Before we start a topic about getting the most value from your law firm marketing, we should start by asking if your current marketing budget is set for growth, maintenance or if you’re unknowingly positioned for loss?
Surprising as it may be, there are many law firms out there that don’t really have a clearly defined marketing budget. Many firms depend strictly on word of mouth or referral marketing. Other law firms receive their leads from a single referral source, which can be quite dangerous if that lead source ends.
A couple of time-honored marketing rules of thumb to consider:
- If your law firm is trying to grow & expand its reach, you want to consider allocating 10%-15% of your projected annual gross revenue, back into your marketing.
- If you already have an established market share and competition isn’t too steep in your area, then you can go as low as 5%-10% of your projected annual gross revenue.
Please keep in mind these are total dollars invested into all aspects of you law firm marketing arsenal. If you’re below those numbers than you may run the risk of losing ground to your competitors.
In a previous article, we talked about the value of utilizing technology to improve the results of your law practice’s marketing. We feel that the use of technology is critical when trying to improve your RIO. Any marketing component that you can track and measure will allow you to gain the necessary insights needed to adjust and improve that marketing component’s effectiveness.
Digital forms of marketing, along with website analytics, which we cover below, allow you to track, measure and compare your efforts accurately and in real-time. When marketing offline, we suggest that you train you and your team to ask prospects how they found you, so you can qualify the offline efforts of your marketing.
Do you currently have an Search Engine Optimization company managing your law firm’s SEO and working proactively on your website’s ranking. Measuring your website traffic key performance indicators and setting goals that has you improve on those measurements is critical for any law firm that is serious about growth and revenue management.
We offer a Free Website Audit & Analysis that can show you how you look to the search engines, and how & what your competition is doing. Whether you use any services of P3, we encourage you to take advantage of the Free Report.
Another way to ensure you are maximizing your marketing dollars and not missing out on opportunities, is to leverage your entire team for creating content that attracts your ideal clients. One of the best ways to distinguish yourself from your competition is to answer questions and provide information that prospective clients would find useful. This content can then be offered on your website and social media spheres as free and downloadable content for list building, marketing and positioning you as an expert and trusted adviser.
No matter what combination of offline & online initiatives your law firm marketing employs, you want to make sure you’re having regular meeting to measure and gauge the success of your results? We recommend categorizing the results in a series of three categories: Winners, Questionable & Losers.
Obviously, keep the Winners, and see if you can multiply their efforts. Ask your team if there is a way to convert the Questionable items into Winners. If you’ve exhausted all efforts, let them go. If after tracking, you find that you have loss-leaders or Losers, drop them like a hot potatoes and replace them with something new to test.
If we can offer more information on any of these topics, or if you would like a Free Consultation or a Quick Quote on how you can improve your law firm marketing, please call us at (800) 515-9422.
