In a career as competitive as the legal field, your marketing budget is one of the most valuable assets to determining your law firm’s success. Many businesses tend to start saving up their budget with reductive plans like analyzing historical figures or taking out from a percentage of revenue. Such plans don’t take into account the organic nature of law firms. Unexpected changes can include high and low seasons, employees joining or leaving, and business goals shifting with the times. When figuring out how to spend your law firm marketing budget, take the following into consideration.
What is the Size of your Market?
The majority of your clients will live in the local area around your office. Knowing the size of the town (or city) you are in can inform you on how to factor your budget. If you are a criminal defense lawyer, research how often criminal cases occur on any given year in your neighborhood. If you are a personal injury lawyer, look into accident rates or potential areas where injuries are more common – like poorly designed roads. As a rule of thumb, lawyers who live in big cities often need to set up a more aggressive marketing budget than attorneys who work in towns or rural areas.
How Successful is Your Business?
Established law firms often don’t need marketing budgets as aggressive as new businesses. An exception would be if a large firm moves into your territory with what seems like an endless budget, or if you are looking to expand your client base. If your law firm is new in town, you will have to be more aggressive regardless of the situation.
What Are Your Marketing Goals?
Marketing goals shift and change over time. This does not mean you should abandon the idea of goals outright. Rather, figure out what you need early on and determine what is best for you to keep budgeting stable. Businesses with no solid goal or plan to hold them down often find themselves in limbo – they never stick long enough with one digital marketing campaign to have it work, and lose more finances due to their indecisiveness.
How Much is Your Firm Making Each Month?
Your law firm’s monthly revenue can be difficult to pin down if it is in constant flux. Don’t be optimistic with your figures, if your firm makes between $8,000 to $13,000 a month, use the $8,000 as your baseline for budgeting. Most lawyers set aside 20 – 25 percent of their budget for their marketing efforts.
It may sound easy to build a simple website and put in a little bit of money into social media advertising to carry your digital marketing efforts. In reality, your competition is doing the same, and much more. A strong creative team that is knowledgeable in law firm marketing can help consult you on the best steps to take. Contact us at Market My Market today for a free evaluation.
