It’s undeniable that the internet has become the greatest medium for marketing. It can be attributed to all the benefits it puts on the table, such as ease of use and wide audience reach among many others. However, while it may be really great, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your marketing materials will sell itself. At the end of the day, your strategies are what completely defines your success. With that being said, it is not unusual to see businesses struggle in online marketing. They are doing something wrong and you could be as well. It is time to correct those especially if you are running a law firm. So, let’s answer the question, why law firms fail at online marketing?

1.     Outdated Website (Functionally/Aesthetically)

You are not selling something that needs to look good so you decide to settle with having the most basic website. Since your only goal is to inform people about your services, you don’t strive to improve your home page. However, that sends a message. It gives the impression of an incompetent and low-budget firm.

You don’t necessarily need to have the most up-to-date and expensive website. You just need it to look modern and function in a way that appeals to the current market demographic. For starters, have an aesthetically pleasing format, high-quality photos, and add features, like chat.

2.     Avoiding Blogs and Social Media is Why Law Firms Fail at Online Marketing

It is time to stop avoiding blogs and social media. It is indeed a daunting task with the need to come up with content and having to maintain it. However, it is what gets conversations starting and makes your law firm relevant.

You need to come up with content marketing that will help people get answers. If you do that, who do you think they will approach when they need legal advice? It would be no other than you. You just showed them how well-equipped you are with your blog content and social media marketing.

Another thing to remember is how versatile social media is. A lot of people and businesses found their great break on the platform because it only takes one share, like, or comment to set off a series of domino effects. There is the potential to have wide reach without having to do most of the leg work.

3.     Why Law Firms Fail at Online Marketing? They Ignore Analytics

The reality is that marketing is not just about creating quality content. It also involves a technical aspect which is analytics. You really need to take the time to understand all the numbers, from number of visitors and rate of positive engagement. Otherwise, you will never know what to improve or what to start doing next.

Just like anything that involves analysis, it is not as easy as counting numbers. It involves planning and problem solving, along with understanding how certain tools work. As a result, it is understandable if you did decide to not bother with it. However, it is time to stop that wrong practice because it translates negatively on your law firm marketing.

4.     Inconsistent Impression

How you appeal to an audience is important when it comes to business. You want them to get a complete picture of what you have to offer and the qualities of your brand. That doesn’t just happen by itself, but involves consistent efforts.

From the type of posts and how frequently you make them, all of that plays a role in creating a discernable positive impression. Posting too little will make you seem inactive and incompetent. If you post randomly, your viewers are constantly left guessing and that eventually gets tedious.

It doesn’t mean you have cultivated a first great impression, you can start taking things slow. How your clients look at your firm is not consistent. It is bound to change as you change as well. The problem is, if they decide to walk away, it is more difficult to hook them back again.

As a result, while creating a consistent impression may seem to result in a small positive effect, doing otherwise can be greatly catastrophic.

5.     Targeting the Wrong Audience is Why Law Firms Fail at Online Marketing

The internet is a global medium. Unlike television and radio, your marketing materials are viewable around the world. What does this mean? You can be easily marketing to people who are never going to become your clients.

Remember that the people who are going to seek your services are those that are within the city. So, you are going to want to concentrate your attention on campaigns that allow you to target based on location. Make sure that your ads appear only in places that are also your market.

The sooner you realize that not all online marketing campaigns are the same, the faster you can adopt and choose the ones that best fits your needs. The last thing you would want is to work and invest extensively on a campaign that does generate tons of traffic, but only a handful can actually qualify as clients.

Do Your Best Not to Fail

It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, marketing is not an easy task. Things are even a lot more difficult if you are a law firm since you are looking at a niche market. That explains why a lot struggle or even fail with online marketing. However, your fate should not be the same as them.

While mistakes are something you cannot prevent, at least you don’t get to repeat what others have always been doing. It also pays to reflect at your own actions and know when to start making changes.

If you think that this is something too difficult for you to do, what you need is the help of the best digital marketing agencies. From giving assistance to undertaking marketing responsibilities, we are here for you. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.

It is no easy task to come up with a marketing budget. You don’t get to concretely see the return on investment so it is hard to estimate how much is just enough. If you spend too little, you might not make any recognizable results. Invest too much and you can be losing money instead of making any. So, the question is, how do you know what’s the right marketing law firm budget for you?

How Much to Spend on Marketing in Law Firm?

There is no actual way to know how much to spend on your law firm marketing. At the end of the day, it depends on how much your gross revenue is and your current reputation. The more money you make, the more capable you are of investing a bigger amount. Also, the higher your current reputation, the lesser investment you need to allot on brand awareness.

