Law Firm Marketing Agency
Mistakes are normal, like buying parsley instead of cilantro. But that’s a $2 mistake that probably only cost you your pride—in legal marketing, mistakes become a lot more costly.
We’ve seen it all in our 15+ years of working in legal marketing, and we’re here to help you and your firm steer clear of common (yet totally avoidable) mistakes. Like forgetting to do fundamental research before splashing out on a new campaign.
This quick read will help you make better marketing decisions and build a stronger marketing machine for your firm, simply by sidestepping mistakes that others have made.
Here are five common legal marketing mistakes and what to do instead.
Mistake #1: Your foundational strategy hasn’t happened yet
You’re spending money on campaigns but your firm still hasn’t invested in an overall marketing strategy that includes data and research. You’re testing keywords and publishing content to social media but you don’t even have a brand book or a user persona.
INSTEAD, DO THIS ↓
Identify the right people. Develop an audience persona for your target clientele that includes their interests, demographics, pain points, desires and online behavior. What do these people need and how do they attempt to get it online? How do they feel about hiring legal help?
Identify the right message. Tailor your content strategy to what your target audience needs to hear. When it comes to consuming content and making decisions, what’s their process? Where’s your “in”? How can you craft a message that builds trust, establishes your UVP and creates momentum for taking action to connect them with your firm’s brand?
Identify the right approach. Now that you know the person and the message, you can get clear on the right delivery method. Will you build a landing page or a campaign to address their pain point? Will you use emotional storytelling to reach them at a key moment? Will you use geofencing to target them with online ads or will you sponsor a Little League game to get in front of them?
Identify the right time. How will you get in front of the right people at the right time with the right message?
Mistake #2: You’re not getting the most out of your investment
You’re spending more on marketing than the worth of the leads you’re bringing in—or you don’t even know how to quantify your CPL and the lifetime value of a client. You feel like more money is going out than is coming on, and your results are confusing and delayed.
Is it you? Is it your website? Is it your agency? Cue the panic!
INSTEAD, DO THIS ↓
You’re either working with the wrong agency (and you’re too busy or stressed to switch), or you’re investing in the wrong channels.
If the data isn’t clear and you’ve been promised results on a reasonable timeline that aren’t forthcoming, then you need to cancel your agreement with your agency. While SEO does take time, you shouldn’t be in the dark or waiting for ambiguous results.
Another possibility is that you’re funneling money into the wrong channels. For instance, you might continue to throw money at LSAs but you continue to get leads that aren’t a good fit for your firm. Time to go back to the drawing board with your marketing strategy time and reorient.
Mistake #3: Your commitment is spotty, or you set-and-forget
It’s been a few months since you checked your Google Business Profile. You publish to your blog and to Facebook, but it’s infrequent.
This is a major mistake we see firms make. You simply cannot set and forget your marketing!
INSTEAD, DO THIS ↓
You must be committed to executing on your strategies with consistency. This means regular blogs and updates to your website, at the very least. Whatever platforms you’re on, you must show up with consistency and quality. Otherwise, you’re simply pouring money down the drain by sharing inconsistent content that will slowly lose your audience’s trust over time.
Audit the channels you’ve committed to and determine which have the highest ROI. Assess what has been forgotten and assign responsibility going forward. In the legal world, consistency is one of the best marketing habits that will take you much farther than short bursts of energy with no follow-up.
Mistake #4: You don’t innovate and you’re afraid to try new things
You’ve been on Facebook since you launched your firm…and your strategy has remained the same since the 2010s. You scoff at the lawyers on TikTok while doubling down on the tired marketing strategy you’ve used for years, all while wondering why your traffic is so slow and your leads have trickled to a halt.
INSTEAD, DO THIS ↓
On the one hand, we discourage firms from trying every new trend or every new channel purely for the sake of novelty. But on the other hand, you can’t stay static. You must be open to new platforms and ways of doing things.
Take TikTok, for example. There’s a strong case for putting out content on TikTok if you have the people power to stay consistent and if your target audience is on that platform.
Think about where you could push your comfort zone a bit while staying aligned with your overall strategic goals. If you want to reach Millennials with family law concerns, how could you innovate in connecting with them?
At minimum, you should be A/B testing with your campaigns. Innovation can look like nothing on the surface, but little tweaks can make big differences and help you identify where to try something new. If you’re afraid to take a chance after a sliver of success in one direction, you’ll never know how much better you could be.
Mistake #5: You spend a lot, but you don’t work to improve
You’re spending more than ever on marketing, but something’s just not working. The money isn’t delivering new work. You’re afraid to cut spending in a recession, but you’re unsure how else to get results without continuing to allocate more resources.
Oof, we feel this one. It’s tough to feel like you’re investing a lot in something but no amount of money seems to convert that guano to gold.
Unfortunately, the amount of money you spend on marketing has no direct bearing on the success of your campaigns.
INSTEAD, DO THIS ↓
Take a look at other factors that might be impacting your success rate on a given campaign. For every area where a tactic is underdelivering, get curious. Open your mind and work to improve your win rate without spending any more money.
For instance, how’s your intake process?
It’s not uncommon to see firms spend a ton of money and not show up to see it through. They spend a ton of money to develop a clever intake process and invest in a lead gen campaign, but then their team is too overworked so they’re slow to follow up with inquiries to their web form and they flub all those valuable leads that they spent so much money to acquire. No amount of money could fix this.
Review and next steps
You’re not alone in the fight to grow your firm and figure out how it all works. Consider us an ally. We’ve built successful campaigns and powerful websites for law firms like yours, and we can help you avoid common pitfalls and reach your destination faster with expert support.
Reach out for a consultation and get help with the next step in your growth.