Legal Brand Marketing: 5 Examples Of Firms That Nailed It

By Clementine Jones

Legal Brand Marketing: 5 Examples Of Firms That Nailed It

Law firms have long relied on referrals and word of mouth to win clients. However, this strategy relies heavily on existing perceptions or associations, which may be outdated or inaccurate. Legal brand marketing allows your legal practice to influence the public’s perception of your firm, build trust, and establish authority within your niche. This blog explains what legal brand marketing is (and what it isn’t), as well as tips and examples to help you build a strong legal marketing strategy.

What is legal brand marketing?

Legal brand marketing is the process of shaping (prospective) client’s perceptions of your law firm’s brand, story, and value. Brand marketing is less focused on promoting individual products or services. It’s a long-term marketing strategy that involves creating a recognizable brand identity, personality, and promise. The end goal of legal brand marketing is to set your law firm apart from the competition, build trust amongst your target audience, and stay top of mind. 

What is a legal brand?

Your legal brand is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s not just your firm's logo, your colors, or your practice area — although these are all important elements of branding. A brand is what people think and feel about your law firm — which isn’t always within your marketing team’s control. Branding is less about what you say about your legal firm and more about your audience’s internalized associations and perceptions.

Why is legal brand marketing important?

The legal sector is both highly competitive and nuanced, with a large number of firms vying for prominence and market share. Trust and reputation are of the utmost importance. Because most people don’t retain a lawyer until they urgently need one, only the top-of-mind legal firms stand a chance of being selected. Plus, because your legal brand primarily exists within the minds of your audience, it’s important to take all the steps you can to steer the narrative and cultivate the brand reputation that you really want.

Check out: The Essential Guide To Marketing For Law Firms 

5 tips to take your legal brand to the next level

1. Know your audience

The key to creating a strong, memorable brand lies in understanding exactly who your target audience is, their likes (and dislikes), and what they value in a legal partner. From there, you can start building a brand they can easily engage with. This doesn’t mean that you have to always cater exactly to your audience’s expectations and assumptions about what a legal brand should be — far from it. But knowing who your brand is speaking to helps to inform every branding decision your firm makes, whether you’re sticking to the norm or going against the grain. 

Start by creating buyer personas detailing your audience’s unique challenges and ambitions, as well as their day-to-day responsibilities and jobs to be done. A persona is an imaginary person who embodies your firm’s ideal client. By giving your audience a face and a name, you’ll ensure that all of your brand marketing initiatives speak directly to your ideal customer and inspire them to take action.

Discover: How To Create Detailed Buyer Personas

2. Know what makes your firm different — and use it

Every law firm has something that makes them stand out from the crowd. One of the first steps of legal brand marketing is identifying your firm’s key differentiator(s). Perhaps it’s your expertise in a particular niche or area of legal practice, or maybe your people have a reputation for being friendly and communicative in their dealings with clients. Whatever your firm does well, this should form the foundation of your legal brand and personality. 

3. Find your unique voice

Your firm’s tone of voice (TOV) is a crucial element of your legal brand. It determines how you speak to your clients and prospective clients in your marketing collateral, advertising campaigns, social media, and more. Your TOV should be a verbal reflection of both your brand’s unique personality and the audience you’re speaking to. For example, if you’re targeting a more conservative persona, a wacky, conversational tone might not be the best choice. But if being down-to-earth is one of your key differentiators, using plain, jargon-free language will only strengthen your legal brand marketing efforts.

4. Become a thought leader in your field

Legal firms are filled with experts, all of whom bring a wealth of specific knowledge and experience to the table. Thought leadership content is the best way to put that know-how to good use while strengthening your legal brand’s credibility. By creating actionable content like educational white papers, blog posts, or e-books, you’ll not only help prospective clients navigate the complexities of the legal world — you’ll solidify your firm’s position as a knowledgeable partner that they can trust. 

5. Stay consistent with your legal brand marketing

Consistency is the key to building a legal brand that sticks. Your audience won’t remember your brand if your website and social media content look like they come from two totally different planets, for instance. Establishing clear brand guidelines outlining your visual identity and tone of voice will help employees stay on brand when creating digital content. 

Tip: Content creation platforms with built-in brand governance features can help keep content automatically on-brand — no matter who creates it. No more hours wasted policing brand inconsistencies!

5 inspiring legal brand marketing examples 

Cameron & Kane dares to be different

In a world of legal brands that look and sound similar, full-service Chicago-based law firm Cameron & Kane decided to do something a little… out of the ordinary. Opting for a bold yellow accent color and a tone of voice reflecting their down-to-earth personality, Cameron & Kane have positioned themselves as a law firm that goes against tradition and does things differently. 

White & Case establishes brand authority

International law firm White & Case provides a great example of how to use thought leadership to strengthen a legal brand. Their trend-focused content hub, Trendscape, provides their audience with actionable content around current trends and developments impacting the legal community, proving their expertise. 

Shoosmiths embarks on a client-focused rebrand

In 2023, UK-based law firm Shoosmiths unveiled their updated branding, and new slogan, ‘For what matters’. With a fresh tagline and bolder tone of voice, the firm demonstrates their dedication to building meaningful relationships with their clients, while their slicker visual identity appeals to their target audience of modern, commercial clients. 

Thommessen educates its audience

Norwegian law firm Thommessen recognized that not all of their wider audience might be familiar with the Norwegian court system and legal structures. So, they created a handy interactive guide to litigation in Norway, using a microsite-like format that’s readable and easy to navigate. 

Mike Morse Law shows some personality

For anyone who has ever called legal marketing boring, Mike Morse Law is here to prove them wrong. The firm’s 2021 Super Bowl commercial, edited in the style of a black-and-white silent movie, shows that legal brand marketing can be every bit as funny and daring as B2C marketing. 

Final thoughts on brand marketing for legal firms

Investing in brand building can help your law firm to stand out in a crowded market, speak more directly to your clients’ needs, and strengthen your reputation as a trustworthy legal partner. While your brand primarily lives in the minds of your audience, there are several steps you can take to steer the narrative and build the reputation that you want, such as understanding your audience, pinpointing your key differentiators, and creating actionable content to position your firm as a thought leader. 

Ready to start levelling up your law firm’s marketing strategy? Check out Foleon’s content marketing solutions.

Clementine Jones

Clem is a Content Marketer here at Foleon. With a background in B2B SaaS and copywriting, she’s all about providing audiences with actionable, relevant content — minus the buzzwords.

Want to write for the Foleon blog? Here's how to submit a guest post.

What to read next