If you plan to record and distribute educational videos to promote your law firm, you should become a consumer of law firm YouTube channels to identify what you like and what you dislike. Remember to take off your “lawyer’s hat” when you look at law firm videos because educational videos should be designed to inform and speak to the type of people who you want as clients.
I subscribe to dozens of law firm YouTube channels and Facebook pages because I want to see what other lawyers are doing. I pay particular attention to YouTube channels and Facebook pages that are active with new uploads. I also pay more attention to channels with hundreds or thousands of subscribers and to videos that show numerous comments and engagement with the lawyer. Extensive tells me that the lawyer has identified a topic that resonates with his audience and I can improve my own efforts accordingly.
Unfortunately, the majority of law firm YouTube channels and Facebook pages are not very good. I would go so far as to say it can be difficult to suss out best practices to follow by surveying the market because there are not enough lawyers consistently uploading videos and interacting with their target market. It is easier to identify mistakes to avoid than practices to follow, at least for the time being.
Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see in the law firm video marketing landscape:
1. “Water is wet” content – I cringe when I see a lawyer solemnly pronounce on a video that “we fight for your rights” or “we are a partner you can depend on” or “we help you through difficult times.” These statements mean nothing. Firstly, how do these platitudes make you different from every other lawyer? Would any lawyer state that he is not dependable, that he folds in the face of challenges or that he doesn’t stand with you?
More importantly trite phrases mean nothing. Instead, use your videos to explain exactly how you have and will protect a client from overreach by an insurance company or prosecutor. Explain why a $25 online will could leave you exposed. Offer insight about what your experience has taught you. But avoid wasting your audience’s time with meaningless and empty phrases.
2. Lawyers who look off camera when responding to a question. I see this a lot in videos produced by Yellow Pages companies. This seems to be a technique that someone did once and others have copied it without thinking about the implications.
Video is an intimate medium- you are not talking to a group; you are talking to a potential client one-to-one. If you were speaking to a client across your desk you wouldn’t look over her shoulder, you would look that person in the eye. Don’t destroy video’s biggest advantage – its intimacy by looking at anything other than your viewer.
3. Lawyers who use jargon. Understand that for many people, the law is a black box. An unexpected problem has arisen and now they have to use funds not in their budget to pay someone they don’t know to get them out of trouble. Terms of art like preponderance of the evidence, subject matter jurisdiction, dischargeability, mens rea, etc. will cause your viewer’s eyes to glaze and will cause them to move on to the next video.
As the star of your law firm video, your job is to break your client’s problem down into digestible pieces and to offer a path forward. Legal terms of art won’t help in this endeavor.
4. Lawyers who record videos while driving. First, driving while distracted is against the law and as an officer of the court you should not be promoting unlawful or unwise activities. Second, your viewer’s focus will be on the street signs, the background and thoughts about whether you are going to crash. Add to this the wind noise, camera shake and poor sound from an onboard microphone and your odds of producing a compelling video are slim.
The only time I would consider recording a video in my car would be a “quick update” video while the car is parked and I am reporting on something that just happened. Otherwise forgo the car videos.
What “worst practices” have you seen? Let me know and I’ll add to this list.