How Strange Law Strengthened Their Market Position with Strategic Marketing

Nobody shops for a lawyer the way they shop for a sofa. There's no browsing, no wish list, no waiting for a sale. Something happens — a marriage ends, a parent dies, an officer knocks, a crash on I-229 changes everything — and suddenly a Sioux Falls family is on a phone at 11 p.m. typing four words into Google and deciding, in about ninety seconds, who they're going to trust with the worst month of their life.

That's the moment Strange, Farrell, Johnson & Brewers, P.C. needed to own. Not because they had anything to prove — the firm has been trying cases in South Dakota courtrooms since 1970 and is one of only two AAML member firms in the state — but because a reputation built over five decades in front of judges doesn't automatically translate to page one of a search result. That's the gap Complete Media was brought in to close.

About Strange Law

Founded in 1970, the firm serves clients throughout South Dakota from 4420 S Technology Dr, Sioux Falls, SD 57106. Three practicing attorneys, cases accepted statewide, and a standard of preparation the firm states plainly: every case is prepared as though it will go to trial. Reach them at 605.339.4500 or strangelaw.com.

The practice areas cover the matters that shape families and futures:

• Family law — high-asset divorce, custody, and support handled with discretion and rigor.
• Criminal defense — protection of your rights from arrest through resolution, led by former public defenders.
• Estate planning — wills, trusts, and directives that protect a legacy.
• Probate — guiding personal representatives through estate administration with care.
• Personal injury — advocacy for families harmed by someone else's negligence.

What separates them in this market is the complex work: the firm routinely values and divides ranches, farms, closely held businesses, and medical practices in sophisticated divorce cases — the kind of matter a general-practice firm refers out. The credential wall backs it up: AAML, Best Law Firms — U.S. News & World Report, Super Lawyers, the State Bar of South Dakota, the South Dakota Association for Justice, and the American Bar Association.

The challenge

The firm had the record. What it didn't have was a marketing presence that carried the record to the people who needed it.

• National legal directories and out-of-state lead brokers owning page one for 'divorce attorney Sioux Falls', 'criminal defense lawyer Sioux Falls', and 'estate planning attorney South Dakota' — then selling South Dakota leads back to South Dakota firms
• Fifty years of credentials living mostly offline — in courtrooms, referrals, and the memory of past clients
• Legal searches that happen on a phone, in a hurry, often at night — where a slow or confusing site loses the visitor in seconds
• Five distinct practice areas meaning five very different visitors arriving with five very different emergencies
• A Google Business Profile that didn't reflect the full range of practice areas or the firm's recognitions
• No structured presence in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity, where more people now ask 'who's the best family law attorney in Sioux Falls?'
• Attorney time that belongs on cases, not on keyword research, citation cleanup, and review requests

The strategy

We built the program around the one thing no directory listing and no national ad spend can manufacture: a Sioux Falls firm that has been standing in South Dakota courtrooms since 1970, with lawyers a client can actually reach. Every channel repeats the same idea — steady counsel when the stakes are highest.

That meant understanding the market (legal decisions are short, high-anxiety windows measured in hours, and trust is the entire purchase), identifying the highest-value growth opportunities (high-asset divorce, business and ranch valuation, comprehensive estate plans — exactly where the AAML credential is a real moat), positioning against ad-heavy volume firms and faceless directories on credentials and direct attorney access, and planning long term, because rankings, reviews, and citations built this year are why a family finds them in three.

The work completed

Branding & identity

A law firm's brand is its credibility, and credibility erodes the moment things look inconsistent. We locked in consistent logo usage, typography, and color so the mark reads identically on letterhead, engagement letters, business cards, office signage, and a Google result. We sharpened messaging around the firm's own three values — preparation, integrity, advocacy — and made the AAML, Best Lawyers, and Super Lawyers recognitions read as proof rather than decoration.

Print marketing

Letterhead and envelope systems, attorney business cards, consultation folders and intake packets, practice-area one-sheets for family law and estate planning, office and building signage, referral cards for the accountants and financial advisors who send work their way, and materials for bar association and community events.

Website development

A fast, mobile-first strangelaw.com organized around how a real client arrives — by practice area (family law, criminal defense, estate planning, probate, personal injury), by trust signal (founded 1970, AAML membership, former public defenders, direct attorney access), by service area (Sioux Falls and all of South Dakota), and by next step (a request-a-consultation form and the 605.339.4500 line one tap away on every page). We added a two-minute case assessment for visitors unsure which practice area fits — a low-pressure entry point that turns anxious browsers into qualified consultations.

SEO

On-page and technical SEO tuned for the searches that actually produce consultations — divorce attorney Sioux Falls, family law attorney Sioux Falls, high asset divorce South Dakota, criminal defense lawyer Sioux Falls, estate planning attorney Sioux Falls, probate attorney South Dakota, and personal injury lawyer Sioux Falls — with dedicated, genuinely useful pages behind each practice area rather than one thin services page.

Local visibility

We optimized the Google Business Profile to reflect every practice area, hours, location, and recognition; built and cleaned local citations and legal directory listings so name, address, and phone match everywhere; and put a steady, ethics-conscious review process behind a firm already earning client gratitude in person.

AI visibility optimization

More South Dakotans are skipping search engines entirely and asking an assistant who to hire. We restructured on-site content, schema markup, and external citations so the firm is recognized and cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity as a trusted South Dakota answer — the same playbook we run for growth-minded local businesses that want to show up where buyers are actually asking.

Ongoing marketing support

A steady cadence of practice-area content, plain-English explainers that answer the questions people are too embarrassed to ask a lawyer, social support, review generation, and campaigns timed to when legal needs actually spike — January divorce filings, year-end estate planning, and spring probate season.

The results

The advocacy was never the issue. Once the marketing caught up to it:

• A 50-year firm finally reflected online — website, search results, and AI answers now tell the same trial-ready, credentialed, locally accountable story clients already tell each other.
• Improved local search and map pack visibility across Sioux Falls and statewide practice-area searches.
• More consultation requests from better-fit clients — complex family law and estate matters rather than calls the firm has to refer out.
• Stronger brand recognition across every touchpoint, from letterhead to a Google result on a phone at midnight.
• Improved client engagement, with the case assessment giving uncertain visitors a way in that doesn't require picking up the phone first.
• A long-term marketing partnership that lets three attorneys spend their hours on cases instead of on marketing.

Why it matters

When a family's future is on the line, the difference between the right lawyer and the first lawyer is enormous — and increasingly it's decided by a search result. A community is better off when the firm with fifty years of courtroom preparation and a national matrimonial law credential is the easiest one to find, not the hardest. Good marketing doesn't invent a reputation; it removes the friction between an excellent local firm and the neighbors who need it. Every case that stays with a Sioux Falls firm instead of an out-of-state lead broker keeps the expertise, the accountability, and the economics right here in South Dakota.

About Complete Media

Complete Media is a Sioux Falls-based marketing agency that has partnered with hundreds of small businesses since 2002 — attorneys and professional services, financial services, insurance, construction, home services, real estate, property management, retail, restaurants, and non-profits across the West and Midwest. Strategy, branding, websites, print, SEO, AI visibility, advertising, and ongoing marketing support — one partner, one team, one phone number.

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