Where Should Law Firms Put Their Future Advertising Dollars?
Where should you put your future law firm marketing dollars? The source of current and projected future clients is important to track and project. Good marketers have always watched to see where the market is going when making these decisions. While there is no one correct answer, growth of advertising providers is a good indicator.
The Internet
A March 30, 2011 USA Today article stated that Google says 2011 should be its biggest hiring year. Its previous record was 2007 when it added 6,200 workers. Google currently has 30,000 employees. Facebook has more than 2,000 employees and is growing about 50% per year. It is moving to a 52-acre site that can accommodate 3,600. Twitter has more than 400 workers and plans to expand to 3,000 by July 2013. It had 140 employees a year ago.
The Internet is projected to be the leading medium consumers will use to find lawyers by 2013.
The Yellow Pages
Numerous studies have shown that fewer and fewer Americans use the yellow pages. According to a report by Borrell Associates, the yellow pages industry is expected to lose nearly $5 billion in revenue over the next few years. Leading yellow page publishers Idearc (formerly Verizon Yellow Pages) and R.H. Donnelley filed bankruptcy in 2009. Less than 13% of consumers ages 25-34 consider the yellow pages their primary source for finding businesses, along with less than a quarter of consumers ages 35-44.
TV
According to eMarketer, U.S. spending on major media will continue its slow recovery from the recession this year, with dollars inching up by just 1%. Overall ad spending won’t reach 2007 levels again within the forecast period, but television is making a better-than-average comeback and will surpass 2007 spending levels by 2012.
Experts are divided, but TV still works well if a law firm’s advertising budget is substantial and the campaign is well developed. TV advertising is, however, being affected by TIVO and DVR.
A USA Today March 31, 2011 article entitled “High-Growth Media Search Leads to Google” stated that search-advertising growth is projected to increase at 25% between 2010 and 2012 while TV advertising is expected to rise 9% in the same period.
The best leads source is, and will continue to be, referrals. Well developed law firm social media campaigns can help build your law firm referral network.
Contact Us If We Can Help
If you would like assistance in evaluating your advertising campaign and/or improving your ROI, please contact us at marketing@consultwebs.com or 800-872-6590.
David Jenyns says:
June 2, 2011 at 8:35pmWe also got the same response from people when we interviewed some in Melbourne months ago. Here’s a snippet of the results:
The Survey Results
Q1. How often do you use the print version of the Yellow Pages?
7.69% use it regularly
23.08% once a month
15.38% once a year
53.85% never use it
Q2. How do you search for products and services you’re looking for?
92.86% use Google.com
7.14% use Yellow Pages
Respondent Quote: “I reckon the yellow pages is obsolete, why would you spend money on the yellow pages when they’ll just as easily find you on Google.”
Q3. How often do you use Google?
100% use Google.com everyday
Respondent Quote: “If I need information I go straight to Google.”
Based from the initial results, it seems that people are more convinced that they can find more information using search engines like Google.
This also gives a hint to guys over YP that they need to do something about it since more and more people love Google more than them lately.
Tanner Jones says:
June 6, 2011 at 12:24pmThanks for the great response, David! As more people use their mobile devices to access the Web, it will become even more convenient for users to find products and services via Google and other search engines. I agree regarding your last paragraph. We all must adapt with consumer behavior if we want to remain successful.