There’s no escaping it. Sooner rather than later the lack of technology will find businesses out. PwC for instance has recognised this and is using tech to uncover opportunities for its clients. 

One of the most firmly established technologies in the industry is Interactive client portals. These  give clients access to loads of information, documents, project timelines, and budget status, whenever they want. They also offer collaborative tools and spaces that allow staff and clients to share thoughts, comments, and assign tasks quickly and easily.   

Some legal firms have pushed the boat out even further by embracing the online assistant model to lead clients through questions and point them to the correct forms, policies, and the answers they need.    

This is great news. Yet although there are firms making in-roads with their digital offering, there's still much to do. 

Tale automation for instance. The Law Society has predicted 67,000 legal jobs will be replaced with automation by 2038, and that 80,000 new roles are expected to be created in the next decade.  That’s a lot of displaced people.  

Also, Gartner predicts that this year Virtual Legal Assistants (VLAs) will manage a quarter of all requests and questions to internal corporate legal departments, reducing response time and the need for legal department interaction 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations are changing the way that lawyers and legal professionals handle legal research. Natural Language Processing is used to sort through cases and statutes quickly and efficiently, finding those that are relevant. AI is also expected to have an impact in outcome predictions. 

Digital client engagement comes at a cost though. But it's necessary to compete and be future proof. Without significant investment in tech, the less ‘digitally-savvy’ law firms will be left behind. 

In a world that's becoming reliant on digital, law firms must keep up with the rapid advances in technology capabilities, and use relevant technologies to improve the digital experience 

By doing so they’ll  see the benefit in moving their websites away from simple content management systems to powerful digital experience platforms that drive personalisation, merge seamlessly with CRM systems and offer ecommerce capability. 

What does your website do? 

Your website is your shop window to the world. It needs to reflect your business values and showcase your expertise across all the areas of law you cover, as well as helping existing and potential clients. Put simply, it needs to mirror the service someone would get when they step into your office and meet you face-to-face. 

Most law firms create content that discusses issues their clients encounter or legal issues at large, whether through PDF documents or blog articles.  

But over time, content becomes buried beneath subsequent content, only surfacing when someone randomly comes across it through a search. 

Content is key in influencing decisions. It needs to be found, read and shared across multiple channels for maximum reach. 

That’s why it’s important that law firms serve the right content, on the right channel, at the right time, for the right person. 

Take personalisation for instance. It’s key to meeting a visitor’s intent. It conveys the right message.  With most legal services buyers using digital channels for research, your marketing strategy needs to focus on finding solutions for clients through engaging and influencing content across the entire customer journey. 

Law firms, with their often complex and multi-faceted offering, need to look at investing in a digital experience platform that can: 

• Collect client data down to the individual level via multiple channels

• Automatically identify client segments

• Gather real-time insights into visitor behaviour and interactions as they happen

• Automate responses based on visitor interactions 

• Deliver personalised content for every stage of the customer journey  

• Why a Digital Experience Platform is the ideal solution for your firm 

Content Management Systems have evolved into Digital Experience Platforms (DXP).  DXPs offer an all-encompassing experience for website visitors, content editors and marketers.  

When it comes to DXPs there are loads out there. From Sitecore and Adobe to Acquia and Xperience. Take Sitecore for instance. It’s been recognised by Gartner as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management for ten years running, and as a Leader in Digital Experience Platforms for the past three years.   

DXPs are perfect if you want a to deliver an exceptional customer experience. They offer an all-in-one solution without the hassle of bolting on various systems and marketing technologies to your existing system – which can often mean higher costs in the long run. 

DXPs comes with a raft of marketing features that solve your digital challenges. From content management and personalisation to marketing automation to analytics. They’re designed to help you deliver highly optimised, one-to-one connections that result in refined customer experiences and improved marketing and business insights. 

Our experience has shown us that powerful DXPs are a great fit for law firms, and the professional services industry in general. They offer powerful capabilities as a marketing platform that C-suite, IT teams, and marketing leaders find appealing.  Below are key features that DXPs provide: 

• Multi-language content management 

• Scalability and performance 

• Personalisation 

• Workflows 

• Marketing automation

• Email marketing 

• Digital Asset Management (DAM)

• Composable technology integration

• Advanced analytics  

Multi-language content management 

Many law firms operate on a global scale, and make things easy by allowing you to upload, create, manage, and publish content across different pages and fully mobile-optimised websites. Publishing content in different languages increases reach.      

Scalability and performance 

As your business expands, you’ll need to adapt your internal systems. DXPs provide complete scalability, security, and high-quality performance 

Personalisation  

Delivering personalised content is now considered a must in any content strategy . By showing relevant content to your visitors you’re giving them a superior digital experience. 

Workflows 

With numerous offices comes multiple content owners and website editors. DXPs allow you to moderate your content and get approved (or rejected) by the right people.   

Marketing automation 

Marketing automation nurtures prospects, clients, and website visitors by delivering real-time, automated responses triggered by actions completed during user journeys.

For example, if a known client visits a landing page with a form to download a document, but they don’t fill it in, you could send them an automatic email to check whether they had just forgotten or were looking for something else.  

Email marketing 

Some DXPs offer email capabilities that enable you to: 

• Create regular or automated email campaigns  

• Construct an email from a designed template

• Create recipient lists

• Personalise email communications 

• Monitor recipient actions  

Digital Asset Management (DAM) 

Over time your digital assets (images, videos etc.) will increase.  Having a DXP with the capabilities of managing your assets is an essential housekeeping tool. A DAM is a repository that allows you to manage your digital assets, ranging from product photos and brand imagery to video footage and PDF documents.  If you choose a DXP that offers DAM you can expect to benefit from: 

• Uploading and storing your brand assets, from photos, video, and more

• Categorising content

• Adding metadata 

• Reviewing and validating uploaded content from your teams across the world

• Managing the lifecycle and lifetime of content

• Sharing  assets with other users across the organisation

Advanced analytics 

Although many businesses are embedded in Google Analytics,  DXPs have advanced analytics capabilities that allow you to gather insights on visitor behaviour that Google Analytics don’t offer  These include:  

• Tracking (DXP specific) goals and campaigns

• Monitoring customer profiles 

Working with Codehouse

We’ve been at the forefront of creating digital experiences for over 15 years. During that time we’ve worked with some of the world’s top law firms, helping them stand out in the market, and deliver exceptional experiences for their clients.  From strategy, design, and delivery to ongoing optimisation and support, we’re ready to work with you to create a website that reflects your needs and achieves your business goals.  

As experts we tap into our deep understanding of the platform to build tailored websites that achieve and exceed your digital goals.  Get in touch when you’re ready to talk about your project.  

Discover MirrorWeb, a cloud-native web and social media archiving solution for financial services firms, governments and international organisations across the private and public sector.

Key references 

 PWC, Law Firms’ Survey 2018 

pwc-law-firms-survey-report-2018-final.pdf