Lawyer advertising examples abound, but they are more than the ‘Better Call Saul’ style screaming tv ads. The multitude of media channels for lawyer advertising shows there are also multiple opportunities to advertise for potential clients and do so successfully, without paying a fortune.

The examples we have outlined here provide some inspiration for those seeking to build your advertising ‘street cred’ by building successful campaigns that will work for your law firm.

An American Bar Association report from 2019 indicated that only 17 per cent of solo lawyers had any budget for advertising, yet with social media and some imagination law firm advertising is within any firm’s grasp. (The same survey showed around 60 per cent of larger firms had budget, so still a significant discrepancy in terms of marketing initiative.)

But in terms of bangs for your law advertising buck, what actually works?

First, consider the various advertising forms and formats. These provide an array of opportunities and obstacles. They include –

• Billboard advertising
• TV advertising
• Radio ads
• Print ads
• Facebook ads
• Google ads and pay-per-click advertising
• Other social media ads
• legal directories

The variety of ads is therefore vast and to decide whether your law firm should be advertising in the analog world or digital is one of the first considerations to look at.

Let’s consider some specific examples of those key media nd what you should be aiming to achieve with your advertising.

What are you seeking to do with your advertising?

Many lawyers are wary of advertising because it can cheapen their brand and image but it can be the very best thing you can do once you know the different audiences that might respond to different forms of advertising for your firm.

The style and nature of your firm is going to help dictate what sort of attorney advertising best suits your firm: social media, print, tv ads, public relations or billboards.

Much will depend on the sort of brand nd firm you re, the type of law you practice nd other factors.

It may seem obvious, you are looking to attract prospective clients. But before rushing into the advertising format of choice, you need to consider what your law firm brand is about. The style and nature of your firm is going to help dictate what sort of attorney advertising best suits your firm.

Firms differ in a multitude of ways and your brand and image should also dictate what you are trying to convey. Mostly this should be about trustworthiness and authority, but just how you convey those ideas will depend upon your firm brand and how it is conveyed.

We published an article on law firm branding some time ago when wrote about law firm branding and how to build your law firm brand effectively.

Consultwebs said in an article on top lawyer advertisements (2020) that their 20 years’ of legal marketing experience showed the law firm advertiser winners were firms that embraced their brand, created memorable marketing assets and brought their campaigns to a broad audience.

Billboards, Including ‘Moving Billboards

Billboard advertising will generally be reserved for the big spenders but it can certainly generate high interest given the time commuters spend in their cars.

And billboard ads can be effective, particularly now with digital billboards which can present hugely effective visibility. A conventional billboard ad like the one below from attorney Robert Meyer creates trust via his dog imagery and humor.

Mobile or smaller display billboards like taxis, sidewalk or bus shelter ads and buses can be effective, although they may largely be the domain of the personal injury and divorce attorney where more aggressive advertising is the norm.

Print media

This remains as an effective advertising medium for lawyers even though it may be a less sexy, traditional advertising method. Law marketing means lawyers need to be aware of specific requirements regarding what they can do or say (by describing themselves as experts, or specialists, for instance).

Print advertising offers law firms a direct, cost-effective advantage, particularly for local law firms. The best lawyer print ads will convey a direct message with benefits for clients rather than brand building alone.

Print media includes newspaper and magazine, brochure, postcard, flyer and related advertising that some may see as old school, but for focused local law advertising it can reach a local target audience very effectively and often very inexpensively too.

Some considerations when you’re looking at using print advertising.

• focus on an effective, direct message that addresses client requirements rather than your firm
• Use it as complimentary to whatever online marketing you are doing
• as it will normally be focused on the local community make sure it resonates with them, preferably with some emotional connection
• keep a consistent message with all advertising

Local newspaper advertising remains an effective way to market your law practice with authority and trust. Building a rapport with a local audience using key tips, updates, warnings and the like will build trust and your law firm practice authority.

Below is an effective advertising example with useful tips written in a helpful, empathetic manner.

