Most lawyers are primarily concerned with the bottom line – where’s the return on investment? To measure ROI, you need to have metrics in place that will accurately tell you where your prospects are coming from. Some ways of measuring results include:

  • Ask each prospect who contacts you where they found out about you.
  • Whenever you meet a new prospect or referral partner, add them to your contact list as soon as you get back to the office along with any information you’ve discovered about them. Then, send them something they’d find valuable. Keep track of each interaction you have.
  • Offer a free report on your website for anyone that joins your online newsletter so you can continue to keep in touch with them. Keep track of how many new subscribers you get each month.
  • Include a different promotional code for free information in your each of your ads or direct mailings. Ask for it whenever your prospect requests that free information. You’ll soon learn which sources generate the best responses.

Analyze which marketing sources generate the most clients. Focus your resources on those that offer the highest return on investment.

Related Posts

3 comments

  1. Paula Ferreira
    November 20, 2008

    IWhether you are opening a new firm, or adding onto your existing practice, there is one fundamental question all attorneys ask: “How do I get more cases into my firm?”

    The answer: understand your competition, understand your clients, and know how to target
    Clients looking for your services in your geographic location. The bottom line is that marketing your company through the major Search Engine (I.e. Google, Yahoo, MSN, & SuperPages) is the most effective way you can advertise your business in today’s marketplace.

    As an attorney, time truly is money. Below is a brief guide to insure you can capitalize on the Internet by putting yourself in front of clients looking for your services.
    With the understanding that the most qualified clients are using the Internet in their search for an attorney, I have put together guide of the top five mistakes attorneys have made when trying to grow their business through the Internet:

    Top Five Mistakes You Need to Avoid:
    5. Attempting SEM (paid advertising online) on your own – A lot like a person representing themselves in court; it is just a bad idea and an opportunity cost. Regardless of who you use, make sure to evaluate the abilities to deliver trackable results. Here are some questions you need to have answered before you use any service:
    • Is the company BBB certified? If not, why not?
    • Does the consultant or salesperson understand your segment of the law and how you earn a living (if not, the leads may not just be expensive, they may end up being off the mark and costing you time in addition to money)
    • Does the company work with other lawyers in your field and can they show you results as examples?
    • What is the length of the agreement they require (annual agreements are unnecessary and often a sign of inability to deliver immediate results)?
    • Is their methodology accountable and sensible? If you can’t understand the process then you should proceed cautiously.

    4. Paying a flat fee or on a per lead basis to a lead aggregator – Not only can these be expensive on a per lead/per territory basis, but you lose the accountability in terms of how the lead was generated. In addition, the cost per client acquisition can be hard to track and even shocking when you do see the numbers. Make sure you know the following:
    • Is the lead shared with anyone else?
    • Not all leads are equal in value; the cost of a lead should not be the determining factor. Ask them to list the methods they employ to gather leads and what sort of reporting is available.

    3. Trusting that SEO (natural results) is the only method that people respond to – Yes, more clicks occur within the organic listings. However, it can be tough, if not impossible, to manage or track your campaign based on what is converting to new business from the natural listings. Look for companies that provide a blended approach; SEO and SEM. Be aware of off shore companies and others that do not provide transparency; if they working against the search engines they will be caught up to (as gamblers know: the house always wins).

    2. Not tracking your ROI – understanding your cost per lead and cost to acquire a new client is essential to your firms overall profitability. Without concrete measurement there can be no improvement. Look for services that offer trackable and detailed metrics. Also be sure their systems are able to be adjusted with additional costs to you.

    1. Not realizing how much time it takes to run a solid campaign – you’re an attorney, again, time is money, is your time really best spent running your own campaign?

  2. Primary Wave Media
    December 2, 2008

    Another thing to think about; any business that does marketing for personal injury law firms, should have as part of their serives ways to analysis and measure the ROI of a given campaign.

  3. gyi tsakalakis
    April 10, 2009

    I couldn’t agree more. Law firms got fat, happy, and lazy when times were good. We need to shake off our hangovers, and get back to measuring efficiency and effectiveness. “Measureability” is one of our “pillar concepts”

Leave a Reply