media. Posts with videos gain 157% more search traffic and backlinks compared to text-only.

Few people would argue against attention spans not being what they used to be, and that includes your legal clients. So, short-form reels and videos are best…

The videos created by Law By Mike is incredibly popular on YouTube for doing exactly that.

That’s not to say that slightly longer videos don’t have a place on your website. They can be useful in the following ways:

Promotional videos about your firm

This one is from the homepage of Strategic Criminal Defence in Calgary:

Testimonial videos from happy clients

These are prominently displayed on the website of the Tamburino Law Group in Minnesota:

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Educational videos

Here’s a good example from Bliss Law Group, a family law firm in Tacoma, WA:

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Let’s go back offline for this one.

Billboards and bus bench ads still have a place in your law firm’s marketing strategy. People still drive cars along highways and catch buses. Therefore, this type of advertising can attract local clients.

This personal injury law firm understands that:

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Billboards and bus ads deliver constant, local visibility where potential clients live and commute. Unlike digital ads that can be skipped or blocked, outdoor advertising is always on, reinforcing name recognition day after day.

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Together, billboards and bus bench ads capture attention in high-traffic areas, keep the firm top of mind, and influence clients long before they actively need legal help.

The downside? They are generally a little more expensive than advertising online.

Strong marketing strategies only work when leads are managed effectively. You need a CRM platform that captures, tracks, and nurtures potential clients from first contact to signed engagement.

Clio Grow and Lawmatics are the two leaders in the field to help you do that.

Clio Grow

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Lawmatics

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Automated follow-ups, intake forms, and appointment scheduling create faster, more professional client experiences and ensure that no lead opportunity is lost.

With built-in analytics, firms can see which campaigns perform best and refine their marketing efforts. By aligning marketing with intake and conversion, Clio Grow and Lawmatics help you turn interest into revenue. Lawmatics also provides automated marketing tools to help you convert more leads.

Producing an article a month to meet your content marketing goals is one thing. Firms that are more serious about content will take it to another level by developing a resource center that gathers the best resources in their practice area and makes them freely available to visitors.

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Some firms go well beyond long-form articles and FAQs to include videos, podcasts, media coverage, and webinars in their resource center.

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The name doesn’t matter, resource centre, knowledge center, resource library, whatever. What matters is that you provide engaging content that answers the key questions in your clients’ minds, engages them, and encourages them to dig deeper into your website.

Hosting law firm webinars can position attorneys as knowledgeable, approachable experts while delivering great value to potential clients.

Webinars are especially useful for firms in practice areas where there may not be a need to hire a lawyer immediately, but target audiences often require some education before they hire, like estate planning lawyers rather than criminal defense or personal injury attorneys.

GK Law Group in Atlanta, GA, developed the Estate Law Center, which provides educational webinars:

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Webinars strengthen credibility and nurture relationships with potential clients. They educate audiences on legal issues they care about, building trust even before a consultation occurs. This can generate high-quality leads and create reusable content for websites and email campaigns.

Here’s another great example from Legacy Law Group in Ohio:

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TOOL TIP: Zoom is an excellent webinar-creation and hosting partner.

Engaging attorney bios show potential clients the expertise, experience, and character of the attorney they will work with.

Create a biography for each lawyer in your firm, but try not to make it sound like a CV, which is very dull for readers. Most bios over-emphasize the attorney’s education and qualifications, rather than how they help solve legal problems.

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In this excellent bio example from Vogel LLP in Calgary (replicated for each of their many lawyers), you can immediately see:

• A high-quality photo of the lawyer.
• A value proposition and “snippet” of the attorney’s credentials.
• All relevant contact details.

If we scroll down, the biography opens up with more detail about their experience, education, and professional qualifications. So, this key information is there if you click on the tab.  Otherwise, it remains hidden, and there’s even a “Me” section, with a personal photograph provided by the attorney.

Practice area pages should not simply list the services your firm provides. The best law firm marketers use practice pages to answer questions that are uppermost in the firm’s target clients’ minds.

These pages should be an extension of your content marketing, educating your clients and encouraging them to pick up the phone, book a free consultation, or do whatever the next step is.

