The performance of every law firm function should be assessed on a regular basis, and that includes legal marketing. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of law firm marketing efforts are some of the most significant measures of success because they examine your firm’s ability to withstand the competitive legal marketplace and attract new clients.
KPIs are quantitative performance measurements used for the analysis and monitoring of business activities. They help identify which part of your law firm marketing strategy is working, and which parts are ripe for improvement.
Effective KPIs should be linked to specific business strategies and involve relevant criteria that align with your firm’s priorities. For this post, the business strategy is a legal marketing plan, and the priority is your law firm marketing goal. With these specifics in place, your practice can use the following KPIs to achieve critical points of analysis and measure progress made towards your law firm marketing goals.
Marketing KPIs for Law Firms
Marketing can take up a significant percentage of a law firm’s budget, so you need assurance that these costs are resulting in comparable returns. You need to know whether or not your marketing strategies are actually bringing in new clients and increasing revenue.
These top Marketing KPIs will help your law firm collect and analyze the data needed to make informed legal marketing decisions:
Leads
Leads are consumers who contact a firm with the potential of creating an attorney-client relationship. The more leads accumulated, the more opportunities for conversion and revenue generation, so it’s important to have an automated software system in place to track leads. Many law firm Client Relationship Management (CRM) software platforms include tracking software that helps firms get the most out of their prospect lists, with easy and organized lead tracking.
Acquisition Costs
Acquisition costs are those associated with marketing efforts, including the costs of advertising, promotions and legal marketing email campaigns. This KPI breaks down these costs per client gained using the following formula:
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) = Total Cost of Sales & Marketing/ Total Customers Acquired in that Duration
The resulting number exemplifies how much money your firm typically spends on the acquisition of each law firm client. With this data, you can then determine whether the average revenue generated by clients exceeds the CAC, which is a preferred result because it indicates a positive return on your law firm’s marketing investment.
How to Set KPIs for Your Law Firm
Setting—and tracking—the right KPIs can help you make informed, data-driven decisions for the future and run a more profitable law firm.
Revenue
Profit is the main goal of all law firm marketing efforts, so a revenue KPI is essential for analyzing the effectiveness of your legal marketing processes. With customizable legal data reporting, your firm can clarify which marketing efforts have resulted in increased revenues and which are costing more than they are benefitting. Revenue KPIs help your firm be more targeted in its marketing plan through the detailed assessment of its current performance and more informed decisions for future goals.
Website Conversion Rate
The website conversion rate uses the traffic-to-lead ratio to represent the number of website visitors that actually turn into leads within a given time period. The higher the ratio, the higher the leads, which equates to higher levels of revenue for your law firm. This KPI can also be used for your firm’s other online legal marketing campaigns to help determine which types of content bring in the most leads. A conversion can be defined in a variety of ways, but for the purposes of this KPI, once an online viewer or reader becomes a viable law firm lead, a website conversion has occurred.
Bounce Rate
The Bounce Rate measures the percentage of visitors to your law firm website that leave with no intention of exploring beyond the landing page. This is calculated as follows:
Bounce Rate = (Single-page sessions / All visitor sessions)100
This KPI helps you analyze the effectiveness of your website’s design and attractiveness to potential leads. It is also a good indication about the strength of your online marketing content. A high bounce rate could mean that your legal content is not adequately catching the attention of potential clients.
Organic Traffic
Most law firm prospects start their hunt for the right firm with an internet search. They open a search engine and enter terms like “Chicago divorce attorney.” Organic traffic are those visitors that find your law firm website through these keyword searches. Measuring this metric allows you to gauge the success rate of your online marketing content, your keywords, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts.
Response Time
Response time measures the time between a lead’s first contact and your company’s response to them. This KPI is an important factor when it comes to converting leads into paying law firm clients. Delays in lead communication could mean a lost opportunity and a waste of marketing investments because leads will look to other law firms for the legal representation they need.
CRM software for law firms can be extremely useful for this KPI. These platforms can provide detailed response information. Use the response time KPI to ensure that your firm is consistent with timely response times that meet or exceed those of your competitors.
