It’s that time of year when law firms return from their break and if they’re smart will reflect on 2024 and think about how 2025 can be better.
If they’re on their game they will ask, what marketing channel worked last year and which didn’t. And when I say worked, I mean translated into file opens. Because you and I know that everything else is marketing noise.
But for the most part, when they ask that question they won’t have a clue what the answer is. In other words, when Sarah the MP asks Terry in marketing what worked, Terry won’t have a clue and will likely hide his ignorance in shop talk, like, “traffic for this channel was up,” “impression share is amazing.” “Conversion rate is good.” But thats smoke and mirrors. Sure, they’re important, but they don’t cut the mustard. If Sarah is steadfast on growth, she’ll say to Terry, no, none of that, I want to know what channels drove file opens in 2024. Full stop.
Now, if Sarah gets what she needs she is on an exponentially better position to leverage useful data in guiding the 2025 strategy. It just makes sense!
The Most Simple & Potent Equation
Real marketing effectiveness in law firms comes down to one simple equation: marketing investment divided by new file opens attributed to that investment.
But here’s where it gets interesting. I’ve been helping law firms grow for close to 20 years and typically when first engaged by them, I ask them show me this basic data, they look at me like I’ve just asked them to explain quantum physics while juggling chainsaws. They simply don’t have it. And if you don’t have it, you can’t possibly know what’s working.
The 3 Fatal Flaws of Marketing Strategy
This creates a dangerous dynamic where marketing decisions are made based on what I call the three fatal flaws of marketing strategy: opinion, habit, and fashion.
Opinion: “I think Meta works better for us than Google Ads”
Habit: “We’ve always sponsored that legal conference”
Fashion: “Everyone says we need to be on TikTok”
None of these are valid reasons to allocate marketing budget. Yet, in my experience they drive probably 80% of law firm marketing decisions.
The solution isn’t complicated, but it requires discipline that most firms lack.
The 3 Things Your Law Firm Needs
You need three things:
One: Clear attribution tracking that connects marketing touchpoints to actual file opens. Or you’re a client of Practice Proof and we fit you out with our lead track software LawDash, that tells you everything. We track every channel right through to file open. So, we know and your firm knows what drives ROI.
Two: A consistent process for collecting and analyzing this data. Again, LawDash is the no-brainer.
Three: The courage to kill sacred cows when the data shows they’re not performing.
So what should Sarah do with Terry?
First, she needs to make it clear that marketing’s job isn’t to generate impressions or engagement or whatever other vanity metrics are currently on trend. Marketing’s job is to generate file opens at an acceptable cost per acquisition.
Second, she needs to give Terry a deadline – say 90 days – to implement proper attribution tracking. This isn’t optional. It’s the foundation of effective marketing.
Finally, she needs to create a culture where data drives decisions. This means no more “I think” or “I feel” in marketing meetings. Only “The data shows.”
Get Your Law Firm On Top of This
As we head into 2025, the law firms that will win are those that treat marketing like the investment it is, not the cost center it’s become. This means:
- Clear tracking of file opens by channel
- Regular analysis of cost per file open
- Ruthless reallocation of budget based on performance
- No sacred cows or vanity metrics
The good news is, this creates a massive opportunity for firms willing to do it right. While their competitors continue to spread budget across countless channels and chase the latest marketing fad, they can focus their resources on what actually works.
Remember, marketing isn’t complicated. It’s hard, yes, but not complicated. Figure out what drives file opens, do more of that, and stop everything else. If you get that right, that’s not a bad 2025 marketing strategy in one sentence.
