In the last couple of years, law firms have been undergoing a transformation from traditional practices to more modernized ones. As a result, marketers are faced with challenges of how to make their message stand out in an increasingly competitive field. In this post, you will discuss legal marketing statistics that will help you become a better marketer for your law practice and understand where opportunities lie.
Legal marketing statistics
These are legal marketing stats that will help improve your firm’s marketing strategies and return on investment.
1. 1/3rd of legal clients start their attorney search online (Source)
With over 1/3rd of legal clients finding attorneys online, this means that people are not only searching for lawyers online but also doing their research before deciding who they will hire. If you do not have an online presence, it is easy to fall behind in the race for clients.
Make sure your firm’s website ranks well on search engines so potential clients can find you when they make their initial searches and know what set of skills and expertise your law practice has to offer them. There are several factors involved with this ranking process such as keywords, backlinks, page speed, and more which we cover extensively in our other blog posts, podcast episodes, and YouTube videos.
2. 65% of a law firm’s marketing budget is digital (Source)
Every law firm should allocate a good chunk of its marketing budget to digital initiatives like SEO, blogging, and social media. Online channels are where the most potential clients will be spending time in today’s world, particularly on mobile devices.
Your website is your online home base for all things about your brand so make sure it looks professional and ranks well when people search for terms related to what you do (i.e., “San Diego personal injury lawyers”). The more traffic that comes from organic search results, the better chance you have at converting visitors into leads which eventually turns into new clients.
Law firms who blog get up to 67% more qualified leads than those who don’t according to other research as well. While direct mail, billboards, magazines, and similar channels should be used, lawyers should be placing most of their marketing budget into digital mediums.
3. Buying leads is the best marketing channels for 49% of law firms (Source)
All law firms and attorneys should be investing in long-term marketing strategies like search engine optimization, social media, etc. However, nearly half of law firms say that buying leads is their best marketing channel. This is the process of buying leads from a trusted agency. These companies prospect potential clients and send you verified lists of contacts or put you in direct contact with them via phone or email. All you have to do is close them. Contact WiseMedia today if you require lead generation services.
4. 42% of law firms take 3+ days to respond to leads (Source)
If you want to be the top of mind when potential clients look for a lawyer, you must respond quickly. You can follow up with them immediately and close at your earliest convenience. By contrast, if they hear nothing from you in days or weeks after reaching out to you, their interest will most likely wane and go elsewhere. They may not understand why no one got back to them.
A good way to make sure this doesn’t happen is by having an automated email response system (it’s easier than ever today) so that anyone who reaches out gets responded automatically without any human input required beyond creating the initial message. This ensures prompt responses every time people come looking for legal help!
Read our blog post on the best law firm live chat solutions if you need software to automate this process.
5. 26% of law firms don’t track leads (Source)
One of the most critical steps in digital marketing or law firms is analytics, reporting, and measurement. Otherwise, your practice will not understand its marketing performance and return on investment. Additionally, it will be difficult to discover opportunities and bottlenecks that need solving. That’s why we find it surprising 26% of law firms do not track their leads at all.
You can use a law firm CRM to take care of this for you. These solutions organize all of your prospects, leads, clients, and cases. You and your team can access this data at any time.
6. 86% of law firms fail to collect an email address and 45% fail to collect a phone number on the initial call (Source)
You should ask for an email address and phone number every time you speak with a potential client. This ensures that your practice will have the contact information on file so it can follow up at any time. You never know when a prospective client may become a new case, opportunity, or referral source!
In addition to collecting emails and numbers during first calls, law firms need to check in regularly with their clients as well. Only 24% of lawyers say they call their clients monthly. Instead – those who are truly building relationships with prospects and existing clients must create regular communication loops.
These top-performing legal marketers communicate via newsletters, creative content marketing campaigns, postcards & letters from the firm’s attorneys – whatever helps them stand out amongst competitors and keep in touch with prospects.
