20 Reasons Your Law Firm's Digital Marketing Strategy Is Failing

To say that the digital marketing landscape for law firms is competitive is an understatement. With so many firms vying for online visibility and leads, a solid yet adaptable strategy built on a solid foundation becomes paramount. But that's easier said than done!

From unclear goals to inadequate budgets, many pitfalls hinder the effectiveness of a seemingly robust strategy. Let's explore 20 common reasons why a law firm's digital marketing strategy may fail and actionable steps to get back on track.

1. Muddled Goals

Unclear goals lead to misalignment with your marketing partner and inefficiencies in your digital efforts. Take the time needed to establish SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. An experienced digital marketing partner can help turn your objectives into SMART goals.

2. Lack of Overarching Strategy

You may have a plan for efforts like paid advertising but aren't sure how that plan fits into your overall strategy. Without an overarching strategy, marketing efforts lack direction and unified messaging. Once you have your goals, you can develop a cohesive action plan outlining how you will leverage various digital channels.

3. A Run-of-the-Mill Plan

Adopting strategies similar to local competitors, or tired ones implemented by many firms before you, limits your ability to stand out in the crowded legal landscape. How are you different? What are your unique value propositions? How are your solutions tailored to your clientele? Knowing these answers helps define and spotlight your brand.

4. Business-Marketing Disconnect

What is one of the quickest ways to fail? Having corporate objectives that don't line up with your marketing and sales key performance indicators. While developing your unique digital marketing strategy, ensure it aligns with your firm's business goals.

5. No Routine Ad Campaign Optimization

Many are surprised to learn that digital ad campaigns must be optimized weekly, sometimes daily. By not doing so, you risk missed opportunities and wasted resources. Implement routine optimization practices that include testing, adjusting, and refining to improve conversion rates and maximize ROI – like what we did for Jorgensen, Brownell & Pepin, P.C. Upon signing with us in 2022, we completely turned the ship around for them in just five short months.

Learn more about the results we achieved for this full-service law firm in our case study.

6. An SEO Strategy After the Fact

Neglecting to prioritize search engine optimization can limit your firm's visibility. SEO leads are more profitable in the long term than any other source. Invest in a robust SEO strategy before, not after, you've built your website to ensure you're targeting relevant keywords, enhancing website rankings, and driving organic traffic as soon as your site is live.

7. Inadequate (or Missing) Landing Pages

You're missing out on conversion opportunities without appropriate landing pages that complement your ad campaigns and SEO efforts. Spend time building landing pages that guide visitors through the user journey and have clear calls to action.

8. Confusing User Journeys

A confusing user experience is one of the quickest ways to lose a lead. That means straightforward user journeys aren't only necessary for specific landing pages – they're needed throughout your entire website, along with the clear calls to action mentioned above.

9. Not Fully Understanding Ideal Client Personas

Failing to accurately identify and target your ideal client persona is one of the fastest ways to fail. Research your target audience's demographics, preferences, and pain points. Then, you can tailor your messaging to speak directly to them.

10. Expecting Immediate Results

You may have heard the phrase, "Good things take time." That's especially true in digital marketing. Patience is key, and expecting immediate results can lead to making premature decisions based on something other than accurate, fully realized data. Allow time for tactics to yield results, measure performance consistently, and optimize campaigns based on data-driven insights.

11. Creative Assets That Miss the Mark

Poorly designed, low-quality creative assets (or relying solely on stock images) can undermine your digital marketing strategy’s effectiveness. Invest in visually appealing, branded creative assets, like a logo, that resonate with your target audience and reinforce your identity.

12. Overlooking Successes

When it comes to digital marketing, it can be easy to become hyper-focused on the failures rather than the successes. But you can't easily replicate a win if you're overlooking all the ways a campaign has been effective. Establish regular reporting processes that not only track areas of improvement but also identify areas of success.

13. Lack of Buy-In

Without company-wide buy-in, marketing efforts may be undercut by insufficient budgets or improper attention to data. Make digital marketing initiatives clear to the entire team; the sooner everyone gets on the same page, the easier it becomes to allocate necessary resources.

14. Audits Few & Far Between

Failure to conduct periodic audits and ROI analyses can result in missed optimization opportunities. Schedule quarterly meetings to review performance data and assess campaign effectiveness. Be sure to share the information gathered with your marketing partner, as a data-based strategy is one of the best ways to grow a law firm.

15. Unbalanced Reliance

Relying too heavily on internal teams – teams that may not have relevant experience – impedes progress and can lead to burnout. Conversely, relying too much on external sources could present communication issues. Strike a balance between leveraging team members' expertise and collaborating effectively with external partners to maximize results.

16. Inconsistency

Whether it's in the number of times you post a blog or your messaging, inconsistency undermines marketing efforts. Maintain audience engagement and build credibility by establishing a consistent content calendar with a cohesive messaging plan.

17. Ignoring Your Online Reputation

A slew of negative reviews, or no reviews at all, can destroy an online presence. In today's digital world, online reviews help make or break a law firm. Actively solicit and manage them, promptly addressing negative feedback while leveraging positive reviews to help build trust with potential clients.

18. A Website – Not The Website

Using a lackluster website template, throwing in some stock images, and having the intern write the copy doesn't just hinder conversions; it deters visitors altogether. Invest in professional website design and development, as well as content that reflects your brand identity, communicates value propositions effectively, and guides users through the conversion funnel.

See for yourself the difference a quality general practice or personal injury law firm website can have.

19. Ignoring Directory Listings

Directory listings account for roughly half of Google's local search algorithm. If you're not on them, you're missing out on lots of potential traffic. Make sure your firm is set up on all relevant directories, including legal-specific ones like Avvo.

20. Failure to Leverage Paid Advertising

Without an adequate budget and thought put into paid advertising opportunities, a law firm's reach and impact are limited. Invest in targeted paid ad campaigns across the channels your ideal client persona is most active on. This will help increase visibility, drive traffic, and generate high-quality leads.

Sound Overwhelming? Partner With WISE

There's another way to turn a failing or nonexistent digital marketing strategy into a success – put it in the hands of experts, like the ones here at WISE.

We've helped many law firms define their goals, develop data-driven strategies, and grow faster than what was thought possible. If you're ready to bypass these common pitfalls and optimize your strategy and online presence, book a WISE consultation today.