Small law firm marketing

In legal marketing, money talks, and small law firms have less to say. We have some guidance on small law firm marketing to make sure you’re heard.

It’s not about the money

As the owner of a small law firm, you might think that the difference between your marketing and larger firms is all in your budget. You simply have less to work with, and therefore your returns aren’t going to be what larger law firms see, right?

Wrong.

Small law firm marketing is not about how much you spend, it’s about how you spend it. Sure, larger firms have bigger marketing budgets. But the share of your annual revenue you spend on marketing should be the same, if not higher, depending on your goals.

Here are some tips on spending your marketing budget effectively, and making sure you can capitalize on the leads you bring in.

Focus your marketing efforts

In small law firm marketing, you don’t have the budget to flood TV channels and radio stations with wide-appealing ads about how you can help anyone who needs it. Your marketing dollars will be much better spent if they’re focused on your most successful, plentiful, or profitable types of cases.

Essentially, you need to tailor your marketing to fit your ideal client profile. The first step is figuring out which types of cases you want to attract, and what kinds of people experience those legal matters the most. Then you need to figure out what platforms on which to best reach those prospective clients, and what message you want to send them.

This is not a quick process! It will require trial and error and experimentation. But the returns can be incredible. Check out this episode of Everything Except the Law featuring Chris Dreyer of Rankings.io, where he discusses the benefits niching up your small law firm marketing.

SEO is still marketing

One of the benefits of figuring out your ideal client profile is that you can further focus your SEO efforts. Sure, “personal injury attorney” is a hotly contested keyword. The same might go for “car accident attorney”. But what about “motorcycle accident lawyer Minneapolis”?

Most people’s first contact with a law firm’s brand is online, so your search result placements are still very important, and your SEO efforts will go much farther the more focused they are. Once you’ve dominated your search niche, you can start to expand little by little as you expand your law firm.

You don’t have to take our word for it! In this episode of Everything Except the Law, Jason Hennessey of Hennessey Digital discusses how SEO is still relevant for small law firm marketing and how to succeed at it.

Stay local

Perhaps the most important small law firm advice we can give is to stay local. This advice affects every aspect of your marketing strategy, from advertising to SEO; the closer your target audience is to your law firm, the more successful you’ll be. Local services advertisements in particular can be very effective for small law firms.

Even with the advent of digital marketing and virtual consultations with law firms, legal consumers still want to know that their law firms are local experts. This is where your status as a small law firm is actually an advantage; larger firms are more likely to be multi-city or multi-state affairs, whereas you can portray yourself as a local law firm with distinct expertise in your jurisdiction or practice area.

Andrew Nasrinpay of MeanPug Digital talked about local services advertisements and small law firm marketing on this episode of Everything Except the Law.

Hire a legal answering service to secure incoming leads

We’ll be up front; when your marketing succeeds, you’re going to want a legal answering service on your team to make sure you don’t miss any new client calls.

Think of it this way: you’re spending time and money on your marketing strategy. By planning for success with a legal answering service, you’ll be making sure none of that time and money is wasted. Missing a new client call is essentially the same as sending them to the next law firm on their list; a legal answering service will make sure that doesn’t happen.

It just so happens that Answering Legal is exactly the legal answering service you’re looking for. We only answer for lawyers, and our virtual receptionists are highly trained to ensure every new client caller undergoes a legal intake to give you the best possible chance at securing their business. Check out what our customers have to say about us below.

Hear from lawyers just like you

Thousands of lawyers like you trust Answering Legal to handle their phones. These are their stories.

“I have a lot of Spanish-speaking clients, and it’s such a joy to have them have the ability to call my firm and somebody on the other line is speaking their native language.”

- Martin Quintana, Founder and Managing Partner, Quintana Law Group

“Answering Legal is so flexible, you’re able to customize it entirely to fit your firm’s needs, your firm’s hours, and your firm's boundaries that you want to set with clients.”

- Bianca Santorini, Principal Attorney, The Santorini Law Firm PLLC

“I love the fact that, 24/7, 365, even on Christmas, someone is answering our phones and that is Answering Legal.”

