Is it worth the effort to advertise your law firm? Here’s what the data reveals

As advertising has evolved alongside technology, the various marketing mediums have multiplied. Now, next to radio and newspaper ads, we have access to avant-garde statistics that accompany digital advertising: Facebook ads, Google ads (including PPC ads), and more, mostly through social media. 

Does that mean that the traditional advertising methods are no longer worth it? Not at all. Research still shows that traditional advertising can be immensely effective when used in specific ways, and especially in conjunction with digital advertising.

On that note, is digital advertising inherently better? This is also difficult to say with certainty. For one, people are not online all the time, and many people are still drawn to traditional media, meaning that a focus only on digital advertising may risk losing a portion of your law firm’s audience. 

While there’s no right answer for which combination of traditional and digital advertising methods to utilize, we have a few guidelines that can help your law firm grow.

Google Ads & PPC for Lawyers

What are Google Ads and PPC? PPC is short for pay-per-click advertising, and it refers to advertising through Google’s search engine to ensure that your services appear in conjunction with popular searches. The “pay-per-click” portion refers to how your money is spent in this form of advertising—you don’t pay for the exposure of your ad, for instance, like you might with leasing billboard space for a set amount of time. You pay depending on engagement. 

In all reality, using Google Ads and PPC is a must in today’s advertising world. Google dominates with a search engine market share of 91.43%, meaning that over 90% of worldwide searches are handled via Google. If you want to reach vast audiences online and advertise with one of the most used technologies today, this is the place. Potential clients will be using Google to find lawyers, and having your law firm appear to these potential clients can be a huge difference.

That said, the process of diving into Google Ads and PPC can be confusing. Keywords need to be bid on, and those words can affect how you’re using your advertising budget efficiently. Luckily, there are many tools to help you begin your journey into this advertising, and the first step is to create an account for your law firm. It’s free and easy. 

Facebook Lawyer Ads

Similar to Google Ads, Facebook Ads is a PPC advertising platform for one of the largest social media websites out there. Just as many potential clients will use Google to search for lawyers, they’ll also navigate Facebook with the same idea—find personalized suggestions for lawyers whom they can trust. That’s why these ads can be an invaluable tool in reaching and engaging with new audiences. 

How should you use Facebook Ads for Lawyers? The process is simple:

• Choose your objective. Having specific goals can better help you tailor your approach.
• Select an audience. Know whom you’re trying to reach. What type of potential client are you looking for?
• Choose where to run your ad. This can cover various feeds on Facebook, and can also be automatized by Facebook.
• Set a budget.
• Choose a format and publish. 

Like with Google Ads—and many forms of digital advertising—the main effectiveness and impact of using these methods comes not only from electing to choose them in the first place, but the specificity with which you use them. Knowing all those details about placement, audience, and engagement can make all the difference. There can also be a learning curve to using the platform related to ad placement.

Law Firm Print Ads

Print ads are still an effective way of reaching your potential audience. A good portion may read newspapers, magazines, and other forms of print that expose them to traditional advertising. In the case of local communities, engaging with the trustworthy newspaper can be a surefire way of gaining authenticity, for example. People within your community who read the daily paper may feel that you already have a foothold there and will understand their concerns. 

The costs for print ads are usually set up in a different manner than digital ads. That is to say, you won’t be able to pay-per-click! You’ll have to check with rates per publication and per outlet, and those rates will fluctuate depending on the placement within the publication, size of the ad, and more. 

Managing print ads can seem more streamlined than digital ads, however. Instead of having to manage platforms that place and organize your ads for you through Google, Facebook, etc., you only need to communicate with the marketing department of your chosen print outlet and have your content ready. 

All told, print ads can be said to engage with a different audience, too. The readers of a specific publication are more likely to trust said publication and to act based on advertisements shown them—in short, print ads can be more impactful.

Law Firm Billboards

This form of advertising usually sticks in our minds when we think “traditional” advertising. Using this method, you’re unabashedly announcing yourself to the world. 

Billboards come with two main benefits:

1. Consistent engagement. People can turn off a TV or turn away from their laptop, but they’ll always be able to see your billboard.
2. Brand awareness. As mentioned, a billboard announces your confidence in your law firm and places it front-and-center for all to see. It’s a way of saying with clarity: you want customers now, you can handle them, and you’re the best option. This can be a great way of making yourself a staple name in a community.

Billboards, however, are typically more expensive than other forms of advertising, especially digital. This can be a consideration for your advertising budget.

Radio & TV Ads for Lawyers

Lastly, radio and TV ads can be effective ways of reaching potential clients who often engage with those mediums. One big consideration: same as with print ads, people who rely on these mediums are more likely to trust it, and will place more importance on their engagement. That’s another way of pointing out the importance of finding the right form of advertising for your potential audience. Someone who loves watching their news at seven may not be as engaged with Facebook at that time, and vice-versa. 

TV ads have long been known to be effective in motivating people to purchase. Used in conjunction with other forms of advertisement, they can cause spikes in engagement, which, in turn, converts to sales. Having a TV ad run on a local network, for instance, can buy your law firm a personalized connection to a potential client, who then follows up by visiting your website. 

Many of the same benefits of TV ads can apply to radio ads. Longtime listeners to one station will put more stock in that station’s advertisements. As one huge benefit, as well, radio ads are usually cheaper to place, meaning that you can have ads up for longer, or cover more ground with your advertising budget. Also, radio is still hugely popular (Nielsen reported that 91% of adults listened to the radio each week in the first quarter of 2020) meaning that it is a medium with high engagement.

Navigating all of these methods can be confusing. Finding the right combination of advertising methods and techniques can assure your law firm’s success in marketing. Let us help you identify the best way to bring new clients in.