Which of the Three Essential Video Types are Best for Your Law Firm?

In an age where quick snippets of video draw attention, show up in myriad on-line feeds and are proving to drive more traffic and have measurable benefit to businesses, law firm’s need to be well versed in where to start in video, and what kind of videos are best suited for their firm.

Marsha Druker, a writer who regularly discusses the use of video in marketing, just wrote an interesting article for MarketingPros.” Embedded in her piece are important lessons for law firm websites.

Druker argues video content is the best way to tell a company’s story. Google ranks pages in part because of how long visitors stay on the pages, and visitors stay for an average of two minutes longer on pages with video.

There are three types of videos classified in Druker’s piece: testimonial videos, explainer videos, and company-culture videos.

  • Testimonial videos showcase big fans of your products or services. They typically last 30 to 60 seconds, are easy to produce, and have a personal touch because people speak into the camera and explain why your company is great.
  • Explainer videos show how things work highlighting basic products and functions. They also show why a customer should choose you over your competitors. Druker says this type of video is popular because of its affordability and proven effectiveness in growing a business.
  • Culture videos depict the human side of your company or brand and connect on an emotional level with your viewers. In addition to being a great marketing tool, they also help your company attract strong job candidates. They can take many forms: a video from an employee birthday party, employee interviews, a typical day in the office, and so on.

Law firm websites can use all these three types of video as marketing and business development tools, but need to be smart in their approach and selection of which types of videos are best for them.

  • Testimonial videos are an obvious option for any law firm web site. They can range from clients to alumni and showcase why the firm is different and support a firm’s brand. They also humanize and lend specificity to a law firm’s accomplishments. Rather than just saying that a firm is great at protecting intellectual property, a client can share on video how the firm won a $200 million patent infringement verdict. The options are endless and the source material and subject matter is easy to identify.
  • Explainer videos are harder to fit into the law firm website model. However, they can be used when a firm has a particular technique for doing something for clients – let’s say handling document discovery in a certain way, or using a mathematical technique to estimate the value of an asset or of a case.
  • Culture videos are extremely helpful for law firms. Show the employees, both lawyers and others, at a picnic or packaging food for the homeless. The message is that you are a law firm composed of people who care.

Often law firms get stuck in debating how to start a new initiative, but with video, just a small pilot project focusing on testimonials and the experience people have with the firm is good place to begin.