Are you an estate planning attorney that wants to attract more clients and cement yourself as a trusted professional in your field? Look no further than the tried-and-true method of offering a free book.
In the marketing industry, we often refer to free books, guides, and other offers as “lead magnets.” And we do it for a good reason! These kinds of offers magnetize potential clients to your firm and stand as evidence that you want to help them work toward solutions to their problems. They’re also a powerful way to showcase your knowledge, build credibility, and make a positive impression on potential clients you haven’t even spoken with yet.
So, what are you waiting for? If you want to stand out from the competition and attract more high-quality leads to your estate planning business, offering a free book may just give you the edge you need.
Build Trust Early in the Estate Planning “Client Journey”
Most people don’t wake up in the morning, decide they need an estate planning attorney, and pick one immediately. Instead, most people spend days, weeks, or months in the “research phase.” They look at the different firms in their area. They compare and contrast what they see about those firms online, and they try to narrow it down to the firm that will be the best fit for their needs.
They may not be quite ready to make a decision, but it’s still an important stage of the “client journey.” What they see, hear, and feel in this time will have a huge impact on which firm they choose in the end.
That’s why a free download or book offer is so powerful.
Imagine a potential client is searching for someone to help them ensure a stable future for a family member with disabilities. They’ve looked through your competitors’ websites. They’ve bookmarked a few pages to come back to later, and then they land on your website or social media pages and learn about your free book, “A Guide to Special Needs Trusts in Pennsylvania.”
They download it, learn everything they need to know, and start seeing you as the person that actually helped them get answers. And, in return, you get their contact information and add them to your lead list, where you can start reaching out to them with relevant information and support.
With one download, they’ve received an above-and-beyond user experience, and you’ve received an interested potential client that was completely unknown to you yesterday.
Estate Planning Firms Earn Trust Through Expertise
Of course, not just any free book or offer will do the trick. You earn your potential clients’ trust through your expertise, so your book should:
- Deliver on its promised value
- Focus on actionable advice and insider tips
- Truly educate readers on the key issues they face
- Break down and explain complex topics in helpful ways
- Offer potential solutions and information about what to expect
- Act as a preview of the experience they’ll have with your firm when they reach out to you
Ultimately, your “lead magnet” should be a bridge that connects potential clients with digestible information and gives them the confidence to take the next step with you.
Creating a Free Book as a Lead Magnet for Your Estate Planning Practice
If you don’t currently have a free book or guide, how do you get started?
First, you need a clear topic that is relevant to your practice and useful to the kinds of clients you want to attract to your firm. For example, your book might focus on estate planning basics for beginners, common mistakes to avoid, or how to choose the right estate planning attorney. It could also get more granular to target a highly specific type of client, like the book about special needs trusts in the example above. The idea is to choose a topic that resonates with your potential clients, speaks to their most common questions, addresses their pain points, and helps them make wise decisions.
You also want to keep the tone of your book informative and approachable. You don’t want it to read like it came straight off the dustiest shelf in the legal library, and you don’t want readers struggling to understand what you mean. Make an effort to explain confusing legal terms and industry jargon. Use images and real-life success stories to bring out the most important points.
Your book shouldn’t just establish you as someone with expertise—it should establish you as someone with expertise that can also share their knowledge and guidance in ways that make sense to the reader.
And, lastly, don’t leave your readers hanging when they get to the end. Let them know that they can reach out to you with questions. Give them your contact information. Tell them how they can schedule a consultation to talk about their problems and get more personalized guidance and support. It’s also a good idea to send a follow-up email campaign that nurtures the budding relationship with your readers, expands on the information presented in the book, and keeps you at the top of their minds.
We Create Your Lead Magnet. You Reap the Benefits.
Offering a free book is a powerful way for estate planning firms to attract high-quality leads and establish themselves as trusted experts. It’s there for your potential clients even when you can’t be, and it’s an easy way to make a big impact early in the client journey.
However, for all the benefits, many estate planning firms find the idea of writing, publishing, and promoting a book a little intimidating. If that sounds like you, we understand. That’s why we offer personalized book writing services for law firms. Our friendly team of writers, editors, and marketing experts have worked with hundreds of law firms to create effective lead magnets from scratch, and we’d love to help you bring your ideas to life.
Learn more by giving us a call at 888.886.0939 or booking an appointment with the FWM team.
RELATED EDUCATION
If you found this article interesting, here are some other educational programs that you might find helpful:
- Generating Business from the Internet: Best Practices for Estate Planning Professionals
- The 6 Ways to Grow Revenue in Any Business
- How to Develop a More Consistent and Steady Stream of Revenue from Your Existing Clients!
- How to Use Online Reviews to Get More Business!
- How to Set Your Fees: For Estate Planning Attorneys with a Living Trust-Centered Practice
- Convert Prospects with Other Attorneys’ Trusts Into Clients!
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