How to best run paid ads for law firms

Online Paid Advertising – Is it Right for Your Practice?

You’ve invested in a website but is it generating business? If it has not been designed with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind you are likely missing out on prospective clients who are looking for the professional services you offer. In a previous blog post, we presented the benefits of SEO and social media opportunities for promoting your law firm, and while there are definitely positive results that can be derived from these actions, you may also want to consider paid online advertising.

In the first half of 2019, digital ad revenue was $57.9 Billion according to IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, indicating that paid online advertising has become a staple in the technology toolbox for businesses. When done properly, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click) can generate high-quality leads at a nominal cost per click.

Perhaps surprisingly, a hefty advertising budget is not needed to garner results from paid online ads. Depending on your goals, budget, and target market, your advertising could include one of these methods.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

Pay-per-click or Cost Per Click has earned its place as one of the most effective marketing strategies, accounting for over 60% of the “clicks” as compared to 35% for those generated organically. The methodology is promoted by the major search engines – Google, Bing, and Yahoo – as well as social media sites such as Facebook and professional networking sites like LinkedIn.

The key to maximizing results with PPC is targeting your audience, identifying the demographics of a prospective client, and developing a focused ad campaign to reach them. The technology has evolved to the ability to focus on key factors such as age, sex, and geographic location, and can even be fine-tuned to such specifics as time of day they might be searching for your services.

As an example, a law firm specializing in representing individuals arrested for driving under the influence might have their ads scheduled to appear on searches for “DUI lawyer” generated by men between the age range of 21 to 35, the hours between 10 pm and 3 am, and from a geographic location near the local police station. Or, your practice is devoted to Estate Planning. Your target market might be married couples in their 30’s and 40’s who live in your city and have a home worth in excess of $500,000. As an advertiser, you only pay for an ad when it is clicked on and the pricing structure for PPC advertising is based on a bidding system. The more popular a search term is, the higher the cost for each click.

PPM (Pay-Per-Impression)

A close cousin of Pay-Per-Click is Pay-Per-Impression or Cost-Per-Impression for which the pricing is similar to more traditional advertising metrics utilized by print publications where ad pricing determined by their circulation, not by the number of responses to your ad. As an advertiser, you pay for every 1,000 times your ad appears, regardless of whether anyone actually clicks on it. The cost for PPM is typically lower than PPC and is likely better suited to building name recognition as opposed to a garnering a prospective client.

Key to the success of either methodology is if and when a prospective client does click on your ad, what will they be seeing? If they land on your website’s home page, is there a clear, concise message as to how you can help them and why they should hire you without them having to navigate to another page? Is there an easily identifiable call to action, a way for them to reach you, either through a phone number or registration form?

If your law practice is single focus, that is, you specialize in just one area of the law, the home page of your website should contain this information. However, if you have more than one specialty and are running ads for just one specific practice area, you may want to consider creating a landing page. Also known as a “lead capture page,” a landing page is designed specifically for the ad you are running and should give the person viewing it an immediate answer as to what you can do for them and how they can reach you. When utilized, landing pages can typically lead to higher conversion rates of your prospective client contacting you.

Is online advertising right for your law firm? A well-designed, well-managed ad campaign, focused on the specific demographics of your ideal client, can bring new business to the table. Capitol Tech Solutions has the expertise within the legal field to deliver measurable and lasting results.

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