In the legal industry, marketing is a classic tale of the haves and have-nots. Large national and global firms clearly have significant marketing and business development teams. One study estimated that as many as 7,500 marketing, business development and communications professionals are working for AmLaw 200 firms, and firms grossing $1 billion or more have one marketer for every six partners.
But at the other end of the scale, at firms with fewer than 20 lawyers and less than $10 million in revenue—in other words, the vast majority of law firms in America—marketing is far more of a catch-as-catch-can affair. And at the vast majority of those firms, new data shows, lawyers are operating without a strategy for marketing their businesses.
According to a Best Law Firms survey of thousands of U.S. firms, just 33% of small firms say they have a documented marketing or business development strategy. Another 17% say they are in the process of creating a plan, and 8% acknowledge they don’t have a strategy, but need one. That leaves 42% of small firms who say they don’t have a plan—and don’t anticipate developing one.
Every year, as part of its annual rankings process, Best Law Firms collects data from U.S. law firms across the United States. In its latest survey, Best Law Firms asked firms of all sizes about their marketing efforts and gathered information from more than 3,700 respondents. This includes segments of the legal industry that are rarely surveyed about their marketing practices, namely smaller and midsize firms outside the Am Law 200.
Clients Wanted
Smaller firms may be struggling to create a strategy, in part, because they lack the tools to measure the return on investment of their marketing efforts. One-third of firms with fewer than 20 lawyers said they did not measure ROI and had no interest in doing so. Another third either did not gauge the return on marketing investment but would like to, or were unsure how their firms handled the task.
The picture was only marginally better at firms with more than 20 lawyers. A little more than half said they had the systems and technology in place to track marketing ROI. And a significantly lower percentage of larger firms (12%) said they had no plans to measure return on investment. The remaining third said they would like to measure ROI or were unsure.
Without a plan of action and a way to evaluate results, firms make the task of finding new clients far more difficult. This is a particular issue because most of the law firms surveyed said they are looking to bring aboard more clients.
More than 90% of firms, large and small, answered “yes” to the question “is your firm actively trying to engage new clients?” Less than one-tenth of 1% of firms with more than 20 lawyers said they were at full capacity. For firms with fewer than 20 lawyers, just 9% said they were not looking to take on more work—many of those were solo or two-person practices. This means 9 out of 10 small firms are in the market for new business.
More than 3,500 of the surveyed firms supplied data about the types of clients they hope to attract. Just over 40% said they were looking for corporate or business clients. Another quarter of respondents are aiming for general consumer work. And one-fifth of firms are seeking both. A number of the firms said they are seeking clients in specialized practices. Many hope to work with high-net worth individuals, or organizational clients, such as labor unions, healthcare institutions, and government agencies.
Larger firms, the survey shows, are more intent on attracting corporate rather than general consumer clients. Just 6% of firms with more than 20 lawyers said they wanted general consumer clients compared to 61% who said they were aiming for corporations or businesses.
Among smaller firms, 36% are primarily seeking general consumer clients, another 33% want corporate/business clients, 20% are targeting both.
Spending Power
To reach new clients, firms must invest in their marketing and business development efforts. For many one or two-person firms, even a few thousand dollars can be a stretch. Budget constraints, however, make having a marketing and business development plan—and following it —all the more critical.
Best Law Firms asked firms to provide their marketing budgets for the previous year and whether their spending had increased, decreased, or remained flat. Overall, budgets ranged from as a low as a few hundred dollars at solo firms to more than $6 million. Among all firms, the median marketing budget was $220,000. Firms with more than 100 lawyers reported a median spend of $1.4 million. At the 50 to 100-lawyer level, the median was $350,000; at 20-50 lawyers, $156,000; and at firms with fewer than 20 lawyers, $17,500.
About half of all firms said their marketing budget remained the same as the prior year. About 30% of small firms and a little less than 40% of larger firms said their budgets had increased. Only 5% of larger and 4% of smaller firms cut their marketing and business development spending.
Half of the firms surveyed said they handle their marketing efforts internally, in most cases with one person. About 10% hire an outside marketing agency, and a little less than 30% have a hybrid arrangement, with outside agencies sharing responsibilities with in-house marketers and lawyer-led marketing committees.
Marketing to New Clients
What methods are firms using to market to new clients? The number one choice was the oldest form of social media available—word of mouth.
Three-quarters of larger firms and smaller firms alike said they relied on referrals and positive buzz from clients, and presumably, other lawyers, to reach new prospects.
