For Law Firms: The VALUE of Showcasing Your Pro Bono Program

Pro bono work connects lawyers to people.  Those lawyers ensure that the law and justice system work for people who have nothing to give but their gratitude. They empower them. They give them hope. It makes the lawyer feel that their training, experience and judgment can do good. Business aside, that’s one of the key reasons you do it.

This article highlights the emerging trend of law firms using video to showcase their pro bono work. To be clear, we aren’t just discussing the merits of pro bono work in itself, those are widely known and accepted. What we also want to demonstrate is the ways in which pro bono work might benefit your firm on a more business-focused level and how utilising a short video can showcase this to rewarding effect.

In addition to moral and philanthropic reasons, consider how:

- Pro bono programs help recruit lawyers.
- Pro bono helps young lawyers develop skills, especially in the days of the vanishing trial. Think of this a win, win, win for firm, lawyer and client.
- Pro bono helps firms develop networks, especially if the assistance benefits charitable or civic organizations.
- Pro bono offers recognition as many legal aid organizations offer awards or listings to lawyers involved in their programs.

When you recognise how all of these factors come together to create incredible PR and marketing opportunities, allow us to further demonstrate how narrative-focused and engaging video content best achieves this:

1. Attention

In a crowded media market, getting the attention of recruits, prospects and clients is without doubt a huge challenge. Who wants to read a lengthy product description or company manifest when they can be shown one? Video is four times more likely to be watched than read about and Forbes report that 59% of executives prefer to receive content this way.

2. Emotion

When was the last time a written sales message pulled at your heart strings? That’s because laughing or crying aren’t typical responses to these kind of messages. But when told emotively and in a compelling fashion, video rarely fails to achieve that. The combination of sound and visuals undoubtedly achieves so much more. This is so important when showcasing why pro bono work means so much to law firms.  

3. Perceived Value

Of course, video requires more time, effort and expense to produce, so it’s perceived value is exponentially higher. People will engage more, provide contact information and even pay a higher price for services and products when messages are delivered through video.  Plus, this perceived value converts into website traffic too, when you consider that video attracts 200-300% organic inbound links and increases search click-through rates by 40%.

4. Clarity

Finally, if you’re delivering a complicated message, product or service, consider the fact that research shows that people learn more and at faster rates when information is conveyed both verbally and visually. Whether you’re in the 65% of the population’s visual learners or 30% of auditory learners, the likelihood is that video complements most learning styles.

If your firm has been considering showcasing their prized, community-based pro bono work to a larger audience then why not consider 21st Street Creative to help you achieve this goal. You’ll be glad that you did.