How to Market Your Law Firm

Especially on a Budget…

February is all but coming to an end and with that the year is in full swing.

Our festive period is long over with, and the realities of the year are starting to sink in. Reality being the optimal word here. Budgets are being reviewed – and in some cases tweaked – and most of us are getting down to the nitty-gritty of having our businesses be noticed and new clients drawn in. 

But for some of us, the beginning of the year brings with it its own complexities – don’t spend too much too soon or your annual budget for marketing, for advertising, for bolstering business and client relationships will be used up in the first few months. It’s about taking things slowly, easing our way into the marketing pools – testing the waters and seeing how and where and what we can do ourselves before calling in the professionals. 

There are still other businesses, other law firms, who are just starting out, and they have little to no budget to begin with. How do they begin to get their name “in lights” (so to speak). How can the average law firm advertise their law firm on a strict budget?

Well friends, let’s take a look.

The 95:5 Rule

When it comes to how much money you should be spending on marketing, there isn’t a one size fits all approach because it very much depends on where your law firm is – business wise – and where you want to go – in terms of long-term business goals. But what is very clear, at least from a recent Gartner survey – marketing has settled into a new “era of less.” Suppressed budgets are the reality, and future budget growth must be earned. 

The average marketing budget has fallen from 9.1% (2023) to 7.7% (2024) of revenue. And CMOs “are under pressure to do more with less.” Shrinking budgets are a clear indication that faith in marketing is eroding across all industries.

But that doesn’t mean your efforts should stop. Only that your efforts should be directed at the right people. 

Remember you can’t force a person to need an attorney when they simply don’t need one. For example, if you’re a divorce lawyer, your marketing efforts will be directed at the 5% of people who are going through a divorce or who are in the process of considering a divorce and not the 95% of people who are not going through divorce proceedings etc. 

This comes from research conducted by Professor John Dawes and the team at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science who found that at any given time:

·       5% of your target audience is “in-market”: actively seeking services like yours.

·       95% is “out-of-market”: not currently looking but might need what you offer in the future.

Or as set out by Summit Partners – 

“advertising effectiveness and brand consideration, the “rule” holds that “up to 95% of business clients are not in the market for many goods and services at any one time.”¹The research is originally based on the average B2B purchase frequency window of five years—meaning 20% of the market is “in-market” in any given year, and only 5% in any given quarter based on an average sales cycle of 90 days. This means that, for B2B companies, only about 5% of your serviceable addressable market (SAM) is in market for your products and services in a given quarter, while 95% are unlikely to make a purchase decision until a future quarter or year.”

Whilst the data was not specifically gathered in legal services, the same principles apply. Obviously. 

What does the 95:5 rule mean for your law firm? Well, we’re not here to convince you that you need to appeal to the 95% of people who don’t need your services to use you. Because that simply isn’t realistic. What we are here to tell you is that your focus needs to be on that 5% who will require your services and being the brand that they think of first when the time comes. 

Because most people don’t search through every available option when they’re ready to “buy.” They choose the brand they already remember or that feels familiar to them. 

Ø  So, the idea here is to make yourself memorable. 

Remember you can’t control when clients will need you. But you can control how and if they remember your firm when they’re ready. At this point you’re probably thinking to yourself “So, what actually is the role of marketing anyhow?” Well, in any law firm’s case, it isn’t to “sell” to your audience, it’s to be memorable to your audience. You need to be familiar. And this requires brand awareness, brand marketing. 

8 Marketing Tips You Can Undertake Now

While this isn’t an all-encompassing guide, we do hope you find some pointers here that can help you, not only with your brand awareness, but with practically getting your name out there and on the lips of those requiring sound legal advice. You don’t have to do all of them, but we do hope you will implement one or two of the following – 

1.         LinkedIn Content – while the 95:5 rule suggests that 95% of your clients aren’t ready to “buy” or to commit to using your services, by posting LinkedIn content, you can ensure you stay in their minds until they are ready to use your services. When you consistently publish insights – your unique perspective, expertise, and solutions to real problems – you become familiar. In the minds of potential clients, they also connect you or your firm to certain legal services or problem(s) you can solve. And this is important because people “buy” from firms they can trust. People trust what seems familiar to them. And if you seem familiar, well that’s half the battle won right there. 

2.         LinkedIn ads – decision-makers, c-suite executives, and in-house counsels are all on LinkedIn. And they are the individuals that are driving corporate transactions and strategic decisions – the very people that your firm wants to engage with. Creating familiarity is all about ensuring that your firm is known by the largest possible % of your target market. LinkedIn Ads are the most effective way to ensure this reach, especially amongst high-value corporate and commercial clients.

