Digital Marketing for Lawyers

Digital marketing helps lawyers attract more clients, get more business, and generate more revenue for their firm. While word of mouth referral is still one of the main ways that lawyers get clients, digital marketing will help more people discover you and is a more sustainable long term strategy than just relying on referrals.

It all depends on your practice area, the size of your firm, and what your pricing model is. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you are getting a positive return on investment from your digital marketing.

So, if your clients are paying you $3000 on average per case, you should absolutely not spend more than $3000 getting one client through your digital marketing strategy.

Whether you do your own law firm digital marketing or hire an agency depends on your level of interest and expertise with digital marketing channels. 

If you’d prefer to focus on lawyering, it makes sense to hire an agency. If you’re able to and interested in investing several hours per week, you might find some success marketing your law firm online on your own.

There are many ways to market yourself as a lawyer: Social media, online groups, PR, online profiles, email outreach, SEO, and so much more. Choose what’s best for you. And to stay compliant with ethics rules, never share specific or sensitive case or client information, and never provide legal advice unless you’re deliberately creating a lawyer-client relationship and doing so over a secure channel.

A revenue:cost ratio of 5:1 is generally thought to be acceptable for marketing spend, including law firm internet marketing. In other words, your average cost per acquisition (CPA), or the cost to acquire each case, should be about ⅕ of the average value of each case. This includes pay-per-click costs, web design costs, your own time, and anything else,

Your cost per acquisition (CPA) may be high since law firm online marketing can be so competitive, but if your case value is high, it may still be a good ROI. As an extreme example, some of the most expensive search engine marketing terms are those around mesothelioma lawsuits, with firms paying hundreds of dollars per ad click (for reference, costs are often a few dollars or cents). This investment provides a good ROI, however, as just one settlement will average over $1 million and cases are often handled by personal injury lawyers who bill on a contingency basis.

The important thing is to have a marketing tool that helps you track your CPA accurately, and a practice management software where you can track the average value of a case, so you can always have insight into your ROI.