You'll need to handle website design, content, SEO (search engine optimization), Google Adwords, social media marketing, email marketing, and more. It's not easy when you're busy meeting prospective clients and performing casework. Most lawyers lack the time and technical marketing expertise to keep everything moving. 

That's where a legal marketing agency comes into play.

Hiring a legal marketing agency sounds simple, but getting stuck with an expensive, underperforming agency that cannot deliver what you need is easy. So, what should you do to pick the right legal marketing agency for your law firm?

This guide will show some considerations when looking for a legal marketing agency. Continue reading to explore more.

What is a legal marketing agency?

A legal marketing agency is a company that works hand in hand with your law firm to create and manage strategies to attract quality leads.

With a dedicated legal marketing agency, your law firm can effectively advertise services on the Internet, social media platforms, email marketing, and other channels. The agency will use a variety of strategies to draw in new clients, expand your firm's caseload, and enhance your trustworthiness. 

Working with an experienced legal marketing agency will significantly reduce your time trying to build your firm, enabling you to concentrate on vital matters, like your clients. 

Why should you consider working with a legal marketing agency?

As mentioned above, hiring a legal marketing agency can save you time and resources. You don't need to spend time and money training your in-house staff or staying current with marketing trends. A trustworthy agency will have the necessary tools to carry out marketing campaigns, which can be costly if you buy them yourself. 

Here are several benefits of consulting with a legal marketing agency:

• Spend more time with your clients
• Build a solid online presence
• Establish yourself as an authority 
• Reduce expenses on marketing efforts that don't work
• Get advice from legal marketing experts

Besides, a legal marketing agency is often up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices. It can alter strategies to ensure your campaigns are as efficient as possible. 

According to the American Bar Association, only 33% of law firms (with 10-49 lawyers) have in-house marketing staff. Whatever the situation, by working with a legal marketing company, you may delegate marketing tasks to professionals while concentrating on assisting your clients in court.

7 Tips for Choosing the Right Legal Marketing Agency for Your Law Firm

#1 - Define your marketing goals and budget

Defining your marketing goals is essential to managing your expectations and measuring the success of your campaigns. It's best to determine your objectives before consulting with a legal marketing agency. 

For instance, consider the following:

• Do you require a brand new law firm website or want to optimize your existing website?
• Who is your target audience?
• Which geographic markets are you targeting?
• Are you looking to boost your reputation and online presence?
• How many new leads/clients are you targeting in the next month? (3 months? 6 months?)
• What increase in your revenue do you expect in the next month? (3 months? 6 months?)

Besides, you need to consider your budget so that the legal marketing agency knows how to help best meet your goals. Your marketing budget depends on the size of your legal practice, the competitiveness of your services, your area, and your annual revenue. 

Most small to medium-sized law firms do not have an annual marketing budget, and many are not satisfied with their marketing campaigns' effectiveness. If you don't have one, a legal marketing agency can help you address these issues. Experts will also get you on the path to satisfaction with clear marketing and advertising strategies. 

#2 - Hire a niche agency if possible 

You should see if the agency caters to law firms specializing in a similar practice area as you. For instance, if you're an expert in family law, a legal marketing agency that only serves clients from, say, personal injury law is unlikely to provide you with high-quality, custom services. So, a quick look at their official website will help reveal their niche. 

Finding a niche agency can be difficult, but if you do, we recommend you give them priority consideration.  

#3 - Investigate their track record of success

Find an agency that thoroughly understands law firm marketing requirements and provides you with a proven track record of success. Ensure they're familiar with the following concepts:

• What are the best practices for optimizing a law firm website? Ask them about the elements of an easy-to-navigate and high-converting website.
• Which ideal keywords should you target with an SEO campaign? 
• Which local SEO strategies should you apply? You can ask them in more detail, for example, about SEO in NYC.
• How should you run a Google Adwords campaign to generate the highest performance?
• Which social media channels should your law firm focus on?
• What are the common legal directories?

Furthermore, ensure that your legal marketing agency is up-to-date with the latest trends. If experts from the agency contribute to legal marketing blogs, publish content frequently, or speak on the subject, those are all good signs. 

In addition, you can check honest reviews from previous clients on third-party platforms over which the agency has no control, such as Google Maps. You just need to type in the name of the legal marketing agency in the search bar of Google Maps, and you'll see the reviews section. 

If you see many negative or suspiciously positive reviews, you should consider another agency. Keep in mind that an agency may have no reviews, which may suggest that they are new to the game. 

#4 - Check their work processes and reporting procedures 

Some of the considerations here include the following:

• Which steps will they take to generate leads, create content, run SEO and ad campaigns, etc.?
• What level of contact will you have with the agency?
• Through whom can you channel ideas and questions?
• Can they work with your in-house staff effectively? 
• How can they help you track performance, analyze results, and then report back to you?

All these factors need to be established early on in the process. That way, you'll know what to expect from the legal marketing agency. 

#5 - Check contract conditions and fees

You're unlikely to commit to lengthy contracts until the relationship works. Here are a few things to consider:

• What is the minimum contract length for the services?
• Is it okay to arrange a monthly agreement?
• How can you break the agreement if it doesn't work?
• Which KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are used in the agreement? For example, website rankings, website traffic, and lead numbers.

It's also crucial to keep an eye on marketing expenditures. So, ask the agency the following questions about the fees:

• Does the agency charge hourly, monthly, or project-based rates?
• Do the fees remain the same monthly?
• Is it possible and easy to scale services up or down?
• What will the agency do if the agreed-upon results are not delivered?

Confirm how the agency charges its fees, so there are no misunderstandings or surprises. By learning the agency's fees, you can understand how much to budget for marketing and how to track your ROI (return on investment). 

#6 - Find an agency that educates clients

A legal marketing agency should show you the following:

• What they will do
• How they will implement it
• The significance of what they'll do
• The results you can expect

For example, if you contact an agency for help with your SEO campaigns, they should go the extra mile to explain different concepts to you in layperson's terms. Then, you can double-check what they told you using other third-party resources available on the Internet. 

#7 - Ask around

Before making your decision and signing contracts, try to find an existing client (e.g., your fellow lawyers) and ask for their opinions. 

They could confirm your good feelings about the agency, but you could also hear the inverse like they're not satisfied and thinking of switching. Either way, you will get valuable details from someone with real experience. 

Bonus tip: Don't make an instant decision 

Chances are you'll search for the "best legal marketing agency" on Google and hire the company that appears first. We don't say that this approach is wrong. The problem here is just because an agency ranks well for specific keywords doesn't mean it can meet your marketing requirements. 

Bashing your hiring decision solely on the agency's ranking on Google is a bad idea. It's essential to investigate whether they can help you reach where you want to be on search engines. 

Now Take Your Time To Research

Finding the right legal marketing agency for your law firm is challenging and involves a lot of research and back-and-forth questioning. Now that you know tips for choosing the best possible partner to manage your marketing, you'll make a decision much easier.