Tighe Wilhelmy, Co-Founder and Vice President of Operations and Business Development at Local Lawyer Guide
Law firm video advertising is a relatively new service many law firms are not taking advantage of. Video allows you to build rapport with your prospective clients in a way that no other form of media can. With video advertising you can selectively target consumers with many of the same laser targeted methods that other pay per click platforms such as Google Adwords employ. Video advertising through Local Lawyer Guide’s distribution network expands much further than YouTube to sites such as Hulu, ESPN, The Wall Street Journal, Facebook, The Huffington Post and more.
We interviewed Tighe Wilhelmy of Local Lawyer Guide, an expert at legal video advertising, to help us better understand video advertising and how it may help your law firm. Thanks Tighe.
What is the best way to grab viewers so that I can get the most out of my advertising spend? Is there one genre of video that works better than others?
Online video advertising spend is best used when you have quality video, proper targeting, sufficient reach and frequency, and your video gets to the point quickly. With users having the ability to skip some video advertisements, it’s imperative to establish your messaging within the first 5-seconds of the video.
In terms of genre, humor and drama resonate best with consumers. However, with many legal issues being very serious, we recommend being genuine and building an emotional appeal into your video advertisements. Emotion triggers more impulsive reactions. Logic will cause your viewers to think about their decision more deeply.
Which kind of conversion actions work better, phone numbers or clicks to my website? Or should I have some combination of both?
Your online video advertisement should contain both a phone number and link to a landing page for your law firm. Phone numbers are great, but remember, your video advertisement is only (15) to (30) seconds and the user is already preoccupied. It’s important to understand that much of the benefit that comes from online video advertising is branding through high levels of frequency. Users will often times visit the website briefly and return at a later time through branded searches. Therefore, your landing page or website must be capable of converting leads into clients.
Are there any options for making my video ad interactive? For example are people able to like it or share it?
At this time, we don’t offer interactive video advertisements to our clients. It’s certainly on the horizon due to the level of engagement these offer though. Unfortunately, I can’t provide too much detail at this time on the interactive elements we are planning to offer our clients.
Am I able to use customized tracking parameters in my video advertising? For example if I had multiple ads running and I wanted to add utm parameters trackable in Google Analytics, is that possible?
Absolutely. We use unique tracking links for each video advertisement and report various metrics into our client’s Google Analytics account. We even create various goal conversions within our client’s Google Analytics accounts, such as “Session Duration” and “Session Page Views”. This provides data from which we identify potential user flow or user experience issues and optimize overall campaign performance.
What was your best video production experience?
My favorite video production experience took place recently. Our company produced a commercial and will be entering the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. The winning commercials are played during halftime of the Super Bowl. We were able to be creative with our approach and ultimately produce something related to the legal industry. Overall, the project was an absolute blast, so keep an eye out for something soon!
What was your worst video production experience?
It may not be the worst production experience, but the first thing to come to mind is a corporate video shoot that took place with a law firm in Arizona. Halfway through the video shoot, the building’s fire alarm went off. Needless to say, it was unexpected and resulted in various changes on the fly. The final video ended up coming out great, so now it’s something our production team enjoys reminiscing about.
I don’t have a huge budget, is this still a good medium for me to use?
That depends. We work with all types of B2C and B2B law firms. If your average case value is worth more than $3,000, then this is a great medium for you to use. Otherwise, there would need to be a conversation that takes place before I could make any personal recommendations.
That said we require a minimum budget of $1,500 per month. During this time we are reaching optimal frequency levels of 26–35 touch points and optimizing your campaign during real-time, based upon the data being reported from your campaign.
Is there a recommended length that my video should be?
Advertisements have traditionally been (30) seconds in length. However, there has been a significant shift toward using (15) second advertisements. They are reporting comparable conversion rates and don’t impact user experience as much. Only in some cases do we recommend using 60-second commercials.
What is the best way to stand apart from other lawyers doing video marketing?
The best attorney video marketing campaigns require strategic placement. With video converting better than any other medium, it’s important to understand how to properly use them. These videos should be placed on directories, such as AVVO, Local Lawyer Guide, YELP, FindLaw, and more. Moreover, these videos should be added to your newsletter, blog, social media accounts, and of course, YouTube.
In addition to placement, the best campaigns are genuine and helpful. Don’t answer a question with “It’s complicated, but come see me and I’ll explain everything you need to know.” Consumers have become accustomed to having information at their fingertips. You should be providing helpful information, while including various calls to action throughout.
What is the key to getting people to watch my video ad all the way to the end?
The key to a high completion rate is targeting and capturing the user’s attention within the first (5) seconds. When our clients explain their ideal clientele, we apply various levels of targeting, such as demographics, geography, search history, interests, income levels, purchase history, and much more. Through these layers of targeting, our average client experiences a completion rate of 60-80%.