The Strategic Criminal Defence includes information like this on its practice page for dangerous driving:

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If you create informative content based around target keywords on your practice pages, Google will love it, improving rankings and increasing click-throughs. See how the above page dominates at the top of the Google SERP for searches for Dangerous Driving Lawyers in Calgary:

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Here are some pointers to get you started if you need to overhaul your practice area pages:

• Create a unique page for each practice area (better for SEO and usability).
• Write long-form pages that go deeply into key topics.
• Keep pages clutter-free and easy to read (no legal jargon!)
• Keep paragraphs short with plenty of bullet points (like in this article).
• Embed video and images into the page to break up text.

Let’s leave this one with another example of the type of information that should be included on a practice area page.

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We touched on this earlier in the section on Clio Grow and Lawmatics but it’s worth re-emphasizing: no amount of marketing will grow your law firm without a great intake process that can convert leads to clients.

There is a big difference between marketing-qualified leads and sales-qualified leads.

What happens when a prospect contacts you? Every law firm must be able to qualify calls, emails, or contact forms, without wasting the valuable time of your lawyers.

Tools like Lawmatics and Clio Grow help, as does Ruby, which can prevent leads from “falling through the cracks” and help convert them into paying clients.

Participating in LinkedIn discussions builds visibility, credibility, and relationships among professionals actively seeking insight into legal matters.

Some types of discussions that often attract attention on LinkedIn include:

• Industry trends.
• Legal updates.
• Business conversations involving aspects of business law.

Here are some groups to consider.

e-LEGAL

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Law Society Gazette

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White Collar Law Group

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International Bar Association (IBA)

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Joining relevant legal groups like the one highlighted above and participating in discussions positions attorneys as knowledgeable and engaged—not just advertisers. This boosts credibility and trust with peers and keeps the firm top of mind for referrals and decision-makers (many of whom are on LinkedIn).

Email marketing is very strong on ROI, generating around $36–$42 per $1 spent. This makes it a highly effective tool for some types of law firms.

Using personalized and segmented email newsletters with strong CTAs, law firms can attract new clients from prospect lists, retain current clients, and re-engage with “dormant” clients.

Here’s an example of how one law firm positions their newsletter.

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For instance, estate planning law firms can send informative newsletter emails out to clients about updating wills and estate plans, family law emails can provide information on mediation or arbitration to resolve disputes, and business law firms can send information on regulations, compliance deadlines, and risk management tips.

Keep emails short and engaging, with a click-through to a blog post or other piece of content to learn more.

Another key to successful email marketing campaigns is tracking important metrics, such as:

• Open rates.
• Click-through rates.
• Conversions.

Successful law firm marketers are not “stingy” with their IP. Lots of important, valuable information should be provided freely on your website, as well as through social media and the other content channels you develop.

However, “locking” certain valuable, highly sought-after content behind an email “wall” can help.  Customers must leave contact details to download it, access a link, or have this “gated content” sent by email.

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Suitable types of content for this strategy are:

• eBooks on key topics.
• Longer, informational videos on key topics.
• Industry reports.
• Cheat sheets or tips on key topics.

This is relatively easy to set up through Lawmatics or a similar tool once you have developed the content.

Colorado-based divorce and family law firm, Colorado Legal Group, offers a free eBook on hiring a divorce lawyer for download:

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We’ve already covered Google Business Profiles (the most important element of local SEO) but local search is so fundamental for most firms that we need to consider some other tactics for developing local presence.

Most prospective clients search for attorneys by practice area + city (e.g., personal injury lawyer Chicago or immigration lawyer Dallas). The goal is to appear in Google’s Local Pack, Maps, and localized organic results.

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In addition to an optimized Google Business Profile, focus on the following:

Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) citations across your website, legal directories, and general directories, as well as your GBP.

Next, create location-specific practice area pages, like Strategic Criminal Defence (each location has its own unique page):

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Other Opportunities Include

• Run a local link-building campaign, seeking links from authority websites, like local bar associations, Chamber of Commerce, local news media, etc.
• Actively request reviews from local clients.
• Refer to local landmarks, courthouses, and local references naturally in your content.

Digital marketing for lawyers has some unique challenges, so we’ll leave you with a few final pointers on best practices when marketing your law firm:

• Follow the lawyer’s ethical and advertising/marketing rules with every campaign.
• Focus on providing a great user experience for visitors to your web properties.
• Consistently demonstrate EEAT: Experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
• Track and measure the key metrics (qualified leads are the most important) to gauge the success of campaigns.
• Outsource to marketing professionals.

Most lawyers simply don’t have the time or in-house expertise to implement a comprehensive law firm marketing strategy. That’s why we exist.