Why video is a superpower for lawyers

Just because lawyers are comfortable litigating in court, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re comfortable in front of a camera. But video is really important for lawyers.

Why videos matter now

Video is critical now for two reasons:

• To people: Lawyers are expensive, and individuals want to ensure they choose the right one before signing a retainer or initiating a claims process that will take years. Video is a way for people to put a face, a voice, and a demeanor to a name and bio. Before they meet you, they can get to know you a bit and see if they like you at first impression. It’s a low-stakes way for them to interact with you, without potentially paying a consultation fee or investing time in a call with you.

• To Artificial Intelligence bots: AI can now read conversational language and infer context (it’s called Natural Language Processing), and video transcripts are an important source of information. Ironically, AIs don’t like content generated by AIs, and real video by real people is as authentic as it gets. YouTube is a search engine in its own right at this point (as is TikTok), and since it’s a Google product, Google likes to search it, but so do the other AI platforms.

Types of videos that work for lawyers

Here are some typical video types I enjoy creating with clients.

Getting to know you videos

The classic company profile video is a classic for a reason. You know the video I’m talking about – on the homepage of the website, with the lawyers explaining what makes them different. It gives potential clients a first impression of you and your practice. It should tell a story that’s unique to you, and it doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. There doesn’t need to be a gavel or scales of justice in sight.

And you can have other videos getting to know specific team members, which work really well as a supplement to your bio page. It helps give a sense of you as an individual, within the overall company’s brand.

Explanatory videos (short and long)

Stand-alone, short explanatory videos are perfect for concisely explaining individual legal concepts. By “short”, I mean less than three minutes. Currently, YouTube automatically puts vertical format videos of less than three minutes into their own “Shorts” category, so it’s an easy rule of thumb.

Sharing these on social media channels or YouTube helps you appear like an expert to your audience. You can also add them to relevant blogs and webpages for people who like to listen rather than read. It’s important to give people the option to absorb information in their favorite format.

Webinars and long-form content videos

Longer form content is great for educating your audience in a more detailed way. It allows you to dig into a topic and give expert advice. There is still a place for live webinars in communication with potential and existing clients. Many people appreciate the opportunity to ask questions of an attorney as well as to learn something new about a topic that’s on their mind. Indeed, a webinar might be the first time someone has spoken to a lawyer about what’s on their mind.

And once the webinar is over, you can use that recording in a variety of ways, not least by publishing it on YouTube for other people to watch at their leisure. I like to trim those videos so that the Q&A part isn’t available for public consumption, and people have an incentive to attend live.

You can also create a dedicated resource area on your website so that people can see the different topics you’ve talked about in one place. If a video is really valuable, you can even gate-keep it behind a form and set up and email sequence for people who sign up to watch it. Now you have them in your marketing funnel and you can interact with them.

Public appearances

From my Public Relations days, I understand that what a third party says about us is more credible than what we say about ourselves. Being interviewed on TV or appearing on podcasts can be another valuable source of video content to help potential clients get to know you.

How to ease your way into video

If you’re experimenting with video for the first time, try some different ways of doing it and see which one you hate the least. Here are some options:

• Pay someone to force you to do it – this is the service I provide to my clients.

• Do everything yourself, from filming to editing.

• Film yourself, but hand off the editing part.

• Partner up with someone else.

Some thoughts about video

Video can be pricey. There are ways of bringing that price tag down, with lower quality storytelling, production, and editing, but that’s the trade-off. The good news is that for those with a limited budget, particularly for social media, rough-and-ready can feel more “authentic” than something that is overly produced. However, if you are a lawyer whose high-end look is very important, you’ll want to pay to elevate your end product.

Of course, video should be used as part of a broader digital marketing strategy and an ongoing endeavor. Audiences are built over time, and in the world of video, the more you put out there, the faster you’ll build an audience (if that’s your goal). However, that’s not always the end goal, and it can be enough to post regularly on your most important platforms. People and AIs reward consistency.

If you’re looking to elevate your practice’s online presence, I’d love to talk. But be warned, I will probably encourage you to make some videos.