Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT): Why Your Law Firm Should Be Part of It?
If you are reading this, you might be scratching your head and is asking yourself, what the hell is Zero Moment of Truth? But, before we answer that question, let’s take a look first on how people look for law firms or lawyers to represent their cases in court.
According to LexisNexis, 76% of those people who search for lawyers used online resources to find them. This result is based on their survey of 4,000 adult internet users.
“Most people—60 percent of adult Internet users in the United States—
have sought an attorney at least once in their lives, the survey found. That
means 110 million people in the United States have sought legal counsel for
some issue. The survey also found that one-third of respondents, which
equates to 58 million consumers, have sought an attorney within the past
year. To capture the most recent consumer behavior, the study focused on
this population. Interestingly, most of those consumers who looked for an
attorney within the past year eventually hired one.”
Source: (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B010fqDaxXj8RDl0clp4dzd5bXM/view)
In the U.S. alone, LexisNexis reports that 58 million consumers sought a lawyer in the year before their survey was conducted.
From these facts and numbers, you can see how our current digital trends impact how people who look for legal counsel have used the internet to find the attorneys or law firms who they think can help them settle their legal problems.
But, the question now is, are you helping these potential clients to easily find you online? Are you part of their Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) experience?
What is Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) – For Law Firms?
A customer’s Moments of Truth (MOT) is a phase in marketing which was coined in 2005 by Lafley Chairman, the CEO and President of Procter and Gamble. This is the moment when a customer interacts with a brand or service to form an opinion or impression about that particular brand, product, or service. Six years later, Google coined the term Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), a phase in buying cycle when a customer looking for information about the product he plans to buy online. For your prospect clients, this is the part wherein they look for potential law firms that can help them with their legal needs online.
ZMOT is the second part of your prospects decision-making process to hire a legal counsel. To make it easier to understand, let’s laid out their actual journey before and after they found what they need. Take note that not all client journeys start with a Stimulus. Many also start with ZMOT.
Your Prospects Moments of Truth Journey
- The Stimulus (Interest) – The moment when your prospect sees your ads in various promotional channels and become interested in what you offer.
- The Zero Moment of Truth (Research) – The part wherein your prospect starts looking for ways to find a lawyer. He may use his smartphone to google the nearest law firm around him, phone a friend to refer one and then check the attorney’s profile online.
- The First Moment of Truth (Purchase) – When your prospect knocks on your office door, consult you, and decided to hire you as his legal counsel.
- The Second Moment of Truth (Experience) – When your client shares his experiences about your law firm. He may write a review about you via Google Review, blog about his experience, or simply post something about his legal ordeal in social media.
Interestingly, this last part of your client’s journey would become your new prospects’ Zero Moment of Truth and the cycle continues.
These days, when everyone looks for answers on the internet, letting your prospects find you easily and giving them the right information about your services can greatly increase the chances of you getting more clients. But, it doesn’t end there.
The better the quality of your service, the higher the chances of getting satisfied clients who can vouch for you and can even refer your law firm to their acquaintances either through online or offline means.
Now, the question is how can you amplify their vouches and referrals in order to attract more prospects?
The Importance of Becoming a Part of Law Firm Target Clients’ ZMOT
How could you increase the chance of getting more clients if even in their Zero Moment of Truth experiences you are not there?
For example, you are a law firm based in New Jersey and you represent car accident victims but the problem is, you don’t have any online presence. What will happen if someone searched for the keyword “car accident lawyer in New Jersey”?
Yes, you guessed it right. Your prospects won’t see you in the search results and your competitors are getting all the opportunities that should have been yours. Even those who search for your law firm in social media might get discouraged because they would feel uncertain of your credibility since they can’t directly message you in their favorite medium of communication.
The Zero Moment of Truth is a very critical stage in purchasing a product or subscribing to a service that mainly influences the client’s or a customer’s decision process. Failing to implement an online presence that can capture the attention and interest of your prospects at this very important phase can mean the loss of business and low conversion rates.
How Can Lawyers Win – Prospects’ Zero Moment of Truth?
When finding out what your prospects need, you have to find out what they are thinking before they’ll get your service. Here are the top three:
- Will this law firm help me save money or get me a financial settlement?
- Can they help me shorten the time in processing the case?
- Will my life improve after they help me through this legal battle?
Once you fully understand what they really need, you have to implement the following digital marketing strategies to build your law firm a credible and interesting presence online.
- Create a rich snippet review so that every time your site appears on Google Search, your prospects can have a preview of how your previous clients rated your service.
- Optimize their mobile experience by making your website mobile-friendly.
- Create social media pages so that your prospects can find you on their favorite social media channels.
- Make your website load faster.
- Always ask your clients to leave a review on your website or social media pages.
- Optimize your website and social media pages for search engines.
- Create short videos to help your prospects know you better.
- Create articles that answer the legal queries of your prospects.
If these tasks are too much to handle, you can always hire a reputable online content marketing firm to handle your digital marketing needs.
Building a Presence Online is the Key, but…
The sad news is, despite the popularity of digital marketing these days, there are still many law firms who prefer the traditional way of marketing their services. According to a study, approximately 40% of all small law firms do not have a website. But, of all those who have one, 97% of them fail in their content marketing strategy.
Building a presence online is indeed the key, but it is not just about getting a website and signing up to social media networks. You need to have an effective content marketing strategy that is tailored to the needs of your law firm but at the same time can answer to the demands of your prospects.
If you need guidance in planning your digital marketing strategy, these guys can help you.
Final Thoughts
Aside from updating your vocabulary, fully understanding the importance of the Zero Moment of Truth is the first step in helping you re-evaluate your law firm’s marketing strategy. Are you just contented with what you get from the old school ways of marketing your services?
Or, do you find it hilarious why until now, you are still solely relying on newspaper and TV ads? Also, it would be wise to study how your competitors made it online. From that, you can make a more balanced comparison and may end up coming up with better ideas and strategies. Good luck!
BY: Qamar Zaman Attorney Marketing Expert
Zaman is the CEO For KISS PR, a Dallas-based attorney marketing & website design boutique firm.
