How to Create a Successful Lawyer Commercial

Plan, Execute & Promote Commercials for Your Law Firm

Want to get your law firm in front of more potential clients? If so, you’ve probably tried a variety of marketing tactics, such as billboards, Google Ads, law firm digital marketing, or social media marketing.

But one type of advertising that’s often underrated is commercials, either on television or online. Though more traditional, commercials are still an effective form of marketing for law firms.

Learn more about what it takes to plan, create, and promote a successful commercial – and how to get more traffic and leads with commercial advertising!

How Can Commercial Advertising Benefit Your Law Firm?

A successful lawyer commercial is one that effectively communicates your law firm’s expertise and credibility to your target audience. A creative, engaging commercial can do wonders in terms of driving website traffic, phone calls, and leads for your business.

Here are a few more ways in which commercial advertising can benefit your legal business:

Increased Visibility: Commercials help promote your legal services to potential clients via channels like TV, radio, print, and online ads. This allows you to reach a wider audience and increase the visibility of your brand.
Brand Recognition: Active advertising can build familiarity with your brand, as potential clients start seeing your ads on a regular basis. This can lead to more trust and authority.
Competitive Edge: In a competitive industry like legal, running creative commercials can be a way to stand out and differentiate your law firm from competitors. Great commercials make your brand more memorable, informative, and eye-catching.
More Leads: Commercials can generate leads by prompting viewers to contact your firm for legal services. Including a call-to-action (like, “Call us now!”) can drive more phone calls, website visits, and contact form submissions.
Measurable Results: Many commercial advertising channels allow you to track the performance of your campaigns, making it easier to determine the return on your marketing investment. Analyzing metrics such as website traffic, call volume, or conversion rates allows you to improve your commercials for better results.

8 Tips for Creating a Successful Law Firm Commercial

Ready to create better lawyer commercials? Whether you’ve ran commercials before or are just getting started, you’ll appreciate these tips for how to plan your commercials, improve production quality, and promote the final commercial for more views and leads!

1. Build a strategy

The key to any successful lawyer commercial is to start with a strategy. This means planning the content of your commercial long before you actually start recording. This ensures that you go into production with a purpose and strategic direction in mind.

First, determine the primary goal of your commercial. Is it to share a testimonial about your firm to help build trust? Tell a story to familiarize viewers with your firm? Capture attention with humor? Get clear about the goal of your commercial, as this will inform the content.

Next, decide what action you want viewers to take. Do you want them to call to schedule a consultation? Visit your website for more information? A commercial with a clear call-to-action will be more effective at driving new leads.

Then, create a script and/or creative strategy. This might include writing a script for an attorney to follow, a storyboard for your commercial actors, an outline of props to be included, etc. Determine what visual aids, such as video clips, captions, or images, should be included.

With this strategy in mind, you can move on to creating the content of your commercial.

2. Master your message

Whether informational, motivational, or entertaining, your commercial should clearly articulate the legal services you offer and what makes your firm stand out. This can be reserved for near the end of the commercial, where you display your call-to-action, or be weaved throughout the content of your commercial.

Your commercial should answer questions like: What sets your law firm apart? What problems can you solve for potential clients? Why should someone want to work with you?

Remember, the purpose of your commercial isn’t just to have your law firm “stand out” – it’s to entice viewers to take action. For them to do that, they need to understand what it is that you offer and why working with you is the right solution for their needs!

3. Be authentic

We’ve all seen them – the uber-salesy lawyer commercials with the flashy graphics and aggressive jargon. Today’s consumers are far more discerning, and authenticity reigns supreme. Clients want to know that they are working with real people who care about their case!

Your commercial should demonstrate that your law firm is genuine, trustworthy, and reliable. This can be conveyed through your demeanor, body language, tone of voice, credentials, and explanation of your services. Try to create a similar kind of experience that potential clients can expect when working with your law firm.

4. Level-up the production quality

While it is true that anyone can create video content using something as accessible as a smartphone, this probably won’t cut it for your commercial. Investing in a professional videographer and/or equipment will ensure a higher quality output, including clear audio and crisp video.