TV & Radio for Lawyers

Social media may be the big deal, but like print, the use of tv and radio should never be underestimated.

This is especially so for those working in a local market and with a limited budget (although tv commercials can obviously be expensive and dependent upon the reach and audience that you’re seeking to reach.). But for brand awareness and special promotions or similar opportunities, radio can be extremely effective.

Radio advertising can be particularly effective on both counts and in just about all markets radio revenues continue to climb. In the US they are up by almost 6 per cent to $12.79 billion in 2021 according to one service. (BIA Advisory Services Local Advertising Forecast 2022.) Similar growth is seen in most other markets too.

Podcasts for Lawyers

Using podcasts for radio -style reach is great way to achieve your marketing goals. Using media like Spotify, Apple Radio, Sirius XM nd other can achieve extremely effective reach nd marketing clout for your law firm, while also building trust and authority.

According to Forbes, in 2020 37 percent of Americans over the age of 12 listened to at least one podcast, an increase from 32 percent in 2019 . It was estimated that 100 million listened to podcasts each month and that number was increasing rapidly too.

Clearly this is an ideal platform for law firms to market their legal services and garner new clients.

The LawSome Podcast from Consultwebs provides insights into legal developments within the legal industry, while there are also some great podcasts from small and large firms alike that re highly engaging nd interesting for clients nd others.

New Solo is a monthly podcast hosted by Adriana Linares about solo practice speaking with guests who have made the move and the lessons they can provide with practical advice and tips.

Maximum Lawyer is another law business podcast from Jim Hacking & Tyson Mutrux, which covers all the elements involved in starting a law firm, from hiring and firing to marketing and management.

Court Junkie deals with criminal law issues from founder of Jillian LP and focused on looking at injustices and other issues in the US judicial system, including interviews with key people involved in various cases.

The keys to running a successful podcast is to know your audience and focus on that target market. Provide useful, relevant information including interviews if possible and keep your eye on the audience you are serving – just as you would with any online advertising – and then promote your podcast via your website, blog, social media and other channels.

A good podcast can create a major boost to your law firm online marketing and overall authority in the legal marketplace.

Television ad for Lawyers

Detroit personal injury attorney stepped up his advertising during Covid by providing entertaining and effective advertisements featuring the hero attorney as a masked man

YouTube:

We have written about the power of YouTube (you can read about how to improve your YouTube ads here) and it continues to grow in both power and popularity as the uptake and preference for video grows.

Pew Research shows that 74 per cent of adults use YouTube in the United States alone and the popularity of the Network is a potential advertising and brand-building goldmine for law firms.

Ed Versus Series

Missouri personal injury law firm Brown & Croupen (Missouri) have developed a very effective television and YouTube series ‘Ed Versus’, which builds on the character of Ed Herman with content that wins awards for its humor, content and tips, creating a YouTube and law marketing winner.

The Godfather Series

Alabama law firm Maloney & Lyons adopted a mobsteyr style ad with their ‘Godfather of PI Law’ ad spots that created some high level ad-awareness for the PI law firm.

Social Media Winners for Law Firms

Social media advertising has continued to grow in importance for law firms with most now having some social media presence. The growth of social media ‘influencer’ marketing nd digital marketing generally, long with video marketing and brand growth via social media platforms continues to grow quickly.

The ABA Tech Report 2021, 86 per cent of those law firms surveyed had a social media presence, the vast majority being on LinkedIn with 87 percent. The others shown were

• 61% Facebook
• 37% Twitter
• 13% Instagram

Obviously lawyers should pick and choose which platforms to be on, depending upon their objectives and where they believe they can best target clients.

LinkedIn for Lawyers

LinkedIn is a clear favorite as it has an engaged professional and business audience. It also has a high level of daily usage and is very effective in reaching a business audience.

Good2BSocial identified that 30 per cent of the AmLaw firms use LinkedIn as part of their overall marketing strategy. That fact alone demonstrates the importance of LinkedIn.

