Priced out of TV and radio? What’s a solo attorney to do?

Posted by FindLaw | April 18, 2024

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Utilize legal directories

Stop being reluctant about social media

Give pay-per-click a try

Optimize your law firm website

If you are a solo attorney, you know it’s hard not to feel like you have to pinch pennies. You could be competing with high-profile firms or working with clients who demand more on a limited budget. And what about the money you spend? How do you make the most of the funds available so that you’re growing your firm but not breaking the bank?

Take legal marketing. Billboards, TV, and radio are the traditional methods of advertising to new clients, but they’re also the priciest. Furthermore, it’s difficult to track metrics and ROI using these traditional forms of advertising. Is there any way to know if your billboard on the side of the road is actually being seen by your ideal potential client?

Offline methods of legal marketing can still be worthwhile for some firms, but solo attorneys need to squeeze every ounce of value they can from their marketing budget to make it work. Here are four tips to get started.

1. Utilize legal directories

If there’s one thing you can say about a visitor to a legal directory, they are ready to take action. Directories act as a kind of one-stop-shop for legal consumers. Visitors use a good directory to research the issues surrounding their legal needs, find an attorney whom they believe can help them, and ultimately contact that attorney to arrange for representation.

For example, if you’re a criminal defense attorney specializing in drunk driving offenses, a consumer may come to a directory to research what happens after an arrest, then decide to look for an attorney in their area who can help them — an attorney just like you.

In most cases, advertising on a directory is financially scalable. You can start with a simple profile that describes who you are and includes your contact information. From there, you can advertise on other pages, further develop your profile, or purchase a higher-visibility location within the directory. That “good, better, best” model works well for solo attorneys, many of whom have limited budgets and want to start any marketing venture cautiously.

The solo practitioner's website: Is your site up to par?

Updating your website regularly will keep your solo firm top-of-mind with consumers who have a legal need.

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By now, you should understand the value of social media for your firm. Consumers are often looking to reinforce their decision to contact a law firm, and increasingly, they’re using Facebook to do so. You can use the platform to show prospects who you are as both a firm and a person. Often, legal consumers want an attorney who is authentic and human, someone who will understand their needs on a personal level. Your Facebook page is a free way to show this side of yourself.

To get more social exposure, some solo firms are trying paid social advertising to reach their exact audience in an economical way. Furthermore, Facebook has the kind of specific information on its users that makes it easy to target the exact type of prospects you’re looking for — something the billboard law firms can only dream of.

A solo attorney who helps small business owners might use paid social to advertise to users who follow Facebook pages on entrepreneurship. An estate attorney who places a premium on higher income demographics can target older users who like luxury vehicles or live in a certain ZIP code.

3. Give pay-per-click a try

In pay-per-click advertising (PPC), a solo attorney pays only for the times a user clicks on an ad. In a typical PPC campaign, a solo lawyer chooses keywords (say, “divorce” or “prenuptial agreement”), and selects a geographic area (like the greater Seattle-Tacoma region). When a search user in that area looks for the selected keywords, the ad will appear on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and users will click on it, being directed to a landing page. Each time a user does so, the solo attorney pays a small fee.

Lauren Clark, a Charleston, South Carolina debt relief attorney and FindLaw client, used PPC as part of her strategy to raise her website’s profile. Being found more easily by clients in the Charleston region who needed help with bankruptcy issues, debt problems, and wage garnishment contributed to an increase in website traffic and new clients — which was exactly what she had hoped it would do.

Case study: Lauren Clark Law Office

Lauren Clark has seen great success from an integrated online marketing program that involves both paid and organic tactics. Her plan specifically targets legal consumers seeking representation for bankruptcy cases — the main focus of the Lauren Clark Law Office.

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4. Optimize your law firm website

Website optimization means stocking a website with useful, informative content that appeals to viewers and search engine algorithms alike. Essentially, it helps search engines determine what a website is about and whether it’s a good option to show users. Without optimization, a website is basically afloat in the vastness of the internet. But with optimization, it stands a better chance of being found by consumers with a legal need.

Lauren Clark also counted on FindLaw to optimize her website and it worked. “I noticed a huge difference in cases after FindLaw took over and built my website,” she said.

Meet consumers in the digital world

There’s no doubt that, as a solo attorney, your eye is always on your budget. The truth is that the traditional approach to legal marketing, like TV and billboards, is often more than most solo law firms can afford. The good news is that you can bypass these methods online and still successfully target new prospects.

To learn more about the marketing success of a solo law firm, read about our partnership with the Law Office of Lauren Clark, L.L.C., then download our guide for solo practitioners below.