7. 35% of phone calls from leads go unanswered (Source)
More than one third of phone calls from prospects go unanswered. That’s true whether they’re calling a law firm or other business. But this is an essential frustration for prospective clients, who are often making important decisions about their legal matter and want to speak with someone immediately – not wait around on hold until the right representative happens to be available.
If phone calls aren’t answered at all – that’s especially frustrating, but it can also make prospects feel unheard. This will quickly translate into lost sales opportunities if these callers seek out another law firm where they’ll have better luck speaking with someone live over the phone.
Another common approach among top-performing marketers is using direct mail campaigns as part of their lead generation efforts. These physical letters & postcards can help you stand apart from competitors in your local area and build relationships.
Many law firms also hire a dedicated secretary, physical or remote, to handle all incoming calls. This is ideal because no inbound leads will go unrecorded.
8. 61% of inbound inquiries come from a phone call (Source)
Going off of the legal marketing statistic, 61% of inbound inquiries are phone calls. This means that if your law firm doesn’t have a system or team in place to handle these calls, many client opportunities will be lost.
9. 58% of all traffic is generated by paid search (Source)
More than half of all traffic that’s driven to websites is from paid search on Google. You can get started with Google Ads by logging in with your Google account and creating a new campaign. One of the easiest ways to begin is bidding on your firm’s name to increase your search engine equity. When a prospect searches for your practice, you will appear in the organic section and above that with a paid ad.
10. In the legal sector, organic search had a conversion rate of over 4% (Source)
Something we’ve discussed many times in our content at WiseMedia is the highest conversion rate that organic traffic generates. This is because it attracts qualified leads to your website. For example, if someone searches Google for “Immigration lawyer in Toronto,” that individual is in need of a very specific lawyer. In marketing terms, we would say this individual is at the middle or bottom of the funnel. They are also in the consideration or decision stage of the buyer journey.
11. Email marketing campaigns have a 4.5% average conversion rate (Source)
Email marketing is essential for law firms. This is because it provides a direct and consistent way to reach out to your audience. It also has one of the highest conversion rates (4.5%). You can begin with email marketing by choosing software like Mailchimp, Senfox, or Omnisend. Then, add forms to your website. These could be in the form of a popup or placed in the footer for example. This will help you collect emails and you can then send newsletters and content to the list you build.
12. Direct marketing for lawyers has an average conversion rate of 2.9% (Source)
Another effective way to market your firm is through direct marketing. This includes things like billboards, TV ads, and radio spots for example. For the best results in this area you should target high-income areas with busy commuters who are likely consumers of legal services. You can also use paid advertising on social media platforms or search networks such as Google Adwords to reach new clients here too.
13. Referrals for lawyers close at a rate of 2.8% (Source)
Most law firms generate a large amount of their revenue from referrals. Despite this, a referral doesn’t always convert. To maximize the number of referrals that convert into long-term clients, we recommend:
- Updating your website to improve first impressions and branding.
- Publish content on your website to improve credibility, authority, and trust.
- Leverage social proof like testimonials, reviews, and case studies.
14. 68% of online experiences begin on a search engine (Source)
A large majority of online experiences begin with an individual searching for a product, service, or information on a search engine on Google. Having a strong search engine presence results in a substantial amount of visibility, traffic, and leads for this reason. We suggest optimizing your website’s technical aspects and building authoritative backlinks to improve your site’s search engine performance.
15. The number one result on Google has an average click-through rate of 31.7% (Source)
Continuing off of our last point, it’s not only essential to be on Google but to rank highly. Otherwise, the visibility won’t generate traffic and results. In fact, the first result has a click-through rate of 31.7%. While there are many different ranking factors to consider, read our law firm backlink building guide to learn more.
16. More than half of all web traffic comes from smartphones and tablets (Source)
In the past, website traffic mostly came from desktop computers. Nowadays, a majority of traffic comes from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Why is this important? Websites are displayed and built very differently for desktops and smartphones. If your website is not mobile optimized, it will experience a poor conversion rate because it’ll be difficult to navigate.
