Cost effective marketing
Nov, 2021 · 6 min
read
Most law firms use a variety of marketing approaches to
establish a brand and find new clients. These include:
- Advertising on radio, tv, social networks, or print ads
- Promoting your law firm through Bar or Alternative
Dispute Resolution Associations
- Being actively involvement in local organizations and
clubs
- Performing outbound email campaigns
- Instituting Client, employee, or other types of
referral programs
- Using Internet search advertising
- Advertising using Signs / Billboard
- Having a website / internet presence
- Listing on 3rd party referral websites
Given the time and cost of legal marketing it is crucial
that the impact and value is maximized. To that end here are
some approaches for maximizing the investment for your practice.
No matter how many marketing channels you use you should
always set overall measurable targets and track the outcomes,
adjusting as required. Typical overall measures by channel
include:
- The revenue generated by channel and legal practice area
- The quality of the leads (such as percentage converted
into paying clients)
- Cost of conversion (such as the number of interactions
and amount of time expended before signing a retainer)
In addition, you should look to optimize each channel you
use to obtain the maximum return on that particular investment.
Here are some suggestions per channel that can be used to improve
your returns.
Advertising on radio, tv, print ads, social networks, and
signs/billboards
- Review your client demographics and validate that the
ads are aligned to your target
- Target potential new demographics using focused ads for
an underserved target demographic and measure results.
- Test various budgets to determine the best bang for the
buck. Remember the rule of diminishing returns.
- Review results over the long term to determine if the
ads perform better during specific times of the year and adjust
your spending accordingly.
Promoting your firm on Bar or ADR Associations,
organizations and/or clubs
- Review quality and conversion of the leads for each
organization
- Determine if there is an opportunity to expand
involvement that would lead to increased leads / brand awareness
(e.g., participate in sub-committees, sponsor events, etc.)
Outbound Email campaigns
- Use a leading email marketing tool (e.g., Constant
Contact, Emma, Reply.io)
- Measure open and reply rates
- Refine messaging with A/B message testing
Internet Search
- Perform/update an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) study
using available tools or a service provider and set a budget
- Implement suggested improvements
- Review search provider metrics including clicks, search
terms, demographics, etc.
- Law firms and legal practices are competitive, adjust
budget, terms, messaging, geography etc. based on results
Website
- Determine if visits are leading to business leads
- Determine key words to focus on based on your law firm's
practice areas
- Compare your website functionality and messaging against
your top 3 competitors' websites
- Update functionality as needed
Listing in 3rd party referral websites
- Validate websites are providing good business leads and
worth the investment or fee percentage
- Periodically update / review information on websites
including practice areas and credentials based on websites
search criteria/algorithm so that you are a top choice
- Experiment with several providers to determine which
ones works best for your firm and practice areas
- Some websites provide a free and paid listing (enhanced
listing), test to see if a paid subscription is beneficial.
Client, employee, or other referrals
- Review if the program is working and to what degree
- Provide appropriate enticements and incentives
- Market directly to clients and employees highlighting
the incentives
The competition is increasing, and marketing is vital to
your success. However, marketing channels are expanding, becoming
more technical and expensive. Make sure you have a Practice
Management system like Caseroads that provides insight into how
well your marketing channels are performing for you.