Is Law Firm Advertising Worth It?
For many law firms, the cost of advertising is not a priority. It’s understandable with salaries and wages, rentals and utilities, and other costs directed related to keeping the firm open being more pressing. Whether it is online or in traditional forms, advertising expenditure can seem like throwing money into a dark hole. If you are considering law firm advertising to bring in more customers, you need to know what benefits are on offer. This is the power of having an advertising strategy and using the power of data analytics to show the impact of this in investment.
The Importance of Advertising for Business Growth and Expansion
All businesses need regular clients to thrive. In some industries, repeat customers are the norm, while in others, a steady influx of news clients is required. In the legal field, you might have a client for a few months as you seek a remedy for their issue. Once that is resolved, you could remain their legal representation or not. These clients might not need any legal services for a long time, so it is important to look out for ways to bring in new clients who have immediate needs.
There is so much growth potential in law firm advertising. Firstly, it puts your firm name in front of people who might otherwise have never heard of you. It can be fast and effective, depending on the medium you use. While word of mouth is one of the most effective ways of gaining new clients who are already sold on how great your firm is, it is slow and is not in your control. With advertising, you can achieve your growth goals faster.
Law Firm Advertising Methods
There are so many ways to advertise a law firm. Here are some of the most popular ones, online and offline.
- TV ads
- Radio ads
- Posters
- Pamphlets
- Cold-calling
- Referral programs
- Billboards
- Social media
- SEO content marketing
- Paid online ads
- Email marketing
The right form of law firm advertising for you depends on where your potential clients are likely to be found. It also depends on how far and fast you want to grow your reach. Internet marketing methods are becoming more and more necessary for modern business. People are asking all kinds of questions and looking for all types of information on the internet. You want to be where these people are and also make it much easier to find your firm.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Advertising
Not all kinds of advertising are equal. Some are more expensive than others, and some take more time and effort. Some may not achieve the goals you had in mind, while some can target the wrong audience altogether. The best way to measure the effectiveness of law firm advertising is by deciding on measurable goals from the onset. When goals are vague and not defined, it can be hard to determine whether your advertising spending has been worth it.
Thanks to data and analytics, especially as far as digital marketing is concerned, it has become easier than ever to measure how well your advertising plan is going. Your goal could be to land more clients for your legal services. The path to achieving this goal is marked with several other measurables. Before you have new clients, you should be getting more calls and inquiries and social media interactions. Before any of these can happen, more people should be visiting your website and social media pages to find your contact information. For this to happen, your digital law firm advertising must connect you with people looking for legal content or legal services in various places online.
Various key metrics can be used to determine the effectiveness of various forms of online advertising efforts. These metrics can be tracked before and after you make use of digital marketing methods. You can even set goals you want to achieve over time and at different levels of budget allocation. Here are some of the metrics to consider.
- Website traffic via computer and mobile devices
- Average time spent on site
- New versus returning site traffic
- Traffic sources (These could include social media, search engines, email links, and paid ads)
- New email newsletter signups
- New social media followers
- Social media engagement through likes, comments, and shares
- Viewers for your ads
- Viewers for blog content
- Clicks from various links
Over time, you can see an increase in these metrics as you increase your law firm advertising spend. You can also track the phone call inquiries you receive at your office and make it a standard practice to find out how these people heard about your firm. Over time, engagement grows, and new clients can be won.
The more data you have about your clients and potential clients, the better your business decision-making is going to be. Data-driven decisions save time and money. You can direct more effort and budget on the marketing efforts that yield the most benefits and remove or rethink those that are not producing much.
Hire a Law Firm Advertising Service
If you are looking to get more clients to your law firm, it could be time to consider law firm advertising. You can hire a specialized advertising service to manage this side of the business for you. They can work together with your team to create a strategy that is relevant and effective. Once this plan is deployed, you are going to receive periodic reports about key growth metrics over time. The goal is that you can convert the increased website traffic and telephone inquiries into actual new clients.
It’s easier and more effective to use a digital marketing expert to grow this side of your business. You can benefit from years of industry experience, a proven track record, and a customized plan to spread the word about the services offered by your legal firm. It frees up your time to focus on your new and existing clients. If you are ready to get started with law firm advertising, be sure to get in touch.