- Kamiel Harrison, Esq., The Harrison Firm

“Answering Legal allows me to have a personal life… and it also helps me be a better attorney. It saves time and helps you grow your practice without you even realizing it.”

- Laura Pfeifer, Esq., Founding Partner, Battiloro Law Group

“People from Answering Legal are trained to ask particular questions, to relay messages back and forth, and to send me a summary of those phone calls.”

- Lonny Fish, Owner, Liberty Law Team

“Answering Legal has allowed my firm to get hired on numerous clients that we never would have without them.”

- Margo L. Gaines, Esq., Founder, Gaines & Musico, LLP

“When we’re not there—after hours, evenings, nights, weekends—they’ll answer the call like somebody at Gainsberg Law, ready and willing to answer the phone call.”

- Neal Gainsberg, Owner & Principal, Gainsberg Law, P.C.

“One of the things that Answering Legal allows me to do is quickly get back to new clients… I’ve been hired because I was the only lawyer who called the person back.”

- Neal Davis, Neal Davis Law Firm

“Answering Legal has allowed us to scale up and have the equivalent of what would probably be ten staff members answering phones.”

- Kaitlin Nares, CEO & Co-owner, Hagen Nares PLLC

“Answering Legal’s got my back. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, my phones are answered and my clients’ concerns are addressed.”

- Anthony M. Grandinette, Esq., Founder, The Law Office of Anthony M. Grandinette

“Whenever my staff and I are in consultations with a client, nobody has to walk out of the consults. The office doesn’t miss any calls anymore.”

- Allison Gordon, Gordon Law Firm

“I started out with Answering Legal, and now my practice has grown tenfold.”

- Brian D. Perskin, Esq., Managing Partner, Brian D. Perskin & Associates P.C.

“In this business, whoever answers first usually gets the business, and Answering Legal has really improved my ability to do that.”

- MAJ (R) Christopher Curley Esq., The Law Office of Christopher Curley

“Answering Legal has allowed us to streamline our communication process so that the caller is matched with the party they’re seeking to reach.”

- Justin Reiff, Director of Administration, The Reiff Law Firm

“We transitioned to Answering Legal to get a live operator and started closing with a far higher percentage of our incoming leads.”

- Paul M. Marriett, Law Office of Paul M. Marriett

“I have a lot of Spanish-speaking clients, and it’s such a joy to have them have the ability to call my firm and somebody on the other line is speaking their native language.”

- Martin Quintana, Founder and Managing Partner, Quintana Law Group

“Answering Legal is so flexible, you’re able to customize it entirely to fit your firm’s needs, your firm’s hours, and your firm's boundaries that you want to set with clients.”

- Bianca Santorini, Principal Attorney, The Santorini Law Firm PLLC

“I love the fact that, 24/7, 365, even on Christmas, someone is answering our phones and that is Answering Legal.”

- Kamiel Harrison, Esq., The Harrison Firm

“Answering Legal allows me to have a personal life… and it also helps me be a better attorney. It saves time and helps you grow your practice without you even realizing it.”

- Laura Pfeifer, Esq., Founding Partner, Battiloro Law Group

“People from Answering Legal are trained to ask particular questions, to relay messages back and forth, and to send me a summary of those phone calls.”

- Lonny Fish, Owner, Liberty Law Team

“Answering Legal has allowed my firm to get hired on numerous clients that we never would have without them.”

- Margo L. Gaines, Esq., Founder, Gaines & Musico, LLP

“When we’re not there—after hours, evenings, nights, weekends—they’ll answer the call like somebody at Gainsberg Law, ready and willing to answer the phone call.”

- Neal Gainsberg, Owner & Principal, Gainsberg Law, P.C.

“One of the things that Answering Legal allows me to do is quickly get back to new clients… I’ve been hired because I was the only lawyer who called the person back.”

- Neal Davis, Neal Davis Law Firm

“Answering Legal has allowed us to scale up and have the equivalent of what would probably be ten staff members answering phones.”

