What PPC Can Offer Your Law Firm

If you’ve considered marketing your law firm online, you’ve probably read about pay-per-click marketing. It might sound like industry jargon, but it’s actually a powerful tool that targets potential clients based on their location and interest in your firm. Here’s how pay-per-click marketing for lawyers works.

What is Pay-Per-Click Marketing?

Pay-per-click marketing, which is also known as PPC, targets specific search terms or topics and specific audiences. A PPC campaign may target a specific customer demographic through geographic location, specific interest, past search history, and other factors. Your law firm is charged every time a web user clicks on the ad for your law firm — thus, the name “pay-per-click.”

Here’s an example of how it works. Consider a woman who lives in Cincinnati, who is age 37, and whose child was bitten by a neighbor’s dog. After her child receives medical attention, she starts searching online for what to do when a child is bitten by a neighbor’s dog, using search terms like “dog bite lawsuit” and “dog bite legal cases.” If your law firm handles dog bite cases and you are targeting those search terms for users aged 30-50, the woman will see an ad for your law firm.

Compared with traditional forms of advertising, such as a radio ad or a billboard, PPC advertising is more direct. A narrower demographic is exposed to your advertisements, while you pay only when your ads are clicked.

What are the Advantages of PPC Ads?

PPC marketing is a direct way to get your message to your target audience without paying to reach people who do not need your services. PPC ads also place you in control of everything, from the maximum spend (so you don’t go over budget) to demographics, geographic location, and exact keyword.

For many law firms, this means a more cost-effective marketing strategy and a greater influx of qualified leads — essentially, people who need your legal services. Why pay to put up a billboard or take out a radio spot when you can instead pay only when your digital ad is clicked by someone who needs legal help, since your ad is shown only when specified keywords are searched?

PPC ad campaigns deliver immediate results — for practical and psychological boosts to your law firm. This marketing strategy is especially beneficial for new firms which are raising customer awareness, firms that are branching out into a new area of the law, or law firms that need a large influx of new clients. PPC ads can still benefit legal businesses with established websites and full client rosters, as it is always good to have new clients in the pipeline.

PPC marketing is also trackable: You receive comprehensive data analytics, so you always know how your ads are doing. Once you set up a campaign, you can track referrals, compare ad copy, and see how many leads turn into clients. You can tweak campaigns daily to test what works best. Looking further ahead, you can calculate the revenue generated by every ad campaign, then refine your strategy until each PPC ad becomes a powerful lead-generating machine.

While PPC marketing delivers many benefits to law firms, it is tricky to execute on your own. To get the best results in the shortest amount of time while staying within your ad budget, look for a digital marketing firm that understands the complexities of legal marketing. The right partner will help you choose keywords you can afford, then craft compelling ad copy and track metrics to demonstrate the return on investment of every PPC campaign.