When Should Lawyers See ROI for Marketing Efforts?
We live in a fast-paced society that likes to see near-immediate or immediate results. We value instant gratification, and it’s challenging to be patient. However, some things just take time. For instance, getting into better physical shape or learning a new skill won’t happen overnight, no matter how hard we try. The same rings true for lawyers to see their ROI for marketing efforts. It takes time, but how much time?
When Should Lawyers See ROI?
All effective marketing takes time. If a marketing firm promises you quick ROI and what they say sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Depending on your legal niche and the type of marketing you are using, it could take months to determine ROI. It can also depend on:
- Your new campaign’s creative
- The mix of marketing tactics used
- How integrated your legal advertising strategy is
Typically, it can take six to 18 months to see your ROI for most lawyers.
Marketing Methods Impact ROI Determinations
The type of marketing you use or how you measure ROI will determine how long it takes to see your ROI. For example, SEO and blogging can take several months. However, Google PPC or Facebook ads can provide faster results, possibly in just weeks, if you know what you’re doing or have a marketing firm to handle them for you. These ads have tools to help measure your metrics.
Using a simple spreadsheet is a great way to get a picture of all of your marketing efforts at once. This way, you can see how all the tactics impact one another and you can use that data to make informed decisions. If you’re working with a marketing agency, feel free to ask questions about how they interpret the data, too.
Marketing is an Ongoing Effort
Attorneys and law firms need to remember that marketing is also an ongoing effort. It’s not a “show up one month and then expect results” arrangement. It requires continuous effort and often making changes as you determine what is working well and what might not be working at all. What works may also change over time. For instance, videos have become an extremely effective way to capture potential clients recently. What works in the first six months may not work as well in the next six months. You can’t just set it and forget it when it comes to effective marketing.
Setting good goals at the outset of your marketing project is one of the best ways to stay on top of all that is needed. The right marketing team can help you set goals so that you can track them, using monthly reports to analyze what’s working. Although progress isn’t visible overnight, you should start to see improvements each month when you check in. Once you start to get traction somewhere, you can re-evaluate whether you want to allocate more of your budget.
Consistency is Key
You also need to show up consistently. Posting a single blog or being active on social media for two weeks won’t generate the results you are looking for. Instead, you have to remain active and post blogs to keep yourself or your firm at the top of your potential clients’ minds. You won’t be fresh in their mind if they read the last blog you posted four months ago or something you retweeted six weeks ago. Your consistency will also help build your authority in your legal niche and trust within your audience of potential clients.
In conclusion, lawyers and law firms should be prepared to wait at least several months, perhaps even a year or more, to see their ROI. While they are waiting, they need to continue evaluating their marketing efforts, keep blogging and using SEO, and maintain a consistent social media presence. If they haven’t already, they might also want to consider hiring a marketing firm to help them with these efforts and measure their metrics and ROI.