- Kaitlin Nares, CEO & Co-owner, Hagen Nares PLLC

“Answering Legal’s got my back. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, my phones are answered and my clients’ concerns are addressed.”

- Anthony M. Grandinette, Esq., Founder, The Law Office of Anthony M. Grandinette

“Whenever my staff and I are in consultations with a client, nobody has to walk out of the consults. The office doesn’t miss any calls anymore.”

- Allison Gordon, Gordon Law Firm

“I started out with Answering Legal, and now my practice has grown tenfold.”

- Brian D. Perskin, Esq., Managing Partner, Brian D. Perskin & Associates P.C.

“In this business, whoever answers first usually gets the business, and Answering Legal has really improved my ability to do that.”

- MAJ (R) Christopher Curley Esq., The Law Office of Christopher Curley

“Answering Legal has allowed us to streamline our communication process so that the caller is matched with the party they’re seeking to reach.”

- Justin Reiff, Director of Administration, The Reiff Law Firm

“We transitioned to Answering Legal to get a live operator and started closing with a far higher percentage of our incoming leads.”

- Paul M. Marriett, Law Office of Paul M. Marriett

“I have a lot of Spanish-speaking clients, and it’s such a joy to have them have the ability to call my firm and somebody on the other line is speaking their native language.”

- Martin Quintana, Founder and Managing Partner, Quintana Law Group

“Answering Legal is so flexible, you’re able to customize it entirely to fit your firm’s needs, your firm’s hours, and your firm's boundaries that you want to set with clients.”

- Bianca Santorini, Principal Attorney, The Santorini Law Firm PLLC

“I love the fact that, 24/7, 365, even on Christmas, someone is answering our phones and that is Answering Legal.”

- Kamiel Harrison, Esq., The Harrison Firm

“Answering Legal allows me to have a personal life… and it also helps me be a better attorney. It saves time and helps you grow your practice without you even realizing it.”

- Laura Pfeifer, Esq., Founding Partner, Battiloro Law Group

“People from Answering Legal are trained to ask particular questions, to relay messages back and forth, and to send me a summary of those phone calls.”

- Lonny Fish, Owner, Liberty Law Team

“Answering Legal has allowed my firm to get hired on numerous clients that we never would have without them.”

- Margo L. Gaines, Esq., Founder, Gaines & Musico, LLP

“When we’re not there—after hours, evenings, nights, weekends—they’ll answer the call like somebody at Gainsberg Law, ready and willing to answer the phone call.”

- Neal Gainsberg, Owner & Principal, Gainsberg Law, P.C.

“One of the things that Answering Legal allows me to do is quickly get back to new clients… I’ve been hired because I was the only lawyer who called the person back.”

- Neal Davis, Neal Davis Law Firm

“Answering Legal has allowed us to scale up and have the equivalent of what would probably be ten staff members answering phones.”

- Kaitlin Nares, CEO & Co-owner, Hagen Nares PLLC

“Answering Legal’s got my back. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, my phones are answered and my clients’ concerns are addressed.”

- Anthony M. Grandinette, Esq., Founder, The Law Office of Anthony M. Grandinette

“Whenever my staff and I are in consultations with a client, nobody has to walk out of the consults. The office doesn’t miss any calls anymore.”

- Allison Gordon, Gordon Law Firm

“I started out with Answering Legal, and now my practice has grown tenfold.”

- Brian D. Perskin, Esq., Managing Partner, Brian D. Perskin & Associates P.C.

“In this business, whoever answers first usually gets the business, and Answering Legal has really improved my ability to do that.”

- MAJ (R) Christopher Curley Esq., The Law Office of Christopher Curley

“Answering Legal has allowed us to streamline our communication process so that the caller is matched with the party they’re seeking to reach.”

- Justin Reiff, Director of Administration, The Reiff Law Firm

“We transitioned to Answering Legal to get a live operator and started closing with a far higher percentage of our incoming leads.”

- Paul M. Marriett, Law Office of Paul M. Marriett

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