However, what is too low or too high? When do you say you are not investing enough or you are spending too much?

In a survey that was conducted by Legal Marketing Association and Bloomberg Law, the average law firm spends 6.7% of gross revenue on marketing. However, you don’t necessarily have to strictly stick to that number. As a matter of fact, the amount that each firm spends spreads from a range of 2% to 12%.

As was earlier stated, your reputation and revenue factors in on your budget. Knowing what is the current state of your law firm will help you determine what your position is on that budget range.

If you aren’t generating too much revenue, then you might need to be on the upper limit of 12%. Otherwise, you might not be having a significant amount to invest on your marketing. On the other hand, if you are bringing in heaps of revenue, 2% can already mean a lot of money.

While it may be a considerable gap, you at least now know where to begin your budget estimation. As long as you stick within this criterion, you can safely assume that you aren’t going overbudget. At least, you are sure that you are not losing more many than you make.

How Much Should a Small Law Firm Spend on Online Marketing?

Knowing your marketing budget is not enough. You also need to understand how much goes to where. There are marketing approaches that are more effective which warrants more investment. Then, there are ones that are less desired but still matter greatly in your marketing strategies.

Considering how everything today has made a shift on to the internet, you are likely looking at online marketing. However, while it may be logical to invest a substantial amount on it, how much is too much? Because at the end of the day, this is still only one of a few other marketing strategies you should undertake.

Small law firms usually are the ones to take the leap of faith with online marketing. Not that it is a gamble, but because it is so effective. As a result, it is easy to get carried away and overspend on this single approach.

If you are still starting out and need to establish your online presence, you are looking at a huge percent of your law firm budget going to online marketing. According to a survey, law firms practice between 76% to 100%. Going for the upper limit is risky, but if your situation permits, it could be the right approach.

If you are in the middle of your online marketing strategies, the general consensus is 51% to 75%. It is still a hefty part of your budget, but what else do you have to spend on?

While you can do something else such as creating print ads and investing in television and radio ads among others, online marketing delivers the highest return on investment. As a result, it warrants the highest percentage of your marketing budget.

How to Create Your Law Firm Budget for Marketing

When creating your marketing budget, there are a lot of things to consider. Otherwise, you might make one that is not the best for your situation. Since you are running on a limited budget, you want that every penny spent will reap the most results.

With so much pressure in making the right budget, you might not know where to begin. Nobody really knows how to make one at the start. It is usually a learned skill after repeated practice and observation. Though, you don’t necessarily need to depend on trial-and-error as long as you use the guideline below.

1.     Know How Much You Charge

Remember that one of the factors for your marketing budget is your revenue. So, it is important to know how much you charge for your services. Once you have gotten an estimate of potential revenue, it is fairly easy to proceed to the next steps.

2.     Understand What You Need

As a business, there are going to be things you need such as awareness, reputation, and the likes. In order to know what marketing campaigns to undertake, you should understand what are your needs. You cannot come up with a plan if you don’t know what you should be spending on.

3.     Create a Campaign Draft for Your Law Firm Budget

You now have a budget and where you should be spending it on. So, it is time to come up with your marketing campaigns and strategies. Estimate a budget allotment on each to equally divide your entire budget on everything you need.

If you don’t allocate your budget beforehand, you can potentially find yourself having not enough for your other strategies. It is fairly easy to overspend when you don’t have a general picture of your entire potential expenses.

4.     Refine and Adjust

Your draft is not going to be your final marketing plan. For sure, you are not going to be able to follow it. Either you later realize that you need more money for one or you re-evaluate your priorities. Regardless, it is okay to change your plans at any point. Make sure to have adjustments that will best fit your needs and situation.

Your Law Firm Budget is Crucial

If you don’t make a marketing budget, what you end up doing is freestyling everything. You pull out money when you see fit and hold back budget when there isn’t any. In the end, you make a marketing campaign that is not effective and expensive.

Stop yourself from throwing money out. To do that, you need to know your budget. With that information at hand, you can make informed decisions on allocation and how to effectively spend it for the best results.

If you think that is something you are not capable of doing, what you need is a little help. You can get that from the best digital marketing agency. So, contact us today for a free strategy consultation.

When starting a business, it helps to set a timeline. Write down your goals and priorities to keep track of your progress. However, don’t just put down notes on your notebook or doodle some things on your calendar. Make it official and systematic. There are different ways to write a proper business plan and timeline, but some things are better than others. One commonly and preferably used is the 30-60-90 day plan.

What is a 30-60-90 Day Plan?

