Law firm marketing can feel like that junk drawer in your kitchen. You know there’s useful stuff in there. You’ve spent time and money on it. But if someone asked you exactly what’s in there and why you still have it, things might get fuzzy.
Marketing often becomes a collection of activities rather than a strategic investment in growing the firm. Maybe some of it’s worth keeping. Maybe some of it needs work. Maybe it’s time to let it go.
We’re here to help you clean out your marketing junk drawer.
Most Firms Don’t Know What’s Working
Could you say exactly where your 10 best matters came from last year? Yes? Sort of? Not really? Before debating whether to invest more money in public relations, SEO, social media, or sponsorships, you need to understand what’s actually generating leads and new business.
Firms often renew sponsorships out of habit, approve opportunities because a partner wants to participate, or hire vendors without defining what success looks like. Then someone eventually asks, “What are we actually getting from marketing?” And nobody has a very good answer.
You should know exactly what you’re spending money on and how those channels are performing. Most firms need to optimize what they are already doing before adding more to the marketing mix.
Let’s look at what law firms spend money on and decide: Kill it. Fix it. Or double down.
Marketing Measurement
Most firms need to FIX IT. Probably dramatically.
The mistake isn’t that everything can’t be perfectly attributed. It’s using imperfect attribution as an excuse to measure nothing.
Start with the basics. Where did your business come from? Which sources produced your most valuable matters and the types of clients you want? Who are your strongest referral sources? And what did you spend to generate those results? You should be able to answer these questions with enough precision to make informed decisions.
The second mistake is measuring every marketing tactic the same way. Before you can decide whether something worked, you need to know what you hired it to do.
Think about the journey from know —> like —> trust —> choose. Different tactics serve different purposes:
- KNOW: Are the right people seeing and finding your firm?
- LIKE: Are they paying attention and engaging with your content?
- TRUST: Are you building credibility and giving them reasons to believe you’re the right choice?
- CHOOSE: When a need arises, are they contacting you or recommending you to someone else?
Recognize that if you hired a PR firm to build credibility and then cancel the program because it didn’t generate five direct leads, you may not have a marketing problem. You may have a measurement problem.
Generalist Positioning
KILL IT, if you’re describing your firm as “full-service” to cast a wide net and capture as many clients as possible.
The market can understand and remember a specialist much faster than a generalist. Prospective clients and referral sources should know what you do, who you serve and when to call you.
When nothing distinguishes your firm, you have to work harder – and spend more – to get noticed. Your messaging starts sounding like everyone else’s and your marketing dollars have to do more work to explain why someone should care.
Firms worry that narrowing their positioning means turning away business. It doesn’t. Positioning isn’t about limiting your practice. It’s about deciding where you want to be known and what you want your marketing dollars to reinforce.
Managing Referral Relationships
DOUBLE DOWN, but fix the process first.
Ask law firms where their business comes from, and most will say referrals. They’re often the firm’s biggest revenue source and its least organized marketing effort.
You probably know who sends you the most business. You take them to lunch when you have time and check in when something reminds you. But if your referral strategy lives in your head, that’s a problem. You wouldn’t manage your receivables or cases that way. If referrals generate much of your revenue, they should probably receive the same level of attention and strategy.
Doubling down on your referral process doesn’t mean spending more. It means adding structure, tracking and accountability.
Sponsorships
FIX IT. Law firms spend a lot of money putting their logos on things. But a logo in an event program isn’t a marketing strategy.
The problem usually isn’t the sponsorship itself. It’s that nobody asks, “What are we actually getting out of this?” Sponsorships should be a platform you activate. Before signing, get answers to: Can we speak? Can we host something? Can we get access to attendees? Are there digital assets? Do we get a backlink?
Then consider what would make this sponsorship materially more valuable without spending another dollar: have the sponsoring lawyers personally invite clients and prospects; post about why you are involved instead of simply announcing that you are a sponsor; host a small dinner or client gathering around the event; follow up with the people you actually wanted to meet.
The sponsorship may be worth keeping but if you’re not activating it, you may be leaving much of its value on the table.
Public Relations
DOUBLE DOWN, but understand PR’s job.