3.         SEO – an acronym for search engine optimisation that helps search engines understand your website content, and helps users find your website first (and usually before others). It’s about using keyword research, creating high-quality content relevant to your target audience, optimising on-page elements like titles, meta descriptions, and headers with keywords, building backlinks from reputable websites etc. And SEO marketing ensures that your firm will be visible when potential clients are actively searching for legal services. SEO takes quite a bit of input and time but when done correctly, SEO is a front-loaded investment that gains momentum. It may take 6–12 months to see meaningful results, but once you’re ranking well, the financial benefits far outweigh the time and money invested.

4.         Google Ads – Google Ads ensures your firm is visible at the precise moment a potential client is actively searching for legal services. Unlike LinkedIn Ads, which are about building familiarity over time, Google Ads targets high-intent leads – people who need legal help right now. Essentially you pay Google directly to appear in the top spots for certain keyword searches (above organic listings). Simple in theory, but the details make all the difference. Different keywords have different cost-per-clicks (CPCs), depending on how competitive they are. For instance, medical negligence claim-related keywords are extremely expensive. The price you pay per click is also intimately connected to the quality of your campaigns, which is why having a skilled Google Ads account manager is critical. Don’t waste your budget on irrelevant searches or low-quality enquiries. Around a quarter of all web traffic goes to paid search ads. In turn, when paired together, Google Ads and SEO allow you to occupy as much online “real estate” as possible.

5.         Social media presence – according to DataReportal the “typical” internet user spends almost 2½ hours each day using social media platforms, equating to more than one-third of our total online time. And that means that law firms must optimally use their own time spent online. Your firm can take advantage of this by establishing a large social media presence across multiple platforms to advertise your services. If your services are more useful for younger clients, you can benefit from social media marketing on platforms like TikTok.

6.         Interact with client testimonials – testimonials from clients are an important way for people to learn to trust your firm’s capabilities. Much like how you act when deciding to try a new restaurant, potential clients are likely to look up reviews of your firm. Asking clients for online reviews can be helpful, but it is important to know how to deal with negative reviews as well. While some people may immediately turn away when they see a low review on Google or a similar platform, others would look further to see if you responded to that review in a constructive way.

7.         Create content on your website – content is king. Everyone knows that. And quality content, well…. Having a blog on your website that’s full of high-quality content for potential clients is a fantastic way to draw in more organic traffic. Not only will it build your brand and establish your credibility, but useful content can also help build up your law practice as a thought leader for your practice area. Quality content can also help your SEO rankings. The rise of AI-written content has gotten impactful enough to change how the Google algorithm works as of March 2024. Put simply, don’t use AI for content marketing. Google is actively working to reduce the rankings of sites they consider to be heavily spammy, which includes sites with AI-written content.

8.         Your website – we end with your website. Everything we have spoken about up until this point has all lead to this – getting clients to your website so that they can view your services and get in touch with your offices. The success of your marketing strategy doesn’t just hinge upon your ability to drive traffic. It also hinges on your ability to convert that traffic into client enquiries. If your website doesn’t deliver when people arrive, it doesn’t matter how good your marketing strategy is. If your website is poor, clients will arrive, take a look around, and leave thinking your poor website is an indication of the poor services they may get. If your website looks outdated, loads slowly, or is difficult to navigate, it will leave them questioning whether your service is equally subpar. This is the subconscious connection they will make in their minds. So, invest in your website and make sure that it stands up to scrutiny and judgement. 

With all that said, we hope that the prospect of marketing without a marketing company (or department) won’t overwhelm you. There are a number of free resources out there that can help any law firm – starting out, small and even large firms – get their “name in lights.” And that’s important to ensure ongoing business and a stream of new clients coming in.

Invest your time, and money will be sure to follow. 

In the meantime, if you are ready to incorporate a new tool into your existing accounting and practice management suite, or if you need to start from scratch, Get in touch with us to see how we can best support your strategic goal setting and progress tracking needs. We have the right combination of systems, resources, and business partnerships to assist you with incorporating supportive legal technology into your practice. Effortlessly.

AJS is always here to help you, wherever and whenever possible!

– Written by Alicia Koch on behalf of AJS

(Sources used and to whom we owe thanks: Lexis Nexis; Array Digital; Practice Panther; LinkedIn; Gartner; Summit Partners and Data Reportal)