As its name suggests, it is a plan for the first 30, 60, and then 90 days of your business. The goal of the 30-60-90 day plan is to ensure efficiency during the first 90 days which are going to be the most crucial point. It helps you establish the pillars of your company and set you on a good start.

By breaking your plan into 30-day segments, you are able to keep a realistic track of your progress by keeping your list of priorities short. You are also able to know in a shorter timespan whether or not you have achieved your goals, allowing you to understand what you are doing wrong and make necessary changes as soon as possible.

Purpose of a 30-60-90 Day Plan

What sets the 30-60-90 day plan different from others is that it has an intended purpose. It does not just serve as a reminder of what you should be doing, but keeps you on track as well. Here are what it can help you achieve.

Focus

The 30-day increments help you to maintain focus. Instead of running a long list of priorities, you are able to set it short with realistic deadlines. For example, instead of setting a 50-day deadline to generate sales, turn it to 30-days and make your goal about achieving marketing strategies. What it does is help you to concentrate on one thing at a time instead of immediately looking at the bigger picture in a huge span of time.

Set Goals With 30-60-90 Day Plan

Most people set huge goals along with having long deadlines. What happens is that they don’t realize the time is not enough or too much. It results in failed campaigns or inefficient programs. 

With the 30-60-90 day plan, you are able to set realistic goals. You don’t look at the ultimate outcome of the bigger picture but on achievable steps that will bring you closer to the final result.

Achieve Success

The reason why most businesses fail is because they always look at the end result. Their goal is all about where they want to be years from when they started. This kind of thinking results in getting overwhelmed and discouraged. However, if you set your goals in increments and see them getting achieved repeatedly, it puts you on a good start and urges you to keep on going. 

When to Use A 30-60-90 Day Plan?

With all the benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan, should you be using it all the time? There is nothing wrong in doing so, but to see the best results, always apply it when doing these:

New Project/Campaign

Whether it may be a marketing campaign or establishing a new product line,  a 30-60-90 day plan will help you stay on schedule. Most of the time, these things take a lot of time, effort, and resources. So, an efficient plan is going to make all the difference in achieving success and making everything worth it.

Start Your Business with A 30-60-90 Day Plan

The most difficult part of a business is starting it. There are a lot of things to establish like suppliers, employee hiring, and creating partners. If you don’t keep a proper plan, you might end up spending too long just to get started and ultimately fail.

How To Create Your 30-60-90 Day Plan

At this point, you have heard everything good about the 30-60-90 day plan. You know it is what you need. However, you don’t know how to make one. So, here is a step-by-step guide.

1. Create A Template

There is no one way for your 30-60-90 day plan to look. Everything depends on you. You know what your project is going to be and how extensive it is. Just remember to factor in everything that you need to.

Your template is all up to you, but for your plan to work, you should always put your goals, priorities, and metrics. The goal of the plan is for you to know what you should be achieving during the specific period. Also, put in place your criteria that will help you determine that you have achieved your goals.

2. Identify 30-day Targets

Your priorities and targets for the first 30 days should be as basic as they can be. When starting out your business, this is still your learning period. So, set your goals more on trying to figure out things such as finding suppliers, creating partners, and understanding the overall operations of what you want to achieve. It is fine to have no concrete results just yet. 

3. Identify 60-day Targets

At this point, your targets should be a mixture of learning and achieving hard concrete results. Make things happen while learning new things along the way. However, still keep your targets realistic. You are still making your first steps. 

4. Identify 90-day Targets

After two months, you are going to be ready to make bigger leaps. Set your targets on a leadership-level. Make bigger and bolder decisions and start making things move faster. Despite already being the end of your 30-60-90 day plan, it doesn’t mean that you must have achieved everything. You can always extend to 120 days depending on your progress and overall goal.

5. Create Action Items for your 30-60-90 Day Plan

A plan is just a rough outline of what you want to achieve and there is no definite way to identically push through with everything. You are either going to achieve more or less than your expectation. So, put action items in place. What this means are criteria that will determine whether or not you have achieved your goals. Depending on what you did and did not achieve, what should you be doing next and how it should affect your succeeding targets.

30-60-90 Day Plan is All You Need

A 30-60-90 day plan is not complex. As a matter of fact, it makes everything simpler and manageable. With no great effort involved in making one, there is no reason not to try. You never know, it might only be the motivational planning you are going to need to plummet you to success.

Planning and delegating is going to be a major role of your life as a business owner. It is going to be physically and mentally taxing, but what if there is a way to make things simpler? You are going to want to seek the help of the best marketing agencies. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.