PR builds visibility and credibility. Its primary job isn’t to make the phone ring tomorrow. It keeps your firm visible to referral sources, builds your reputation and gives prospective clients another reason to trust you.
Of course, a media quote can directly generate business, but PR’s value is often cumulative. A referral source sees a lawyer quoted repeatedly over several months and thinks of them when a relevant matter comes along.
PR is also entering a golden era because of AI. As AI makes content easier to produce, PR becomes even more valuable. Being quoted by Bloomberg or The Wall Street Journal provides third-party validation that AI-generated content can’t replicate, and helps establish authority when people use AI to research lawyers.
If you’re judging PR’s success solely by its ability to generate trackable leads, you’re overlooking the role it plays in establishing credibility and keeping your firm top of mind.
Awards and Rankings
FIX IT by being selective.
Not every award carries the same weight. But the right recognition can elevate lawyer bios, proposals, recruiting, website visibility and referral confidence. It can also contribute to the broader body of information people encounter when researching your firm.
Consider what awards your clients and referral sources care about and which rankings genuinely differentiate your lawyers.
We’d rather see a firm aggressively pursue five meaningful awards than collect 15 that nobody recognizes. The goal isn’t to collect badges. It’s to earn recognition that matters to the people you want to reach.
Social Media
FIX IT. Your lawyers don’t need to produce more content. They need something to say.
Generic legal updates aren’t differentiation. “Congratulations to…” isn’t a strategy. And posting three times a week because the content calendar says so doesn’t make your marketing effective. Ask yourself: If I removed my firm’s logo from LinkedIn posts, would anyone know they came from my firm?
Make sure your lawyers are publishing better, distinctive content: opinions, observations, trends, predictions or useful explanations of issues affecting clients. The goal isn’t to fill a content calendar. It’s to become known for something.
SEO, Digital Marketing and AI Discoverability
FIX YOUR UNDERSTANDING, then decide where to double down.
When lawyers hear SEO and digital marketing, they often think about keywords, blog posts and Google rankings. That’s too narrow. Online search now includes traditional and paid search, reviews, media coverage, third-party recognition and your broader digital footprint.
AI makes this even more important. It draws on information available across the web, so the authority you’ve built through PR, thought leadership, awards and other marketing needs to be clear and visible online.
If you asked an AI tool, “Who are the leading lawyers for [your practice area] in [your market]?” would your firm show up? You can’t fully control AI’s answer, but you can influence the information available about your firm through clear positioning, strong attorney bios, authoritative website content and credible third-party recognition. If the internet can’t clearly understand what your firm is known for, don’t expect AI to figure it out for you.
Paid Advertising
DOUBLE DOWN, for the right firm.
Referrals and earned media may feel more prestigious, but paid marketing has a distinct advantage: You can deliberately put your firm in front of the people you want to reach.
It can also expose weaknesses in your intake process. If you’re paying to generate opportunities, you need to know what they cost, whether they’re qualified, how quickly your team responds, whether they become clients and what the matters ultimately bring in. Otherwise, you’re optimizing for leads instead of new business.
Paid digital marketing can be highly measurable, but measurable doesn’t mean successful. Targeting, messaging, landing pages, follow-up and conversion data all matter. If leads aren’t turning into clients, find out where the breakdown occurs before blaming the marketing.
Paid advertising doesn’t make sense for every firm, but don’t dismiss it simply because your firm has historically grown through referrals.
Marketing Reality Check
Before spending another dollar, ask:
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- Who are we trying to reach?
- What is this tactic supposed to do?
- How will we know if it worked?
- What are we going to stop doing to fund it?
You probably don’t need more marketing. You need to be more intentional about what you’re already doing and consider where your time, budget and effort could have a greater impact:
- KILL IT: What you do out of habit, without a clear purpose or meaningful value.
- FIX IT: What has potential but lacks strategy, measurement or accountability.
- DOUBLE DOWN: On what produces the clients, relationships, visibility and authority you actually want.
Spending less isn’t necessarily the answer. It’s to stop investing in marketing activities simply because it’s what you’ve always done, and put more resources behind what actually works. The goal isn’t more marketing; it’s more of the right business.
