A buyer person is not a description of an existing client. Rather, it is the characterization of an ideal client. What are the goals and challenges of your ideal client? What is the best way to communicate with this person? By understanding the primary concerns and objectives of your potential clients, you can customize a marketing message that truly resonates with them.
The buyer persona requires the characterization of a fictional individual with factors such as:
These factors are depicted in greater detail in the infographic below:
It is a good practice to name the buyer persona(s). You should think of a buyer persona as a fictional person that features the most common traits among your target segment and is also the type of client you are most suited to serve.
While using market segmentation and buyer personas can enhance a law firm’s marketing performance, understanding how clients make their buying decisions can help firms to target the right clients in the right way.
The majority of potential clients have made the decision to purchase legal services before they even begin to research and engage with law firms. Though they must still decide on a specific firm and attorney to hire, this is a huge advantage.
Just as any other consumer, legal clients base their buying decisions on both rational and irrational factors. While rational factors are objective and can provide data to affect a client’s decision, irrational factors are subjective and more difficult to influence.
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Rational Factors Pricing Services Location Success Rate Online Ratings |
Irrational Factors Reputation Brand Popularity Sociability Appearance Online Presence |
Since potential clients determine their perception of a law firm or attorney based on their objective and subjective interpretations, we recommend attorneys and law firms to appeal to potential clients on both rational and irrational levels.
Irrational factors often impact purchase decisions because clients do not have the legal expertise or the needed objective information to accurately compare law firms. Making a confident purchasing decision requires the potential client to supplement their feelings and attitudes to their rational evaluation of a law firm or attorney. For example, a client may find that two attorneys have equally successful results but decide to hire the attorney who is close to their age because they believe that communication will flow easier.
In many instances, emotional processing is a subconscious effort difficult for consumers to articulate but still has a significant impact on decision-making. These objective and subjective evaluations and interpretations form the potential client’s perception of an attorney and/or law firm, which consequently shape the client’s attitude towards the attorney’s or law firm’s brand.
Brands that reach acceptance on an emotional level create a significant advantage.
A multitude of factors influence a potential client's final hiring decision. These factors include various stimuli such as referrals, testimonials, blog and other content resources, a rich social media profile, popularity in the community or bar association, or even a TV ad.
Developing and effective marketing plan is not easy but worth it. Figuring out which cognitive and emotional factors/ stimuli are most critical for your targeted clients, market segmentation and buyer personas will take time and include much trial and error. We recommend using these concepts to guide the development of your marketing plan.
Developing your law firm's buyer personas
allows for more efficient use
of marketing time and money.