Professional production can make such a difference when it comes to capturing viewers’ attention and solidifying the credibility of your brand. It’s worth it to invest in high-quality video, editing, and graphics to ensure you’re putting your best foot forward.

5. Add in testimonials

Not every lawyer commercial needs to include testimonials, but these can help build trust in your brand. Testimonials from satisfied clients prove that your law firm puts in the work and delivers great results for your clients. Viewers will see this and be more likely to trust your services.

You can drop in video testimonials, text quotes from happy clients, screenshots, Google reviews, and more. Get creative about how you display your testimonials to keep viewers’ attention and make your brand memorable!

6. Strike an emotional cord

There are many formats for successful lawyer commercials — such as Humor, Informational, Interview, Client Testimonial, and Story-Based, just to name a few. But all of these formats have something in common: they appeal to viewers’ emotions!

Connecting with viewers on an emotional level can make your commercial more memorable, engaging, and persuasive. Rather than hitting hard on “facts” or qualifications, relating your commercial to the viewer’s needs (and how you can help them) will result in far more leads.

Here are a few examples for how to do this:

Tell a story that features real-life scenarios or case studies, including the challenges the clients faced, their emotions throughout the legal process, and the positive outcomes achieved with your firm’s help.
Emphasize your firm’s compassionate approach to client services. Show scenes of lawyers listening attentively to clients, celebrating a legal victory together, and providing reassurance and support.
Demonstrate the positive impact your firm has had on clients’ lives through before-and-after scenarios or visual representations of successful case outcomes. Use visuals such as smiling faces, hugs of relief, or families reunited to evoke feelings of hope, happiness, and security.
Acknowledge and address common fears that viewers may have about seeking legal help. Assure them that your firm understands their worries and is committed to guiding them through the legal process with expertise and compassion. Explain how working with a trusted attorney can help alleviate their stress and result in a better outcome for their case.

7. Include a clear call-to-action

Your commercial should end with an obvious call-to-action that prompts viewers to take the next steps, whether that’s calling a phone number, visiting your website, or scheduling a free consultation.

This call-to-action should be prominently displayed in your ad. We recommend stating the call-to-action in your audio, as well as including text on screen. Make it super obvious how prospective clients can reach you and what they can expect next!

It can be helpful to create a unique trackable phone number or landing page for your commercial so you can attribute new leads to the appropriate campaign. Also, having a campaign-specific landing page with persuasive copy can often result in a better conversion rate compared to directing viewers to a generic contact page.

8. Consider placement & promotion

Even the most well-crafted commercial won’t be effective if it’s not seen by the right audience. Consider the placement of your commercial, whether that’s radio, TV, or online, to reach your ideal target clients.

You also want to make sure your commercial is distributed through channels where your preferred audience is likely to see it. This might include sharing your video commercial on Facebook, running paid ads on Instagram, or reposting your commercial to YouTube. Track the performance (views, clicks, shares, etc.) of your commercial to see what channels work best for your brand – this will be helpful information for future commercials!

The frequency at which you run commercials will depend on a variety of factors, such as your budget, marketing objectives, and resources. You might consider the level of competition in your market, and whether other firms are running frequent commercials. You should also consider the “freshness” of your commercial; if an ad has been running for a long time and results are dwindling, it might be time for a new ad.

Examples of Great Lawyer Commercials

Planning your own commercial from scratch can be intimidating, especially if you are stumped for ideas. Here are a few examples of successful law firm commercials to get your creative juices flowing. Get inspired, get creative, and get filming!

See more of the Best Lawyer Commercials Ever.

Get Started with Legal Advertising Services

Increase your law firm’s visibility and attract new clients with digital advertising! At Hennessey Digital, we offer creative advertising, paid media, law firm SEO, and web design services to help your brand get in front of more prospective clients.

Ready to take your law firm to the next level? Contact us to discuss marketing solutions for your business today.