A law firm’s clientele no longer enters the firm through one point of contact – the phone call. Add social media, paid search, content marketing, out of home, PR, experiential, and countless other channels to the media mix. The million-dollar question is which one (or ones) made the connection and motivated the client to make contact.
Successful law firms strive to know and lower their cost per case (CPC), which is the cost a firm spends to sign a new case. Knowing which media tactic produces the lowest CPC helps a firm continuously increase the efficiency of their advertising spend while growing their market share, month over month.
The CPC Challenge
It’s easy to calculate the CPC for an advertising campaign as a whole, but the real challenge lies in calculating it for each individual tactic within a full media mix. It’s not a complex or expensive undertaking, but it does require time and energy to ensure a tightly designed system is in place. The devil is in the detail, and requires getting under the hood of intake software vendors, phone systems, web development teams and many more. All in the name of getting the pieces aligned for a system that delivers CPC clarity in a timely manner.
Lowering Your CPC
The most important step in lowering the cost per case is an audit of your existing system. This will determine how your firm’s new client leads (and future cases) are currently generated, captured and attributed back to the source. At the core of an audit should be the following questions:
- Is Google Analytics installed correctly on your website? Are the website “actions” being tracked as needed?
- Are dynamic phone numbers being used for each individual site traffic source, throughout the entire website (including landing page)?
- Do Digital, Calls, Cost Per Case, Form and Chat leads get attributed correctly with the in-take software?
- Is a lead being responded to quickly and correctly?
- Do the in-take and tracking systems allow for accurate “sourcing” of an in-take for EACH media tactic your firm has running?
- Are cases being entered into a case management system correctly, with the right attribution to the driving media source?
- Are the right tools at hand to generate reports that provide the necessary CPC info clearly and timely?
GROWTH STARTS HERE
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While many of the above questions seem random, and frankly wide in scope, there is, in fact, a calculated reason behind each one. And the countless others that need to be addressed. Historically, custom-designed television media buying strategies have been the driving force behind successful law firm marketing. And to a degree, that still holds true even in today’s digital world. However, it’s the implications of that digital world which call for the above questions.
A law firm’s clientele no longer enters the firm through one point of contact – the phone call. Add social media, paid search, content marketing, out of home, PR, experiential, and countless other channels to the media mix. The million-dollar question is which one (or ones) made the connection and motivated the client to make contact. And equally important, if multiple touchpoints, in which order.
Successful law firms and smart marketing do not happen magically, nor or overnight. As a skilled team of media veterans, experienced in both online and offline media tactics, every component plays a role in getting law firm clients to take action. It’s that objective strategy and experience, balanced across all media channels, that begs the above questions to be brought to the table and addressed. When all cylinders are firing in perfect harmony, the team at Morgan & Co. sees with clarity which media channels (or combination of) are driving clients to the firm, and at what cost. Not until that point can a law firm grow, capture market share and realize its full potential as a marketer.
A list you can copy can be found here and here, or to learn more about Morgan & Co. please visit our website.
Client testimonial
“As one of the largest television advertisers in America, with multiple offices throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, we have a very complex media strategy. Eric and his team have executed this strategy flawlessly for many years with incredible results. My firm has continued to grow every year, and Eric is an integral part of my marketing strategy and success.”
Morris Bart
Owner, Morris Bart, LLC
Read more about Morgan & Co.’s legal marketing experience: https://morganandco.com/our-expertise/
Disclosure: This blog post about crafting a law firm online marketing plan is written by Eric Morgan of Morgan & Co. which is an annual sponsor of PILMMA. Interesting in writing for this blog? Contact us here.
Eric Morgan
Founded in 1997 and based in New Orleans, Morgan & Co. has grown into one of the top ad agencies in the region. They successfully manage offline, digital advertising, non-traditional media strategies and media buys for well-known brands like Children’s Hospital, Touro, Morris Bart, LLC, Zea Rotisserie & Bar, Ruby Sunshine, Broussard’s, Louisiana Office Of Tourism, Hotel Monteleone, and Visit Baton Rouge.
They possess an intense knowledge of their clients’ industries and are skilled in all facets of audience analysis. They use smart media strategy that incorporates new ideas and hard-nosed media buying. All supported by analytics that captures a true Return On Investment (ROI).
