Social Media Case Study: Law Firm – Roberts & Durkee

Company Profile

Roberts & Durkee is a Florida based law firm specialising in personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, construction defects and commercial & insurance litigation.

The Challenge

Since 2001, the US imported drywall from China due to supply shortages during the housing boom. The product was used extensively in homes, before it became apparent that the product let off toxic emissions,potentially causing homeowners to suffer health problems including respiratory diseases and headaches.

Attorney C. David Durkee, a partner at Roberts & Durkee, wanted to assist homeowners, but acknowledged the challenge of mass litigation and a long drawn out legal process. Durkee said. “We have a very specific, very educated group of people who are going through the biggest crises of their lives, all with the same needs, all needing the same information… and I needed to be able to get that information out in public very quickly.”

The Solution

With marketing agency Roar Media, Durkee’s launched a communication strategy, which involved starting a blog and a resource website. The following five tactics helped make the campaign a success.

1: Be quick to market – In spring 2009, when the connection between Chinese drywall and public health issues was becoming apparent, Durkee registered the campaign URL: www.chinesedrywallproblem.com.

2: Generously offer relevant information of value – Both the blog and resource site are designed to be content rich, with useful information that benefits all affected parties, not just the firm’s clients

3: Work with the press – Roar Media embarked on a full traditional PR campaign, raising awareness for the issue in general, as well as for Durkee, his firm, and the newly launched blog and site.

4: Focus on SEO – Both paid-search advertising and search-engine optimization were employed, with SEO eventually replacing paid search once the site’s natural ranking started to rise. The company optimised content including video clips and media coverage, also obtaining quality inbound links from media sites covering the story.

5: Use social-networking tools to spread the message – Durkee used social media including his personal Twitter account and a campaign Facebook page to draw attention to new blog posts and breaking news featured on the site.

The Results

Durkee’s blog and resource website now consistently rank in the top 10 organic search results for related keywords, and they receive an average of 3,000 to 4,000 monthly unique visitors.

Since the launch, many more affected homeowners have contacted the firm, resulting in more than 150 new cases to date.”We probably get about 50% of our leads through the blog and website,” said Durkee.

Durkee found that blogging was an efficient way of providing all relevant information in one place that was easily accessible to all, meaning he could answer many people’s queries at once.

As more content was added and optimised, the site’s natural search rankings rose, which helped to acquire new clients and publicity without additional PR or ad spend.

Press attention has multiplied as a result of the campaign, with TIME magazine, ABC World News, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, and CNN mentioning or featuring the firm in coverage of the drywall issue.

Source:marketingprofs.com