Forty per cent of the platform’s users are on it daily and having the ability to focus on a business-minded audience and drill down with sponsored ads, you can generate an extremely effective, brand-building campaign that works.

As with other platforms, you need to test and test out different creatives in order to achieve your goals.

Sponsored content ads can be directed to your prospects and even direct messaging and content is useful for direct marketing.

As with any advertising, law firms need to identify what their target market is and develop their strategy accordingly.

An excellent look at the deconstructions of a law firm advertisement on LinkedIn can be seen at this JDSupra article.

Facebook ads for Lawyers

An ad from the Colorado Legal Group focused on fathers facing custody cases combined both a focused, attention-grabbing heading with an equally captivating and human image. Great combination from an imaginative, resourceful firm.

Look at another of the CLG ads, once again demonstrating their ability to combine humor and impact. Another top headline with that clever image and (dare we say) an almost click-bait style enticement to

Watch the video. Clever and effective law firm marketing without being misleading.

Instagram for Lawyers

Instagram is a highly effective medium with potentially massive reach. It’s a simple way for law firms to reach their audience.

An Australian divorce law firm has been effective in their empathetic advertising that captures the heart and clients with an authentic voice that resonates with clients and builds their brand.

Search Engine Marketing for Lawyers

Apart from the benefits of writing great blog content and developing a great law firm content marketing strategy, using the search engines for both organic and paid search remains one of the essential standbys for legal marketing.

Using search engine advertising like Google ads and pay-per-click advertising on the Google Display Network is a highly successful, great way to reach your target audience. There is something of a science behind using PPC correctly, but apart from reaching a highly targeted audience, including engaging existing law firm clients, they can also be cost effective in reaching your audience.

Using keyword research for blog posts has been written bout before, such s here, but the ability to access the search engines through smart content writing, good keyword usage and providing high value information is never to be underestimated.

One of the keys to using PPC effectively is to have a great landing page that lets you both capture your potential or existing client’s details, but also permit you to measure the success of your advertising campaign.

Being able to measure your advertising campaign and using your advertising budget correctly will be a key part of your strategy.

Google Screened

Some markets in the US also provide the ad screening service known as Google Screened, which permits verification checking for lawyers in their online advertising, which shows ad above the PPC ads which provides a huge advantage for advertising visibility.

To be effective with these ads you need to turn on notifications to permit the response to messages and calls, which if not complied with can affect your ranking online.

Google will work out the ‘quality score’ for regular ads and when doing so they will look at the relevance of your ads, the click through rate for them and the performance of the landing page (as above). The ranking for your ad will depend upon different factors including the following:

• Law firm reviews registered
• Business hours for the firm (24/7 availability can achieve higher ranking)
• Response time
• Proximity to the potential client’s location

The key with PPC campaigns, digital advertising and search advertising is to be able to measure the success of your ads. If they are generating click throughs you can scale up, knowing that you are reaching a responsive market.

By measuring how many click throughs came to your website, how many supplied name and email address details or downloaded a report etc, you can quickly identify how successful your ads are.

Tracking Your Ad Success

By tracking those who come through your ads or promotions, including public relations and other marketing efforts, you should do so right through until you pick up your fees. You can then understand just how successful your efforts are and what you can focus on further.

Knowledge and intelligence like this is completely invaluable, just as it is when assessing what your target audience is for your professional services in the first place.

Lawyer Advertising Examples – Conclusion

You can see the sheer variety of media and creativity that is available to lawyers seeking effective advertising, without the need to fall foul of local Bar Association or Law Society requirements regarding law firm advertising.

The effectiveness of well thought through blog posts, Instagram posts or other social media postings, along with YouTube and simple, print advertising examples provides an array of opportunity. It does, however, require careful thinking from lawyers as to their objectives, their budget (which need not be large by any means) and the need to measure the effectiveness of the advertising channel selected.

We would love to hear from you about your own lawyer advertising examples and how they worked, or didn’t. Remember that for ads that fail to achieve the objectives you set does not mean your campaign has failed. It means it needs to be re thought and re-set.