Over the past few years, many businesses, including law firms have been faced with new threats. These range from cyber security and shortage of talent to technological change – which is top of the pile.
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.
Take automation for instance. The Law Society predicts 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 legal professionals.
Also, Gartner predicts that by 2023, 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 (CMS) to powerful Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) that drive hyper-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 comes across it through an Internet 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 and content 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 DXP 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
CMSs have evolved into Digital Experience Platforms. 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)
- Advanced analytics
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 Sitecore 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.
