The Marketing Challenges Most Law Firms Face (And How to Finally Fix Them)
It’s common for marketing to be challenging for law firms. After all, lawyers didn’t really go through all that trouble finishing law school to become marketers. However, knowing a thing or two about marketing can help firms stand out from the rest of the competition. This is especially so in an industry so competitive and reliant on visibility. This blog tells you everything you need to know about law firm marketing challenges and how you yourself can go about it.
Why Marketing Feels So Hard for Most Law Firms
Without proper guidance, law firm marketing can go wrong in two ways. Either firms overspend on marketing strategies with little to no ROI or they rely solely on referrals and not move an inch with their marketing. Neither is a sustainable strategy when aiming for growth.
What’s more is that marketing can be especially challenging for law firms for a couple of reasons. Given the high-stakes nature of cases, potential clients likely make decisions based on emotions and trust. The local competition can also be fierce, making it difficult for any law firm to stand out. Even the guidelines for attorney advertising add an extra layer of complexity to legal marketing.
Indeed, marketing can seem hard for most law firms, but this is not to say that it is impossible. No matter the challenge, Mapless Marketing’s got the right fix to really put your firm out there.
Challenge 1: Your Firm Is Invisible in Local Search
As mentioned, visibility will be your strongest tool in getting potential clients. When your firm is invisible in local search engines, as is the case for most small to mid-sized firms, people searching for lawyers within your area will most likely turn to the top results, i.e. your competitors. Remember that people searching for legal help are high-intent. The first few firms they see at the top of their search results will likely capture them as leads. This, however, is not telling of how you are as a firm, but only of the kind of marketing you have.
How Mapless Solves It: Local SEO
Our long-term solution to local invisibility is Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Improving your firm’s visibility in local search engines entails a couple of things. One of these is optimizing your Google Business Profile so your firm appears in the local directory. Content that is specific to the practice areas will be rolled out to capture the attention of your target audience. Local keywords will be optimized as well to reflect how real people search for legal help in your area. By garnering enough reviews from clients, we can then build enough credibility to place your firm at the top. Rather than a one-time-fix, keep in mind that these steps to Local SEO will be done continuously. They will require constant updating to build authority in the firm’s market.
Challenge 2: Paid Ads Are Expensive and Hard to Get Right
In an industry as competitive as legal services, paid advertising can be a pretty costly mistake. Without the right strategy, ad budgets can disappear quickly without getting actual results and high-quality leads. This is due to the high cost per click that comes particularly with Google Ads. Paid ads may be set up with such a broad target, send traffic to an idle page rather than a landing page that drives conversion, or lack a clear follow-up system. Done properly, however, paid ads can be worth your money and get you the reach that you deserve.
How Mapless Solves It: Local Services Ads
For small to mid-sized firms, a smarter, more cost-effective alternative is Local Services Ads (LSAs). One key feature LSAs have that works better than most paid ad strategies is its pay-per-lead model. This means that the firm only has to pay when potential clients actually engage with the ad by calling or messaging you, rather than just a simple click. LSAs also increase your visibility by displaying your firm at the top Google search results, adding credibility to your firm in the process. This way, local searchers can actually see your firm and be driven to convert, making every dollar spent on paid ads count.
Challenge 3: Inconsistent Lead Flow and No System to Follow Up
Time is of the essence for potential clients looking for legal assistance. Facing urgent situations, they reach out to multiple law firms and go to the ones that provide the quickest and most professional response. But without an organized follow-up system where calls go unanswered and inquiries are left unread, clients will definitely skip your firm and move on to the next. Even when your marketing is working to get you the clients that you need, the lack of clear and consistent lead flow can make it seem like it isn’t.
How Mapless Solves It: Strategy Before Systems
This is why Mapless Marketing starts with a Marketing Map Session first before running any ads or doing any optimization. Not only do we map out who your target or what your message is, we also make it clear what happens when leads come in. LSAs bring leads in efficiently, but not without a clear path to conversion. Local SEO builds long-term authority, but only after we gauge what your firm’s target is and how much it can handle.
Challenge 4: No Clear Way to Measure What Is Working
When firms do get the results that they want, it is just as important to be able to trace it back to the method that led up to it. Without a clear way to measure what is working, however, every marketing decision is nothing but a guess. Leads can come from anywhere, with no way to know whether they are from ads or from referrals. Your ad budget will keep ballooning, yet you won’t know if you already have a significant ROI. You have no clue which channels are converting and what strategies you can replicate that you ultimately end up with inconsistent results.
How Mapless Solves It: Direction Over Guesswork
We conceptualized our two-part legal marketing strategy with this in mind: measurable outcomes. We track leads gained through LSAs directly through the Google platform. On the other hand, we measure Local SEO results via search rankings, website traffic, and Google Business Profile insights. Rather than guesswork, we translate these data into actionable direction so your firm can always be two steps ahead before spending another dollar on marketing.
The Firms That Grow Are the Ones That Get Strategic First
In legal marketing, the phrase “Work smarter, not harder” also applies. This does not mean spending the most on marketing, but building a good strategy first before ever doing so. With a good strategy that gets clear on who the firm is targeting and how to get their attention, the firm can stand out in the market and get the best results.
Indeed, great legal work deserves to be found. However, even the best firms may appear invisible when faced with the abovementioned law firm marketing challenges. While these challenges are as real as they come, they can go away given the right strategy, tools, and marketing partner.
Is your firm invisible online, struggling with inconsistent leads, or unsure where your marketing dollars are going? Book your free Marketing Map Session and we will map out exactly what your firm needs to grow.
