Geofencing for Law Firms: Navigating the Boundaries of Digital Marketing

In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital marketing, law firms are constantly seeking innovative ways to reach potential clients and stay ahead of the competition. A recent technological advancement currently making waves is geofencing. While this digital marketing tool has been a staple in retail and service industries for some time, geofencing is now finding its way into the legal sector. Attorneys looking for innovative methods to reach new audiences, differentiate themselves, and convert leads into clients may discover that geofencing gives their law firm a competitive advantage. So let’s take a closer look at the benefits and future advantages of geofencing for law firms.

What Is Geofencing for Lawyers?

Geofencing is a location-based service that uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi, or cellular data to define virtual boundaries around a physical location. When a mobile device enters or exits this predefined area, it triggers a response, such as sending a push notification or an advertisement to the user’s smartphone. For law firms, this technology offers a unique opportunity to hyper- target potential clients within specific geographic zones. Consider these examples:

The immediacy, personalization, and topic-specific messaging of geofencing can feel compelling to potential clients who are less influenced by generalized, mass media marketing. By contacting a person in their moment of need, the impression can be more lasting and memorable.

5 Benefits of Geofencing Marketing

There are many attractive benefits to geofencing, and that’s why it’s becoming increasingly popular for digital marketing.

1. Cost Effective

   Compared to many other forms of marketing, geofencing can be less expensive than traditional advertising. For law firms with a limited budget and a desire to pursue an innovative approach, geofencing might be an ideal option.

2. Targeted

   Geofencing allows law firms to deliver high quality, targeted ads to individuals with a very particular legal motivation.

3. Accelerated Acquisition

   By reaching potential clients at the right place, at the time of an immediate need, geofencing can significantly boost client acquisition rates.

4. Competitive Advantage

   In a saturated market, differentiation is key. Law firms that adopt geofencing can gain an advantage by leveraging new technology that competitors might not be using yet.

5. Client Engagement

   Geofencing isn’t just about acquiring new clients — it’s also about engaging existing ones. A law firm can geofence its own office to enhance communication with current clients by sending reminders for appointments or updates on their cases when clients are near the law firm office.

Potential Challenges with Geofencing

There are a few potential obstacles to geofencing marketing, and that’s why it’s often wise to hire a legal marketing agency that is experienced and sophisticated in their understanding of the law and the effective use of geofencing.

• Privacy Concerns: A primary drawback is the potential invasion of privacy. Consumers are becoming increasingly wary of how their data is used. Receiving unsolicited ads based on location can be perceived as intrusive, so the targeting and tone of the messaging must be professional and take privacy concerns into consideration.
• Legal and Ethical Issues: Law firms must navigate a complex web of legal and ethical guidelines, especially concerning solicitation. The American Bar Association and various state bars have strict rules about how lawyers can advertise their services.
• Technical Limitations: Geofencing relies on users’ having location services enabled on their devices. If a portion of the target audience has these settings turned off, the effectiveness of the campaign diminishes.

Again, the best way to avoid these obstacles and reap the significant benefits of geofencing is to partner with a marketing agency that is experienced and skilled in using this digital tool.

Tracking the Success of Hyper-Local Geo Targeting

There are several metrics you can use to track the success of your hyper-local geo targeting efforts, giving you data that can be used to tweak your messaging or adjust your chosen locations if needed. These metrics can also help you see how cost effective your geofencing marketing is.

Reach

Reach counts the number of unique smartphones or mobile devices that cross into and/or exit your geofenced boundaries. It does not count the same device more than once, even if that device visits a geofenced area multiple times.

Impressions

Similar to but not the same as reach, impressions count the number of times any mobile device crosses your geofenced boundaries, including a device that crosses multiple times, thereby counting how many times your ad was triggered.

Conversions

Conversions show the number of individuals who took a definitive action after being prompted by a geofencing ad. An action could include calling your law firm, visiting your website, or another defined activity.

Visit Attribution

This metric counts how many unique smartphones or mobile devices crossed your geofence over a specific period of time, including how long that person stayed within the geofence.

A Brave New Frontier in Digital Marketing

In the rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive legal field, law firms cannot afford to miss opportunities to employ new technology and boost their bottom line. In some legal practice areas, margins are being squeezed to a significant degree, making cost-effective marketing with measurable results essential. Geofencing might be an ideal digital tool to add to your marketing strategy. The professionals at Gladiator Law Marketing would be happy to discuss how geofencing could be used by your law firm based on your unique goals, culture, and legal specialties.