Conversion Time
This KPI measures the time it takes for interested consumers to become law firm clients. It reveals the effectiveness of your law firm marketing strategies and tests the likelihood of turning a lead into a paying client. Extended conversion times may mean that potential leads are on the fence about your law firm and considering other options. It may also indicate an internal law firm problem where your firm is not initiating the legal client intake process in a timely manner.
Check out our post to explore proven marketing techniques for helping mass tort practices attract viable leads and convert them into paying clients.
This post has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Law Ruler’s Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your Law Firm
Law firm marketing can seem overwhelming, but Law Ruler can help your firm drive growth with data-backed decision-making. Our guide lays out the basics of creating a legal marketing strategy, so you can demonstrate your expertise to potential clients via a timely, helpful, and interesting marketing message that converts.
Basic Marketing Tactics to Help Meet These KPIs
As you look at these KPIs and make plans for the current and future success of your law firm, consider implementing some marketing best practices that will help you achieve these KPIs. Marketing for law firms follows the same basic principles as marketing in other areas, but with a specific focus for this industry.
Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader
When people choose a law firm, they want confidence that they are working with an attorney who is knowledgeable and experienced in their particular field. Establishing yourself as a thought leader can build this confidence and help draw more people to your firm. There are multiple ways to do this. One is through content marketing. Publishing well-written content in your subject area and then promoting that on your social media pages can work well. The best place to start is considering your Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and creating dedicated blog posts for each question.
Video content is also quite helpful in establishing your knowledge and authority. Again, create quality video content, then publish it on social media. If people choose to share your videos, they will draw more potential people to your law firm’s website and services.
Finally, consider starting a podcast. Podcasting is becoming a popular form of education and entertainment, and you can establish yourself as a thought leader with an engaging and informative legal podcast.
Create an Effective, Lead-Generating Website
Next, focus on your website. Not only should your legal website be attractive and helpful to your visitors, but it should also generate leads. There are multiple ways to do this.
First, make sure your website works well on both mobile and desktop. A growing number of people will be using mobile devices to search for legal services, and your site needs to convey the right message, be user-friendly, and accept leads well on mobile. Responsive web design ensures people can read and interact with your website, regardless of the device they use.
Second, use the content on your site to elicit leads. Invite people to contact your website. Ensure the site loads quickly and engages well. With an effective website providing helpful content and strong call-to-actions, you should see your bounce rate go down and your conversion rate go up.
Optimize and Automate Email Marketing
Email marketing keeps your law firm at the forefront of a potential client’s minds. Yet it can be tedious to send follow-up emails on an individual basis, and emails need to be effective in order to support your marketing goals. Optimize your email funnels, and then automate them using your legal CRM.
With the right system in place, you can funnel a lead into your marketing email, and then move them along based on the actions they take. When they switch from lead to client, the system will automatically move them to your client marketing funnel. If they are still a lead, it will guide them through a series of marketing messages designed to help them make that step.
With automation, you can plan your email funnel one time, and then send every client through the same one. Personalization features built into the legal CRM make each email feel highly personal to the recipient and where they are in the client funnel, even though you are sending a similar message to every client. Thus, you save time while improving the effectiveness of your marketing.
SMS and Phone Call Marketing
Another tool that law firms can use to reach potential clients is SMS and phone call marketing. Texts and phone calls, as long as they are not too generic or sound like they are coming from a robot, can go far in reaching potential law firm clients. A legal CRM system can make implementing these easier. You won’t have to remember to make the phone call, as the system will start the process for you. You can automatically send SMS messages to potential clients as well and keep those messages as personal as possible.
Make Marketing Easier to Reach Your Target KPIs with the Right Legal CRM
No matter the type of marketing you choose to focus on, it takes time to work well. You will need to find ways to save time without sacrificing the quality of your marketing efforts. Legal CRM can do both. Law Ruler is a CRM designed specifically for law firms. With customizable features that automate, track, and implement your marketing, you can measure whether or not you are reaching those KPIs, while also ensuring that each lead and client gets a personalized, positive experience with your firm.
If you want to see the difference Law Ruler can make for you, schedule a demo today.
Transform Your Law Firm
Maximize your client intake process and acquire more leads with Law Ruler’s all-in-one legal intake and marketing automation software. Schedule a personalized, one-on-one demonstration of Law Ruler today!