8 Digital Marketing Skills Needed by Legal Marketers Today

How can law firm marketers future-proof their marketing skills? What makes a great law firm marketer? Legal marketing is an ever-changing field, so it’s of the utmost importance that legal marketers ensure their skill set is up to date. Below are eight areas where today’s successful legal marketers excel.  If you don’t feel completely comfortable with any of these skills, it’s time to brush up! Don’t worry; I include links to guides and resources to help you learn and implement each one. 

Digital Marketing Skills Needed by Legal Marketers

1. Storytelling

Wrap your message into a story that transports people, simplifies information, and provokes an emotional response. Whether you’re captioning a LinkedIn post or writing a thought leadership article for your law firm’s blog, excellent storytelling skills are always an asset for legal marketers. Legal marketers need to be able to weave together compelling narratives that align with client sentiment. 

In this article by HubSpot, you can learn 2 simple frameworks that can make you a better storyteller.

2. The Ability to Analyze Data and Draw Insights

Digital marketing data analytics go beyond web analytics and website performance. Legal marketers need to be well-versed in how data shapes and drives the client experience across platforms and channels.

Marketers should rely on analytics to grow revenue, improve return on investment (ROI), and make key decisions about where to invest their limited time and budget. There are many analytics tools at a marketer’s disposal, the most popular being Google Analytics. In this blog post, we write about the top marketing analytics tools for marketers.

3. Basic Design Skills

Better design makes your content more likely to get noticed and remembered. Traditionally, marketing teams have supported specialist design roles (and more than one in many cases). But not all law firms may be able to rely on design-specific professionals. It’s important that today’s marketers understand the basics of design and the art of visual storytelling. There are many free and intuitive tools that provide ready-made templates and other easy-to-use design resources. Check out options like Canva. Canva offers tips and tutorials, so you can get more comfortable with the elements of design. 

4. Comfort with Marketing Technology

Today’s marketers rely heavily on the right martech stack. Technology plays a key role in creating, executing, and tracking marketing efforts – so marketers need to be familiar with the various technologies that will enable those processes. From marketing automation and team collaboration to social media employee advocacy, being able to use technology is a must for today’s marketers. In-demand marketers will understand how to use various tools to achieve their objectives. 

Want to build a successful martech stack? Check out our article: How to Assess Your Law Firm’s Marketing Technology Stack

5. Agility and Adaptability

Marketing is a fast-changing field, with new best practices, tools, and standards emerging constantly. Additionally, marketing teams often have to work under tight deadlines, and they may be assigned last-minute projects or find priorities shifting with little notice. A successful marketer will enjoy this kind of fast-paced environment and will adapt to changing circumstances with ease.

Related: 4 Top Project Management Tools For Law Firm Marketers. 

6. Industry Expertise

With thought leadership and expertise at the forefront of legal marketing, it’s critical that today’s marketers have a deep understanding of their industry, vertical, and services. Ideally, they can write about the firm’s services on their own without much external help. Effective marketers are those who practice active listening and seek a thorough understanding of what’s happening throughout the firm. Firm leaders should ensure that marketers have access to learning resources and collateral and take the time to distill that information into campaign tactics. 

Stay up to date with what’s happening in your industry by getting involved in industry groups on LinkedIn and subscribing to industry RSS feeds such as Feedspot.

7. An Understanding of Their Clients and Target Audience

Understanding your firm’s target audience is an essential component of legal marketing because it impacts every aspect of your strategy. The savviest legal marketers fully understand what their ideal client is like. They know who their target audience is, what issues they face, their pain points, what solutions they will be looking for, etc. It’s also imperative that legal marketers fully understand the industry trends that will be most influential for their clients and potential clients.

8. Proficiency in SEO and Content Optimization

A strong SEO strategy is essential for legal marketers to ensure their firm’s website ranks high on search engines and attracts the right audience. Potential clients often turn to Google first when researching legal services, and if your firm isn’t showing up on the first page, you’re losing business to competitors.

To be effective, legal marketers need to understand:

• Keyword Research – Identifying what potential clients are searching for and incorporating those terms strategically into content.
• On-Page SEO – Optimizing website structure, metadata, internal links, and content readability for search engines.
• Off-Page SEO – Building credibility through backlinks, online directories, and reputation management.
• Technical SEO – Ensuring fast load times, mobile-friendliness, and overall site performance to meet Google’s ranking criteria.

Google frequently updates its search algorithms, so legal marketers must stay informed of SEO best practices to maintain strong search visibility.

Related: SEO for Law Firm Websites

Takeaway:

The world of marketing is constantly evolving, and what made for a terrific marketer last year doesn’t cut it today – and in ten years, new skills will be required! Marketers should continuously focus on improving their skill set to stay relevant and in-demand. 

If you want to quickly accumulate your foundational digital marketing skills, you may want to consider enrolling in our Digital Marketing for Law Firms Certification. This course covers in-demand topics like analytics, social media, SEO, online advertising, email, content marketing, and more.

This post has been edited and republished from Sep. 7, 2022.