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The 2018 Law Firm Digital Marketing Survey

by Guy Alvarez • November 6th, 2018 • Digital Marketing | Blog

How important is digital marketing for law firms? In September, Good2bSocial and the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) jointly conducted a survey to discover trends and best practices in law firms’ use of digital marketing. The survey, the first of its kind, asked legal marketers at law firms to indicate how their firms are using digital marketing to raise awareness and generate new business opportunities.

Although most law firms still employ traditional marketing techniques to market their firms and lawyers, the growing importance of digital marketing was evident throughout our survey. In fact, more than half of respondents ranked the importance of digital marketing at least a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. In this survey we found that while legal marketers value digital, law firms are not necessarily likely to invest enough time or money in online marketing strategies.

digital marketing for law firms

Opportunities

Most firms see the value of digital marketing strategies and the opportunities that it provides in terms of strengthening their firm. The survey results show that the biggest opportunities for digital marketing to make an impact include improving brand awareness, enhancing thought leadership, and distinguishing a firm from competitors.

digital marketing for law firms

It’s also interesting to note that there are opportunities that firms are not taking advantage of when it comes to digital marketing – particularly measurement and analytics. One of the most appealing aspects of digital is the ability to measure effectiveness and make changes to campaigns instantly. However, when it came to email open rates and click-through rates, 13% and 19% of respondents respectively have no idea where there firm stands. Data is available, but it’s only useful when firms know how to analyze it.

Challenges

It seems as though legal marketers for the most part understand the value of digital marketing for law firms. However, as this survey revealed, there are several obstacles for implementing digital marketing strategies at law firms:

  • Over half of firms name firm “buy-in” as a challenge when it comes to digital marketing.
  • Partners are not willing to invest in content marketing or paid advertising if they don’t see a measurable return on investment.
  • Law firm marketers need to use data to encourage firm partners to invest in digital marketing programs.
  • The lack of resources – both time and budget – also prevent marketing departments from effectively marketing their firms online.

This is the digital age. Blogs and other types of online content are taking the place of traditional publishing, and social media is quickly becoming the new medium for public relations and advertising efforts. Digital marketing for law firms will continue to grow in importance as consumers increasingly rely on the internet for information.

To discover more digital marketing trends and to benchmark your firm’s strategies with competitors, download the complete 2018 Law Firm Digital Marketing Survey.

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