As an attorney, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed and confused by all the digital marketing strategies promising you instant and measurable results. However, when it comes to engaging a steadier stream of new clients, there is no quick fix that grows your business overnight. Any company telling you otherwise is stretching the truth, to say the least. Instead, it’s essential to recognize that growing your law practice takes time and thought. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, when approached with clarity and intention, can be a powerful tool to add to your digital marketing strategy. Essentially, PPC allows you to display your ads at the top of Google’s search results pages, but you’ll need to bid on target keywords and prepare to pay a fee once someone clicks on your ad. Here are a few strategies to help you design and implement a successful PPC campaign to market your law firm.
Paid Ads Mean Visibility
When someone performs a Google search, the first few listings on the search results page are ads. For instance, if a person searches for a “personal injury lawyer,” the top results will be ads from law firms—typically in the searcher’s location. Even firms who have invested in search engine optimization (SEO) strategies for years and have slowly risen to the top of the search results pages are still listed below the paid ads. Let’s look at a few benefits of implementing a PPC campaign to market your law firm.
Building Awareness of Your Legal Brand
Many attorneys do not think of their law practice as a brand, but it can be useful to approach your digital marketing strategy from this perspective. Brand awareness can help you measure how identifiable and recognizable your law firm is to your target audience. Launching a PPC campaign puts your law firm at the top of the search results page, making your services more visible to potential clients. Even if people do not click on your link right away, they still see it and develop a familiarity with your firm’s name and legal services. Should they encounter a legal issue, they may remember coming across your firm’s name and decide to contact you for a consultation.
Obtaining Results, Fast
One of the main benefits of a PPC campaign is that you can make yourself visible to potential clients right away. Investing in an SEO strategy is essential to ensure the long-term success of your firm, but there are times when launching a PPC campaign can give your firm the extra influx of client calls you’re looking for. For instance, some attorneys decide to run a PPC campaign during slower months of the year to keep the number of client calls more consistent.
You Remain in Control at All Times
When you design and run a PPC campaign, you remain in control of every detail. You can identify your desired audience (i.e., age group, zip code, income level, profession, etc.) to ensure that your ads reach the clients who may most need your services. Once you’ve launched your campaign, you can monitor how the ads are performing. Platforms like Google and Facebook provide you with all the tools you need to gain valuable insights into your ad performance. You can easily make small changes to the keywords, ad copy, and target audience to bolster the success of your campaign.
Strategies for Optimizing Your Firm’s PPC Campaign
Before you move forward with a PPC campaign to market your legal services, you should take some time to identify your goals and develop an approach to help you achieve them. Below are some tips to help you launch your campaign with more understanding and confidence.
Articulate Your Goals
While it may seem obvious that you are implementing a PPC campaign to get more clients, there are more nuanced objectives driving this effort. Taking some time to develop “SMART” goals (i.e., goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) can help you focus your efforts and pursue your desired results. For instance, identify the number of leads you hope to obtain per month, as well as the conversion rate you’re after. You can use the PPC platform metrics to monitor your goal’s progress, making adjustments as necessary.
Consider Your Target Audience
A successful PPC campaign requires you to identify your ideal audience. A PPC campaign without focus will not reach those individuals most likely to enlist your legal services. Think about your current and former clients, and spend some time visualizing who they are and what ad copy they would appreciate seeing at the top of the search results pages. Use this information to drive your efforts and craft a PPC campaign that will reach your target audience.
Thinking About Budget
If you are thinking about investing in a PPC campaign, you’ll want to know how this effort will impact your marketing budget. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner to forecast and estimate the traffic and cost of a PPC campaign. It’s always a good idea to start with a small campaign and assess how your ads perform for at least a few weeks. From there, you can increase your PPC budget to boost your reach and drive more traffic to your site.
If you’re ready to discuss your law firm’s digital marketing options, call LegalRev today at (800) 893-2590.
