We thank the Lawyerist.com team for this guest post.

One thing is for certain: You can’t have a successful law firm marketing plan without knowing who you’re marketing to. And although it’s simple to say your target market is, “everyone who needs legal services,” that alone won’t benefit your firm. Instead, you must focus on a client niche to help you market to those who need you the most.

The Importance of Finding Your Client Niche

According to Entrepreneur.com, a niche is “a portion of the market that you’ve identified as having some special characteristic and that’s worth marketing to.” Your law firm’s niche offers greater definition to how you help people. It means going deeper than simply saying “legal services.”

Your Niche Serves Many Purposes

Your unique niche serves many purposes for your law firm when it comes to marketing your services.

• Your niche helps your target audience find you. When a potential client is looking for legal services, they’re looking for a certain type. Marketing yourself as a law firm who specializes in legal services doesn’t leave your client with the message that you’re the one they need. A niche of “juvenile criminal defense” or “collaborative family law” does.
• A niche helps to frame your marketing strategy. Don’t spend your time and money on a marketing strategy that doesn’t work. By targeting your niche, you’re targeting the individuals that need you and are looking for your services, instead of those who don’t.
• Having a niche reduces your competition. When you market and serve a specific niche, this  reduces the competition around you. Think about the competition in the “legal services” realm versus a specific service.

Your Niche Doesn’t Sell Your Services Short

It’s easy to think that having a niche might sell your services short. Rest assured that you’re not missing out on anything or anyone by niching down to your ideal client. In fact, you’ll waste fewer resources attempting to market to those who don’t need you. You’ll also find that the clients who do reach out value you more.

As of 2018, there are 1.34 million lawyers within the United States. To stand out from the crowd, it’s important to find your niche.

How to Find Your Client Niche Using Personas

The best way to find your ideal client niche is by creating a client persona. A persona is a model you create of your ideal client using their demographics, their needs, their desires, their motives and more. The key is this: your client persona must be believable.

Create Your Own Client Persona

Creating a client persona will help you discover your unique niche and give you an edge in your marketing strategy.

• Start with your client’s name. Give your ideal client a name, age and other demographic information such as education level, income level, etc.
• Outline their needs and desires. Dive deep into your client’s needs and what they’re looking for in a lawyer. Ask yourself what they want to receive from you. Think about their goals and how you can best help them achieve.
• Discover their motivations and pain points. Think about what motivates your client and what frustrates them. You’ll find out how your firm can best solve these frustrations for the client.

Be as specific as possible and don’t leave anything important out. Once your persona is complete, you should have a full picture of who you will benefit from your services the most and how your services best fit in the market.

Improve Your Law Firm’s Reach

Your law firm’s reach can be improved by making just a few changes in your strategy including using a persona to find your niche. To discover where your firm could improve, take the Lawyerist Small Firm Scorecard™ assessment to find out.

VIEWS AND CONCLUSIONS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLES HEREIN ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF FLORIDA BAR STAFF, OFFICIALS, OR BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FLORIDA BAR.