Marketing for criminal defence firms
Nobody plans this call. It happens at three in the morning, made by a relative, from a phone with 8% battery. Everything here comes down to two things: being findable in that minute, and being sober enough on arrival that a frightened family trusts the firm.
A 30-minute video call. The audit document and the 90-day plan.
What changes
The enquiry is made out of hours and by somebody other than the client.
Availability beats reputation: an unanswered phone at 3am loses the instruction outright.
The temptation to advertise acquittals is constant, and it is exactly what the profession does not permit.
Discretion means there is no visible proof to point to, ever.
The most urgent enquiry there is, and the one where restraint matters most.
Criminal is the vertical where the marketing has to be quietest and the availability loudest. We publish what a family needs at that hour — what happens in the first 72 hours, what a duty solicitor is and is not, what to do and say — and we make the firm findable on a map, out of hours, with a number that is answered. Nothing that reads like advertising a result, because that is the line the profession draws and it is not a line worth standing near.
How it runs
Twenty-four hour findability
Google profile, map, hours and a number that works at three in the morning. This is the whole battle, and most firms lose it on a detail.
Content for the first 72 hours
What happens on arrest, what the family can do, what the timings are. Written for the relative making the call, not for a colleague.
A restrained, deliberately sober site
No badges, no percentages, no promises. In this area a serious page persuades and a loud one frightens people off.
Territory and duty-court coverage
Pages for the courts and territories where the firm actually attends, because proximity is what a family checks first.
Every service
Content & SEO
Eight pieces a month, reviewed to legal standards, and the rankings that carry them.
Newsletter & CRM
A fortnightly newsletter, a segmented CRM and three automations that stop enquiries going cold.
Social
LinkedIn three times a week for the partner and the firm. Measured in enquiries, never in likes.
PR & Media
One article a month in the house media, one third-party appearance a quarter.
Branded & Cases
One documented case a quarter, anonymised or with express authorisation.
Strategy & Data
A live dashboard, a quarterly plan and one number: cost per signed instruction.
Questions
Can we publish acquittals?
No, not as advertising and not as an expectation. A documented case can explain what the defence did, anonymised or with express authorisation, and stop there. We do not go near the line the profession draws around results.
Is content marketing even appropriate here?
Information is. A page explaining what happens in the first 72 hours helps a family at the worst moment of their life and is read by exactly the person about to make the call.
Does a criminal firm need social media?
LinkedIn for standing among referrers, yes. Beyond that, restraint is worth more than reach: this is not a practice area where volume of followers converts.
What if we cannot answer the phone at night?
Then that is the first fix, before any marketing. We will say so in the audit rather than sell you traffic that will ring out.
Book your free audit
A 30-minute video call. The audit document and the 90-day plan.