Display Advertising for Attorneys: A Quick Guide

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By Omnizant Team
Law Firm Marketing Agency

Display ads are images and banner ads that you see online—and these ads can work wonders for lead generation and brand awareness. Many of our clients require a quick education on this topic, so we put together this primer all about display advertising for attorneys.

Before your law firm launches any new marketing campaign, it is critically important to get clear on your goals, your tools, and how you’ll measure success. Otherwise, you’re flushing money down the drain. Display marketing can be highly effective. However, it’s not the right approach for every firm.

We’ve got answers to all your questions on this topic, from what is display advertising and how does display advertising work to should attorneys do display marketing. Let’s dive in.

What is display advertising?

Every single attorney is familiar with display advertising. You can’t go anywhere online without being blitzed by a display ad.

Display advertising are online ads that contain a call-to-action. 

These ads can be found on websites, in apps, and on social media. Display ads may be images, images with text, or animated images (GIFs) that, when clicked, lead the user to another destination. 

Once you’ve created an ad, you can then buy ad placements and set audience targets so that your ad will appear to the right people in the right places. 

How does display advertising work?

There are two basic ways to place your display ads. 

First, you can purchase a display ad through a single outlet where your ad will run. For example, you could buy a banner ad slot at the top of a local union’s website to advertise your employment and labor practice.

Second, you can run your ad on a network of websites. The Google Display Network and Facebook Ads are two of the most common networks. This strategy ensures greater visibility but gives you less control over who is seeing your ads.

Google is one of the largest networks. If you choose Google, your display campaigns could reach people around the world across 35 million websites and apps, including popular Google-owned properties like Gmail and YouTube. 

Pros of display advertising 

There are two major advantages to display advertising.

It’s generally cheaper. Display ads can be far more affordable than many other ad strategies. These ads usually use a CPM (cost-per-mille) model, in which you are charged for every 1,000 impressions of your ad. This may not be true if you choose instead to display ads on a targeted platform, which might trigger monthly charges.

You’ll get massive exposure. With display ads and ad networks like Google, you can literally get your brand in front of millions of people. This is excellent for brand awareness. While nationwide (or global) brand recognition may not be a priority for most firms, it’s certainly a suitable goal for firms specializing in mass torts, for example.

Cons of display advertising

On the flip side, display advertising for attorneys can have some drawbacks.

Low conversion rates are common. Display ads are notorious for having low conversion rates. This makes sense when you consider that your display ad may be the very first time that someone is seeing your brand. 

While display ads can be used to target people at every stage of your funnel, you might want to consider targeting people who are toward the top of your marketing funnel. These people are at the very beginning of their user journey, so awareness is more appropriate than conversion at this stage anyway. Plus, brand awareness is hard to quantify in terms of ROI.

You need to allot time and energy to monitor and tweak your ad campaign. If you’re using Google’s Display Network, you must be very careful to keep track of your ads. This means monitoring their performance and limiting destinations. Otherwise, you could end up spending your limited marketing budget to place your ad all over the place—rather than where your prospective clients are.

Should a law firm do display advertising?

The answer to this question is relatively simple. 

Will display ads help you get in front of prospective clients, current clients, or past clients (who may refer you)? 

If your ad can be placed on networks where your target audience is consuming content—and if your bottom line can tolerate low ROI in exchange for brand awareness—then display advertising could be a great tactic for your law firm.

As with any campaign, remember that your display advertising should be closely monitored. This ensures that your ad is reaching the right people and prevents you from blowing through the budget without impact.

Review and next steps

Display ads can be an effective and affordable marketing tactic for law firms that are interested in increasing brand awareness. However, display ads are not the right approach for every firm. The ROI is relatively low and you must be prepared to invest time and energy to monitor your ad campaigns properly.

If you’re not sure where to start, reach out to Omnizant. We’re experts in crafting successful digital marketing campaigns for growth-focused law firms. From video marketing and PPC campaigns to display ads and social media content, we can help you reach the right people and hit your growth goals.

About the Author
Since 2006, Omnizant's team of digital marketing experts, designers, developers and writers has helped over 2,000 law firms develop powerful websites that drive business growth.