If you own a small law firm, or if you are a solo lawyer, you definitely know how important it is to reach potential clients. After all, if you are not able to reach people successfully, chances are, you will not be getting much work.
Last year taught many law firm owners the importance of establishing an online marketing strategy, including advertising. There are two commonly used methods, social media advertising and Pay-Per-Click (PPC), when it comes to law firm marketing advertising.
Breaking Down PPC vs. Social Media Advertising for Small Law Firms
PPC is an advertising method where you pay for the ad every time that it is clicked on. Although social media advertising may cost more, it can effectively reach more potential clients than the other method. Both strategies have their pros and cons, but in many ways social media advertising comes out on top. Here is why.
- Reach More Potential Clients
More people use social media than other online platforms or websites, and that number is continuing to increase. Social media advertising puts the ads in front of potential clients while they scroll through their social media. These ads organically put your law firm in front of potential clients, driving them straight to your website to convert into leads.
- Creating Better Brand Awareness
Although most people who are simply scrolling through their feeds are not necessarily looking for legal help at that time, the ads make them aware of your brand. Social media makes it easy for people to come back to your brand when they want the type of help you offer.
- Communicate Better
While running your ads on social media and creating your brand’s awareness on these sites, it also opens up a very easy line of communication with your potential clients. If someone comes across your standard PPC ad, they might click on it if they need a lawyer. But if they have a simple question to ask or want to touch base about future help, they probably will not. Social media makes it easier because they can send you a quick message or put a comment on the ad.
What Social Media Platform Should Lawyers Use?
There are a few different social media platforms law firms should consider when it comes to social media advertising, but the two most common and effective are Facebook and LinkedIn. Both platforms are great, but for different reasons.
Facebook Advertising
- By far, Facebook is the most popular social media platform on the internet, and most people who use it, use it more than one time a day.
- Advertising on Facebook gives you different options for your ad that you would not get with LinkedIn.
- Advertising on Facebook is usually cheaper than advertising on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Advertising
- LinkedIn is a social media platform created for professionals. The connections on LinkedIn are a more professional client base, where Facebook connects on a more personal level.
- LinkedIn, on average, has a higher rate of lead generation for most businesses.
- LinkedIn also has ads particular to its platform; for example, lawyers can create “Sponsored In Mail.” LinkedIn will send personal messages similar to emails to potential leads.
Audience Targeting
Both Facebook and LinkedIn have great audience targeting systems that allow you to narrow your target by many metrics including, job title, level of education, and income level. With both platforms you would be able to strategically target an audience.
Target Audience for Facebook
Facebook ads will always target potential leads in a friendly personal way, so the target audience would be the average person who needs legal representation. The exact type of person your law firm should be targeting is based on the services you normally offer, but basing your ads around people, not business, is where you will get the most success.
Target Audience for LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social media platform designed for professionals and businesses, so basing your ads around other businesses’ needs will increase potential leads on the platform. With a professional-based platform, you will want professional-based ads.
Social Media Advertising Budgets
Creating a budget for your advertising can be a hard process, and if you are trying social media advertising for the first time, it can be hard to know how much to spend. Each company’s budget is going to be different, but make sure that you do set a budget; otherwise it is easy to not spend enough to ensure a large ROI. The best way to figure out a budget is to set a goal of how much you want to earn from the ad campaign, and then see how much it would cost to generate that many customers.
KPI’s To Monitor
- Activity per day/week
- Audience growth rate
- Engagement per post
Both Facebook and LinkedIn make it easy for you to track these KPI’s to monitor your ad campaign.
Should You Use Social Media Marketing?
If you are trying to grow your small law firm, establish yourself as a solo lawyer, or a firm looking to improve your online marketing strategy, social media marketing is a great way to grow your business and generate more leads.
Besides, your competitors are already doing it.
Is your small law firm or solo practice ready for a social media strategy? Reach out to Denver Legal Marketing to get started.
