Is your law firm marketing effectively?

As a law firm, one of the major concerns is acquiring and retaining quality clients. But first, how do you get clients in the door? The solution may be digital advertising, which is one of today’s most prominent marketing resources. It is crucial that firms have an online presence for potential clients to see what your law firm has to offer before they’ll even consider calling. Think about choosing a new restaurant, before making a reservation you will most likely look at reviews and visit their website. If they have poor reviews and no website, your chances of visiting their restaurant go down. Similarly, if your law firm has no online presence with minimal reviews and no website or digital media, the number of clients that come through your door or call will decrease substantially.

The importance of law firm marketing is growing exponentially in our digital-run world. However, this digital advertising can become complicated and sometimes overwhelming. It is important to understand just how much your law firm is spending on marketing and advertising. You can do this by simply combing through the expenses your firm pays when it comes to digital advertising, social media management, website licenses, etc. Once you understand how much your firm is paying, the next step is to look at what your return on investment (ROI) is. Your digital advertising ROI is a measurement that calculates the profit or loss that has accumulated due to the digital advertising campaigns your firm has put forth, compared to the amount of money your firm has invested. In other words, you are learning whether your firm’s campaigns are “earning their keep.” Measuring your ROI is arguably the best way your firm can know if its budget is being spent effectively.

By tracking your digital advertising ROI, your firm can determine which metrics are working and which are not. These metrics include engagement rates, click-through rates, marketing leads and client acquisition. An engagement rate measures the level of engagement a piece of content is receiving from the people who click through your advertisement. Click-through rate (CTR) is the number of clicks your firm’s ad received divided by the number of times your ad has been shown. A marketing lead is when a person shows interest in your firm, most likely through providing some form of contact information, making them a potential client. Finally, the most important metric is customer acquisition. This is a measure of how many physical clients are coming through the firm’s door or are calling to inquire about your services. While it is important to track your engagement rates and CTR, the action the potential client after viewing an ad makes is most important. After all, clicks do not bring your firm revenue, the client does.

Upon finding your website or viewing an ad, potential clients have two options – ignore it or click through for more information. An important aspect to giving your website credibility is having an appealing landing page, also known as a homepage. If a potential client clicks on your ad and it redirects them to an incomplete or untrustworthy-looking landing page, they will click out. This is another reason why measuring how many clicks your ad gets is not always an accurate measure. People may click your ad on accident, find your firm to not be what they are looking for or be totally turned off by what they see. Combining an appealing ad with a complete landing page will draw in potential clients.

Another consideration is to review your firm’s initial digital advertising ROI data, and then set SMART goals when viewing the data moving forward. When you make these goals, they should be what is known as SMART goals. The SMART acronym defines a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It establishes a way in which you and your firm can monitor the goal you have put in place.

When monitoring your firm’s digital advertising ROI data, it is important to not compare numbers month to month. When you compare data this way it does not account for irregularities or seasonal changes. However, by comparing the data year to year you will gather a better idea of how your firm’s campaigns improve over time.

If you find that your firm’s marketing ROI data is not reflecting high results, it is time to reconsider your current strategy. It is important to remember that digital advertising is not meant to cost your firm, but to grow its clientele. You must ensure the time, money and energy your firm is putting into digital advertising is benefiting your business’s bottom line.