Why Estate Planning Attorneys Should NOT Use Offer-Driven Marketing

You can spend thousands of dollars for mailing lists, graphic design services, and oh, don't forget postage and still find the results are not there.  But, why?

Because offer-driven marketing doesn’t work for estate planning services.

Well, that isn't exactly right.  Offer-driven marketing doesn’t work if you don't already have a connection or existing relationship. While I don't have official statistics on the causes for the failure offer-driven marketing, I have spent years talking to estate planning prospects and clients.  I think it boils down to two reasons:

1. Because estate planning isn't fun.  People aren't thrilled with the idea of discussing the topic of their death and no amount of money (via a discount) is going to change that.

2. Because people are typically a bit nervous about sharing every detail of their lives with a stranger. They know they will have to disclose all of their financial information and sometimes not-so-pretty details of their family life with an attorney and this makes them uncomfortable.   Most people want to share this information only with people they know and trust.

What does this mean to you in terms of marketing your estate planning practice? It means that you need to find ways to showcase your expertise and allow potential clients to get to know you. Reach out to them and teach them that estate planning is not about death and dying. Show them the joy in creating a legacy for their family.

Social media is ideal for reaching out to people in this way.  You can do this by regularly posting to your blog, updating you Facebook fan page, communicating using Twitter, and many, many other channels where you can connect with potential clients.

Once people get to know you, trust you, see you as an expert, and not fear estate planning, then you can them make them an offer they can’t refuse.