Let me paint a familiar scene. A law firm partner is looking at their marketing spend and wondering why their cost per lead keeps creeping up on Google Ads while conversion rates stay frustratingly low. They’ve hired and fired multiple agencies, tweaked landing pages, and thrown more money at the problem – all with mediocre results.
The issue isn’t the tactical execution of Google Ads. The real problem is that most law firms are doing marketing completely backwards. They’re starting with tactics before strategy. They’re diving into the shallow end of the swimming pool before checking if there’s any water in it.
I’ve worked with law firms around the world, and I see the same pattern over and over. They immediately jump to tactical marketing execution – Google Ads, social media, content marketing – without doing the strategic groundwork first. It’s like trying to build a house without a foundation.
So before you throw another dollar at Google Ads, here’s what your law firm needs to do instead:
Market Orientation: Start By Admitting You Know Nothing
The first step is the hardest for lawyers to swallow (I know, because I am one) – you need to admit that you don’t actually know what your clients want or think. Your personal opinion about your firm is not just incorrect, it’s dangerous.
I call this market orientation. You need to create a vacuum in your mind and be willing to listen to the market. Stop assuming you know why clients choose your firm or what they value. You don’t. Your perspective is completely warped by working in the firm every day.
This is especially hard for lawyers who are trained to be the experts, to have all the answers. But when it comes to marketing, you need to approach it with humility and curiosity about what your actual clients think.
Do Proper Research (Not Just Reading Reviews)
Once you’ve admitted you know nothing, it’s time to actually learn what your market thinks through proper research. And no, reading your Google reviews doesn’t count as market research.
You need both qualitative and quantitative research:
Qualitative: Get out there and actually talk to your clients. Not just your favourite clients who love you, but a broad cross-section. Why did they really choose your firm? What were they actually looking for? What almost made them not choose you? What frustrates them about working with law firms?
Do proper in-depth interviews. Shut up and listen. You’ll be shocked at how different their perspective is from what you assumed.
Quantitative: Then validate those qualitative insights with proper quantitative research across a statistically significant sample. Survey both clients and non-clients in your target market.
Measure what actually drives their law firm selection decisions.
The insights that emerge from proper research are often surprising and uncomfortable. But they give you the foundation for actual strategy.
Build a Real Segmentation (Not Just Practice Areas)
Most law firms segment their market by practice area – corporate, litigation, employment, etc. That’s not segmentation, that’s just organising your services.
Real segmentation is about identifying distinct groups of clients with different needs, behaviours and selection criteria. For example:
- The price-sensitive segment that views legal services as a commodity
- The relationship-focused segment that wants a trusted advisor
- The specialist segment that only cares about expertise in their specific niche
- The risk-averse segment that picks the “safe choice” firm
- The convenience segment that prioritises speed and accessibility
Your research should reveal the actual segments in your market. Then you can make strategic choices about which segments to target.
Make Real Strategic Choices (This Will Hurt)
Strategy is about choices – specifically, choosing what NOT to do. Most law firms try to be all things to all people. That’s not strategy, that’s the absence of strategy.
You need to make hard choices about:
- Which segments you will focus on (and which you won’t)
- What position you want to own in their minds
- What you want to be known for (and what you’re willing to be unknown for)
- Which services you’ll offer (and which you won’t)
These choices should be based on your research insights about where you can actually win in the market. Not just what you want to be.
The choices need to be sharp and clear. If your strategic choices don’t make you at least a little uncomfortable, they probably aren’t sharp enough.
Build a Clear Position
Only after you’ve done the above work can you develop a clear position in the market. Your position needs to:
- Be based on what actually matters to your target segments (from the research)
- Be distinctive from competitors in a meaningful way (don’t go down the UVP hole, you’ll never get out of it.)
- Be something you can credibly deliver on
- Be focused and simple (not trying to be everything to everyone)
Most law firm positioning is laughably generic – “Leading firm providing excellent service.” That’s not positioning, that’s just words. And, I’m yet to meet a law firm that says, “providing shit service.”
Real positioning requires you to stake out clear ground and own it. I love one of my clients, Stephen Page, because he did exactly this! If I needed a surrogacy lawyer (and I never will), stephen Page is the only #1 choice, internationally. Check him out. He’s a walking, talking example of what happens when you get brand salience right!
Whatever it is, it needs to be sharp, clear and based on what actually matters to clients.
NOW You Can Think About Google Ads
Only after you’ve done all of the above should you start thinking about tactical execution like Google Ads.
Your ads will perform dramatically better because:
- You’ll know exactly who you’re targeting
- You’ll know what actually matters to them
- You’ll have a clear position to communicate
- Your messaging will be focused and differentiated
- You won’t be trying to be all things to all people
Your cost per lead will drop because you’ll be sending more qualified traffic to your ads. Your conversion rates will improve because your messaging will actually resonate with what clients care about.
The Hard Truth
Here’s the reality that most law firms don’t want to hear: Until you do the strategic work outlined above, you’re just throwing money away on tactical marketing execution.
Yes, this strategic work takes time. Yes, it requires investment. Yes, it means making hard choices that might make some partners uncomfortable.
But it’s the only way to build sustainable, profitable growth. Otherwise you’re just engaged in increasingly expensive tactical warfare with every other law firm bidding on the same keywords.
It’s like being in the sandpit as a kid, with 20 other snotty-faced competitors fighting over the red or pink truck.
So before you optimize another landing page or increase another keyword bid, step back and do the strategic work. Your cost per lead and your marketing ROI will thank you for it.
Need help? Reach out!