Overall, marketing via thought leadership ranked highly, particularly at larger firms. Speaking engagements and events were favored by 71% of firms with more than 20 lawyers—and ranked as their second most-useful marketing tool. Blogs and podcasts also remain popular choices for those firms. Among firms with fewer than 20 lawyers, about half said they were using speaking engagements and events. Blogs were somewhat less popular, and only 7% said they were podcasting.
Thought leadership can be a critical tool, especially for firms looking for corporate clients.
According to annual surveys of corporate managers by Edelman and LinkedIn, thought leadership content plays an outsized role in decisions to purchase products or professional services. Two-thirds of corporate managers said that an organization's thought leadership content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competency than its marketing materials and product sheets.
Without a plan of action and a way to evaluate results, firms make the task of finding new clients far more difficult."
It also provides proof that an organization genuinely understands or can solve specific business challenges, the survey said. Another two-thirds said a piece of thought leadership had significantly changed—for the better—their perceptions about an organization.
Content works hand-in-hand with digital marketing. And while websites are practically universal, only half of firms in Best Law Firms’ survey said they saw their websites as their go-to marketing method. On the other hand, two-thirds of larger firms are embracing social media’s potential compared to just over one-third of smaller firms. And 39% of small and 33% of larger firms cited search engine optimization as a key component of their outreach to new clients.
If anything, the survey makes clear that lawyers remain very comfortable with more traditional forms of client engagement. Aside from word of mouth and speaking engagements, 52% of smaller and 20% of larger firms continue to favor print advertising. Five percent of firms are using television and radio ads, and 4% buy billboard space. Roadside billboards are twice as popular with firms as advertising on YouTube.
Describing Their Services
Best Law Firms also asked firms how they would describe themselves to a potential client. Among the hundreds of responses, here are some of the common themes that emerged:
- Most firms said they would highlight their experience, and their aptitude at tailoring their services to clients’ individual needs. Firms discussed “providing discerning and proactive legal advice,” and their “commitment to understanding client business objectives,” or positioning themselves as a trusted business adviser.
- Many firms touted their commitment to diversity and inclusion as a way to mirror the values of their clients. This branding could be particularly potent with those corporations that have diversity requirements for their outside counsel.
- Others said they would focus on their practice and industry niches. A specialized pitch, they posit, could attract businesses that believe their needs would be better served by a firm with industry-specific expertise.
- A number of firms touted, in their words, “cutting-edge technology solutions for legal challenges” and “innovation-driven legal strategies.” The focus on tech may signal to clients that the firm is open to new solutions and is open to seeking efficiency that lowers their costs.
The Impact of AI
Although some firms discussed technology in their hypothetical client pitches, few, if any, touted their prowess with artificial intelligence. The hesitation over generative AI is spilling over into the marketing function, as well. Best Law Firms asked firms, “Do you think GenAI will impact your marketing strategy and budget?”
The response? Uncertainty. Half of lawyers at larger and smaller firms said they were unsure how AI would affect their marketing and business development efforts. Larger firms were more likely to say they believed GenAI would have an impact than smaller firms. In fact, nearly one-third of smaller firms said AI would not affect their marketing strategy.
Firms were also asked to comment on the potential impact of AI. Among the nearly 250 responses, a few key themes emerged.
First, several firms echoed the survey results. They are uncertain about artificial intelligence and have some reservations about the current tools available. As one commenter put it, “The AI revolution, in general, is like the mastery of fire by caveman; you either learn to cook with it, or you go extinct. GenAI poses several concerns, including illegal/unfair use of content, plagiarism, breach of confidentiality, and AI ‘hallucinations…but we believe these will be sussed out over time.”
Others focused on the potential cost savings and efficiency gains they may realize once AI is fully integrated into their marketing efforts. AI tools could automate content creation, and certain routine tasks, and provide more targeted digital marketing efforts. “GenAI will enhance our abilities for targeted marketing on search engines at a more effective cost and also to assist us in locating new clients who may have need for services in our practice areas and locations,” another commenter said.
To fully take advantage of generative AI’s potential, however, firms must first have a strategy in place for their marketing and business development efforts and a commitment to measuring their return on investment. In particular, AI could help smaller firms with limited budgets and a historical reliance on more traditional marketing methods to embrace digital tools and improve their ability to attract new business. In doing so, they may help close the gap between the industry’s haves and have-nots.
David L. Brown is a legal affairs writer and consultant, who has served as head of editorial at ALM Media, editor-in-chief of The National Law Journal and Legal Times, and executive editor of The American Lawyer. He consults on thought leadership strategy and creates in-depth content for legal industry clients and works closely with Best Law Firms’ sibling company, Good2bSocial, as senior content consultant.
