Mass tort cases represent some of the most lucrative opportunities for personal injury lawyers. Yet, the small pool of cases means competition for these leads is fierce. To grab your share of mass tort leads, you need a finely tuned marketing strategy.
Across the nation, at any given time, there are only a handful of mass tort actions. But a single mass tort action can lead to hundreds of millions in settlements. Competition is stiff among attorneys to get as many of these clients as they can. So, how do you get your share?
Here, we’ll go into detail about how to focus your marketing for mass tort clients. Then, we will narrow your target market by demographics. Once we have the target in sight, we will discuss the many ways to turn prospects into clients.
Make your marketing specific to mass tort cases
The people you’re targeting for mass torts will fall into much narrower categories than those in regular personal injury cases. Mass tort prospects have an injury that’s caused by the same product or event. For example, a mass tort case may require that the prospect was at Camp Lejeune or is a woman using talcum powder. Or, they may require a single type of harm, like ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.
Even if you narrowed personal injury cases only to car wrecks caused by 18-wheel trucks, the type of injury could be anything. The wreck could have occurred at any time as long as it was within the statute of limitations. With mass tort law, the case may only cover certain types of injuries.
Since your mass tort prospects fall into more narrow categories than other personal injury cases, you can target potential clients more precisely. That said, having a narrow category means there’s a smaller pool for these high-dollar cases. And many attorneys are competing for this small pool of potential clients. With this in mind, it’s best to focus on your advertising while finding ways to minimize costs.
Know your demographics
Your target demographic depends on the mass tort. If you’re looking for clients injured by water contamination at a military base, you’ll want people stationed at the base during the time of the contamination. By knowing the period of the contamination, you know the age groups you’re trying to reach. Since it’s a military base, you know you’re looking for soldiers and defense contractors. If these people lived on the base with their families, you’ll want to reach family members too.
You’ll want to target the people who developed the conditions caused by the water contamination. There may be many conditions resulting from the chemicals in the water. Other mass tort cases may have only one condition caused by the defective product. Though talcum powder may cause a range of health issues, your mass tort may only involve plaintiffs with ovarian cancer.
Now that you know who to target in such cases, how are you going to reach these folks? A forum for members of the American Legion might be a good start for the military example. For the talcum powder cases, perhaps an online group for ovarian cancer patients and survivors is the best place for your ads.
Invest in SEO
Now that you know your target market, what questions are they asking? For search engine optimization (SEO), the primary words in these questions represent your target keywords. Tools like SEMrush can help you find the right phrases and variations. When you strategically place the right keywords on your website and other content, you help the search engines find your website.
But SEO goes far beyond mere keywords. You’ll also need to focus on:
- Your Google Business Profile (GBP)
- The structure of your web pages — using headings, meta descriptions, and internal links
- Page load speed
- Optimizing for mobile browsing
- Links and citations from highly credible websites
- Google reviews
- Authoritative, accurate, helpful content (more on that next)
Use content marketing
Becoming the best source to answer the questions your potential clients have is one of the most important parts of SEO. But it’s also how you’ll get your web pages shared with others. For example, if someone stationed at Camp Lejeune in 1985 finds answers on your blog, they’ll share it with friends who served with them.
Since readers will often share your content, it’s a great place to share your firm’s success stories. This will spread awareness of your firm and increase inbound marketing opportunities.
Mass torts often involve complex issues. For example, some readers may find it difficult to understand how a defective drug injures them. Readers can often grasp the issues better if the content includes infographics, videos, or FAQs.
Use search engine marketing
Whereas SEO is free, search engine marketing (SEM) deals with paid internet ads. These are usually pay-per-click (PPC) ads — meaning you pay the advertiser every time someone clicks on your ad. Other attorneys will compete with you for ads on internet sites or search engine result pages (SERP).
Your competitors will bid up the price for the best internet placements. As a result, you must be wise when placing these ads. Usually, it will be the attorney who best understands their potential clients who will do best here. This goes back to learning enough about the demographics to narrow your search. See Tip 2 above.
Be the first in your region to target prospects for a mass tort
Being first gives you a significant advantage over those who lag behind. You want to build your reputation as an authority on the latest mass tort before your competition gets into the game. Once you’re in the lead, it’s easier to stay there, and it’s easiest to get there if you start before the others.
Know the Bar’s rules
Before you start marketing, consider the Bar’s rules on advertising and direct solicitations. It’s essential that your advertising does not mislead, unduly pressure, or guarantee outcomes for your prospective clients.
If you’re buying exclusive mass tort leads, and the company selling the leads assures you a lead will become a client, it’s a referral. You probably know, you cannot pay a “leads” company for referrals.
By closely following your state’s rules of professional conduct, you show commitment to your clients’ well-being. Potential clients trust those who follow the rules. And trust is the first step in turning contacts into clients.
Turn leads into clients with CloudLex
You have your GBP and website optimized for the search engines. You’re using the right mix of SEM. You have excellent content. And you’re in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations. So what’s next? These marketing tools will give you a lot of leads, but prospects don’t pay the bills.
You have to convert these leads into clients. To do this, you’ll need an efficient method to convert leads into clients. That’s where CloudLex’s client intake management shines. CloudLex digitizes your intake process so you can streamline new matter management and convert more prospects. Let us show you what it can do for you.