The legal business is highly competitive, so personal injury attorneys need to invest in effective marketing. However, you’ll waste money if you believe the legal marketing myths we highlight below.
1. Myth: TV Advertising Is Dead
Truth: Television Advertising Still Matters
There are so many commercial-free streaming companies these days, from Hulu to Netflix. So it may seem that traditional television advertising won’t work for legal marketing today.
However, did you know that the typical American household still watches about eight hours of TV per day?
TV commercials are vital for communicating with the audience because they can be customized to the particular demographic you want.
To differentiate from other law firms, you need to design how the ad looks and sounds carefully, and you need to use graphics and talent that align with the law firm’s values.
That’s the reason your law firm should only work with a proven TV ad company that has many years of experience with legal marketing.
And the television ad itself is just one part of the advertising process. After the ad has been filmed and cut, you need an effective plan that puts the spot on the best stations and times in your area so your target audience will see it.
2. Myth: Legal Marketing Makes Sales
Truth: Legal Marketing Gives You Leads
The best legal marketing professionals in the business aren’t sales professionals. The job of your marketing company is to present the law firm to prospects, so you have a credible image that leads to people contacting you.
Your law firm should get more phone calls, website contacts, and more potential clients if the marketing process works.
But you can have all the marketing leads globally if you don’t have skilled attorneys and legal staff working those leads and making them into clients.
So, you need to be positive that your staff is making the best possible case to turn the information into a paying client once that lead comes in.
3. Myth: Online Marketing Produces Immediate Results
Truth: Online Marketing Takes Time
This marketing myth is especially prevalent in the online world. So, for example, if your law firm only recently started writing blog content, you won’t immediately soar to the top of Google’s rankings for ‘personal injury lawyer in Colorado.’
Even law firms with domain names in Google for 10 years must be patient when they start spending more on legal marketing.
A marketing company that says they can get you to the top spot in Google quickly is being dishonest or using questionable tactics that can get you blacklisted by search engines.
4. Myth: Data Is Everything
Truth: Data Is Useful But Not The Whole Story
Let’s say your law firm starts a marketing campaign with online ads and mailers to bring in more personal injury leads.
Then, your firm collects marketing data from the campaign to find out how it worked. Collecting and analyzing data is essential for measuring success, but it won’t tell you the entire story.
For instance, perhaps the data shows that your direct mail effort didn’t net any leads. So your law firm concludes the direct mail campaign failed, and you won’t do it again.
This could be a flawed conclusion. Direct mail might work great for your legal niche. But maybe something went sideways in this particular campaign. Perhaps the content was off, or the mailer design was confusing.
5. Myth: More Advertising Is Better
Truth: Focus Is Better
Legal marketing can be done in many ways – TV, radio, social media, websites, and more. You might know a law firm that did well with Facebook and Instagram ads, so you want to try it, too.
Unless you have an almost unlimited budget, you may be better served to focus on channels that work best. For example, many law firms find choosing two or three vehicles and hitting them hard may produce better results.
These myths about legal marketing can mislead you when you start your campaigns, so be aware and informed.
