All of us here in the Lawyers community understand how much recent tech software and advancements have played factors in determining the overall trajectory of the legal field, and in 2019 tech trends are only going to continue to flourish. According to LexBlog, and countless other law firms across the country that we have talked to, the tech trends the entire legal field will experience this year will significantly impact the ways in which individual attorneys and firms conduct business.
We’re almost two months into July, and second-quarter reports are quickly approaching, which is when every law firm is going to ask themselves how well their marketing strategies have been working so far this year. The reality of the matter is that in the world of digital marketing there are always going to be rapid changes, and Google has been announced some changes in March that ultimately put a monkey wrench in a lot of firms’ marketing strategies if they haven’t already been innovating, especially when it comes to mobile-friendliness.
In this article, we will explain to you how major tech titans like Microsoft are playing huge roles in how 21st-centurylaw practices continue to evolve into the digital age. These legal tech trends brought on by Microsoft, and other innovative software programs and apps are changing at a rapid pace, so we’re here to provide you six of the most important trends that everyone needs to keep an eye in order to remain on the cutting edge of your local/national marketplace.
Comprehensive Team-centered platforms
Apps and all types of digital platforms have of course been an enormous part of legal tech trends for years now, but what’s starting to happen in 2019 is that law firms are paying extra to have their communication and team organization consolidated amongst several different apps through powerful platforms.
By being able to access all necessary information in a relatively easy process, law firms can avoid errors and access necessary data more efficiently. These platforms are now working with legal tech tool developers to help them realize that working together with other apps and developers will benefit everyone.
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are going to continue to grow in popularity throughout 2019 because they’ll help firms to ultimately position themselves for standardization and client success.
To chatbot, or not to a chatbot?
All types of artificial intelligence like chatbots on websites have been growing in popularity amongst law firm sites everywhere within the past few years or so, but the laws surrounding these chatbots are changing as well. These changes will force everyone to take heed or face the consequences.
People in the industry have dubbed chatbots a lawyer’s best friend, but in states like California, there is a new law that has made it so chatbots cannot mislead online users into making them think they’re talking to a real person.
The main thing that all firms must do in 2019 is to re-examine their chatbot and make sure that the artificial intelligence is not going to try to provide incentives to online users towards any types of purchases. These more important transactional conversations need to be saved for real communication.
DOMAWatch
It’s crucial to stay up on all of the latest trends so that you can stay on top of your competition in terms of keyword search results and rankings, and we’re very fortunate enough to have partnered up with DOMAWatch, designed to apprise attorneys and legislators about current litigation and laws involving Defense of Marriage Acts.
DOMA Watch provides current news related to information about the state, marriage laws, and federal litigation, and other resources to help lawyers and attorneys.
So, the following are three trends and benefits to keep an eye on and potentially incorporate immediately into your firm’s marketing strategy:
Lawyers are a unique group, each one with a different set of skills and specialties. Staying on top of your field is the challenge where referrals are key. This is where Nectar comes in.
“Nectar shifts the focus on building referrals from within your existing network. Remaining top of mind with your network is key in referral marketing. This insider focus is what makes Nectar clever and effective.” – Rod A. Ponce, BHIVE Founder
The Nectar.Social app will save professionals time and automatically post on best practices, per platform, based on their selected time window. Nectar searches in live time and finds top trending news based on your personal and legal interests and suggest key hashtags for you.
Nectar focuses on building and reinforcing your internal network. Nectar cements the emotional bonding component that happens when two people share a common interest. Nectar refers to this as affinity effect and it runs deeper than any ad or superficial marketing touch point.
Social Media & Work Life Balance
Truth is social media is extremely time consuming and has been linked to depression. From the onset, Nectar built an app that would save professionals time with their social media efforts.
From Nectar’s initial studies, they estimate a time savings of 15+ hours per month using their platform. The time savings not only benchmarks an ROI for the Nectar app but creates time for other things like work/family balance, meditation, and being more mindful in general.
As, lawyers are a distinctive group, each with different abilities and specialties. We got to realize that attorneys are selling to each other. Referrals are key, and the challenge is to remain at the top of your field.
Nectar will not only assist you to remain on top of what’s happening in your knowledge area(s) but also let you and others to share, manage and post daily to understand what you’re specializing in.