17. More than 33% of clients start their search for a lawyer online (Source)
Whether it’s a search engine, social media, or another channel, more than 1/3rd of legal clients begin their search for an attorney online. This is why it’s essential for law firms to have a strong digital presnece across different mediums. You should have profiles on all major social networks, an updated website, an email list, and local citations like Google My Business.
18. 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing (Source)
Content marketing is the strategy of producing content that attracts and converts a very specific audience. In your case as a lawyer, these will be prospects that are interested in your specific practice areas. The right content will educate potential clients, build trust, and help move them towards taking action like booking a consultation.
Law firms should produce a variety of content including:
- Blog posts that are published on their website and optimized for search engines with keyword research.
- Videos that can be posted on YouTube, Vimeo, and embedded on their website.
- Podcasts published on platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music, and iTunes.
- Case studies and success stories of clients.
- Interviews done on television, radio, or other platforms.
- Social media graphics, stories, and posts.
- Email newsletters.
19. Blogs are one of the main forms of media used in content marketing (Source)
When we work with attorneys, we almost always include blogging within our monthly marketing retainers. Why is this? Simply because blogs are compounding assets. They rank on Google for different search terms, driving more organic traffic over time. Blog posts can also be shared on social networks, syndication sites, and email lists to generate immediate awareness.
20. 84% of video marketers say video has helped them generate leads (Source)
Video is one of the most in-demand forms of content. Across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other channels, video generates the most engagement. The viewer simply has to hit a play button and consume it. This makes it very convenient and one of the reasons 84% of marketers say video has helped them generate leads.
Consider recording video content for YouTube, Facebook, and your other marketing channels. You can also take snippets from long-form videos and post them on social media.
21. Over 50% of the world’s population is on social media (Source)
A common mistake we see law firms make is being inactive on social media. Or, perhaps worse, is that they don’t have accounts made on one or more platforms. This greatly reduces their online visibility and decreases trust in prospects. Ensure that your legal practice has profiles set up on:
- TikTok
Optionally, you can register accounts on Pinterest, Reddit, and Quora.
22. 97% of law firms with 100+ lawyers have an internal marketing staff (Source)
Once a law firm reaches a certain size, it’s normal for them to begin building an internal marketing staff. In fact, 97% of firms with 100 or more employees have an internal marketing team. This makes it seamless to conduct marketing efforts and co-ordinate between staff.
23. 63% of law firms with 10-49 lawyers have a defined marketing budget (Source)
The far majority of firms with up to 49 lawyers have a clearly defined marketing budget. This enables them to know exactly how much they are and wish to spend on marketing each month, quarter, and year. It also helps firms estimate the return on investment of campaigns or agencies they outsource to.
24. 66% of solo practitioners handle their own marketing (Source)
Almost three-quarters of solo practicing attorneys manage their own marketing. As legal marketing professionals, we advise against this. Attorneys are already extremely busy with client work, let alone trying to manage their website, social media, SEO, email marketing, and other tasks. Learn more about WiseMedia’s law firm marketing services if you need a trusted agency to handle your marketing.
25. 26% of law firms increased their marketing budget in 2020 (Source)
Last year, approximately a quarter of all law firms increased their marketing budget. While many practices rely on referrals and their network, it’s critical to be marketing to acquire new clients and convert referrals at a higher rate when you do recieve them. Consider the massive return on investment marketing can have compared to your average client value and lifetime value.
26. 23% of law firms with 100+ lawyers use external marketing consultants for their marketing efforts (Source)
While nearly all law firms with more than 100 lawyers have an in-house marketing team, 23% of them still use external marketing consultants and agencies like WiseMedia. This empowers them to improve their marketing strategies and campaigns while not having to worry about doing it themselves. They also gain expert outside perspectives they may have not discovered otherwise.
Final thoughts on today’s legal marketing statistics
Legal marketing and technology are constantly changing. Staying ahead of trends will ensure that your firm keeps a competitive advantage and continues to grow over the long term. Reference the legal marketing statistics we outlined in this article to improve your marketing strategies and approaches.
You can also learn more about legal marketing in our online training programs.
