Contents
1) Over 1/3 of potential clients start their attorney search online 2) 65% of law firms spend most of their marketing budget online 3) 42% of the time, law firms take an average of 3+ days to respond to a message from a new potential client 4) 26% of law firms do not track their leads at all 5) 86% of the time, law firms fail to collect an email address, and 45% of the time, law firms fail to collect a phone number on an initial call 6) 35% of the time, phone calls from prospective clients are not answered Final thoughts on legal marketing statistics
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Legal marketing statistics can complement your firm’s growth strategy by helping provide a fuller picture of the legal landscape. Not to mention, help you better understand prospective clients. For instance, you can learn about what marketing strategies are currently working, and also identify some of the common mistakes others are making. All of this to say, these insights help you gain a competitive edge.
To give you a better idea of what today’s legal marketing landscape looks like, we rounded up six useful legal marketing statistics for lawyers. Read on to learn how you can use this information to stay ahead of the competition and attract more clients.
1) Over 1/3 of potential clients start their attorney search online
Source: iMarc
What this legal marketing statistic means
Simply put, this means more than one in three people looking for an attorney will turn to the internet before asking a friend or family member for a referral. This might come as a shock, but consumers feel empowered to find their own information early in their search for an attorney.
It’s important not to misconstrue legal marketing statistics. Undoubtedly, referrals will always be an important driver of business for law firms, as the attorney-client relationship is based heavily on trust. However, this statistic makes it clear that you cannot ignore web-based marketing if you intend to grow your practice.
How you can use this information to your advantage
This statistic illustrates the importance of having a strong web presence for your law firm. Gone are the days of just building up a rolodex. Today’s clients use the internet to research their legal issues and find legal help, and this trend will only continue into the future. Additionally, being listed on legal directories or using lead generation services can help improve your web presence.
2) 65% of law firms spend most of their marketing budget online
What this legal marketing statistic means
This survey included a wide variety of law practices. It essentially found that the majority of law firms spend at least 50% of their entire marketing budget online. In fact, 40% of the survey respondents indicated that online marketing accounts for 76-100% of their marketing budget.
As with many legal marketing statistics, this one further reinforces the importance of internet marketing for law firms. Not only are clients using the internet to find lawyers, but most legal professionals are putting a significant amount of money toward online marketing initiatives.
See also: Skills to look for when hiring a marketing person.
How you can use this information to your advantage
There are two key takeaways from this statistic:
- Online legal marketing clearly works. If it didn’t, most firms would not continue spending the majority of their budget on it.
- If you aren’t already using online marketing strategies, by starting right now you can immediately get a jumpstart on about 35% of your competitors who are doing minimal marketing online.
This stat tells us a lot about what’s working today, and where we’re headed in the future. You simply cannot ignore the fact that the majority of your competitors are already out there marketing themselves heavily online. In order to keep up with the trends, you should expect to join them.
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3) 42% of the time, law firms take an average of 3+ days to respond to a message from a new potential client
What this legal marketing statistic means
This is one of the most surprising legal marketing statistics we found. The stat means that in 42% of instances recorded in the study, a potential client that contacted a firm by leaving a voicemail or submitting a website contact form did not hear anything back for at least three days.
How you can use this information to your advantage
There are very few marketing mistakes that are easier to correct than this one. If this sounds familiar to you, you just need to enhance your follow-up process.
At the very least, you can fire off a quick email to let the person know you received their message and you’ll be in touch soon. Or better yet, you could use a virtual receptionist service so no call goes unanswered.
4) 26% of law firms do not track their leads at all
What this legal marketing statistic means
This statistic indicates that about one in every four law firms does not use any mechanism whatsoever to keep track of the fact that a potential client contacted their firm.
How you can use this information to your advantage
Legal marketing statistics such as this one underline the importance of tracking leads. It also shows many firms struggle to do this.
The best way to manage leads is by using a CRM system, which is designed specifically for the very purpose of managing leads and closing sales.
Better yet, by using a CRM designed for law firms, you not only have an easy and organized way to track leads, but you can also do things like trigger automated follow up emails, send appointment reminders, and get intake forms filled out online.
See also: The 4 Stages of an Effective Client Intake Process
5) 86% of the time, law firms fail to collect an email address, and 45% of the time, law firms fail to collect a phone number on an initial call
What this legal marketing statistic means
Legal marketing statistics such as this one tell us that almost nine times out of ten, law firms failed to capture a prospect’s full, basic contact information. And nearly half the time, law firms fail to collect any contact information at all, aside from the person’s name.
How you can use this information to your advantage
Ideally, you should have as many ways to interact with potential clients as possible: name, email, phone number, address, etc.
As shown in legal marketing statistics, the more touch points you have, the better your chances will be to build their trust and eventually retain the person as a paying client.
6) 35% of the time, phone calls from prospective clients are not answered
What this legal marketing statistic means
This means more than one out of every three calls from potential clients are not answered by a human. Instead, they go to a voicemail or an automated message of some kind.
How you can use this information to your advantage
Think about it, if you were calling a restaurant to ask about making a reservation and nobody answered your call, you would likely move on to the next place, right?
Legal marketing statistics such as this one show it’s no different for your clients. Failing to answer calls from prospects can severely impact your law firm’s revenue.
The best thing you can do about this statistic is have a dedicated staff member responsible for picking up every phone call. One reason that virtual receptionist services are becoming so popular is that they operate 24/7, regardless of whether anybody is at your office or not.
Final thoughts on legal marketing statistics
We hope you found these legal marketing statistics informative and useful. Looking at legal marketing statistics can help you get greater insight into what your competitors are doing, and where they might be making mistakes which you can capitalize on.
If you were as surprised by some of these legal marketing statistics as we were, that’s probably a good sign. It means that your firm is ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing and managing your prospective clients. And that’s always a recipe for ongoing success.
We published this blog post in March 2018. Last updated: .
Categorized in: Marketing
