How to Find New Clients for Your Law Firm for Under $10,000/month

Clients are the bread and butter of your business. It’s expected that you’re going to spend a significant part of your budget on finding and retaining them. Unfortunately, the market right now is fierce with competition, and it can seem nearly impossible for your firm to bring in enough clients to keep profits up and keep you busy. 

The demand for legal services is high, but the competition makes it hard to come up with a unique value proposition (UVP). What makes your law firm stand out from the rest? If you can define this, you will be doing your law firm a big favor. That will even get you started on your new client outreach before the list of tactics we’re going to cover below. 

Having a UVP allows you to give clients a specific reason why you are better than every other law firm out there. Even if you have to invest in a consulting firm or marketing partner to help you define that UVP, it will be an investment well-made. And speaking of well-made investments, here are some other tactics to help with clients and lead generation for your law firm. 

Tactic #1: Pay for SERP ads

Cost: $350 to $5,000 per month, varies 

Depending on the tools you use and who does the work, you could spend more or less on your paid ads. You should utilize pay-per-click campaigns and sponsored ads from Google and other search engines to help build your network of clients. While some clients will find you organically, paid ads guarantee that a whole different audience will find you in their time of need. It also allows you to deliberately place your law firm right in front of people instead of relying on organic rankings to do the job. 

A paid ad strategy needs to be part of your new client acquisition efforts. Law firms simply cannot compete in today’s market otherwise. Of course, you can’t just pay for it for the sake of it—you have to be deliberate in allocating funds for ad campaigns, determining cost-per-click limits, and other functional aspects of budgeting and planning a paid ad campaign. 

Tactic #2: Build a strong network 

Cost: Free, or whatever you spend on networking events, etc.

The business of law relies heavily on referrals and recommendations. Therefore, building a strong professional network, as well as a strong network with your clients, will make all the difference in your success as a law firm today. This is an area that is worth investing in. While you do need to utilize free resources like social media profiles and professional forums, you should also be willing to spend money on things like attending legal networking and other professional events. 

The best way to be successful here is to build a networking strategy that includes all of the tools and strategies that you will use to create your network and get your law firm’s name out there in the spotlight. Allocate a budget for event tickets and fees for video conferences and other spending that will help you improve your networking. These connections are invaluable to client acquisition and keeping a steady stream of leads coming in. 

Tactic #3: Invest in a strong, informative website 

Cost: $500-$5,000, depending on who you hire and what work is done 

You probably already have a website (or you should). However, it might not be everything that it could be. Is it optimized for keywords and content? Is it reader-friendly and designed to be easy to navigate? Have you updated the site within the last year? If not, you need to and you need to spend the money to do it right. 

There’s a lot of web design and updating that you can do yourself if you have a site that’s built on WordPress or a similar platform. However, there are also some aspects that you’ll want to pay for. High-quality legal resources, such as eBooks or blog posts, can be outsourced to freelance legal writers for a lot less than you expect. And when it comes to site design and mobile responsiveness, it’s best to partner with a professional or third-party that knows how to deliver for your clients. 

Tactic #4: Build your online presence 

Cost: $80-$200 per hour for professional marketing services 

By and large, the best way to overcome all that competition that you’re finding online is to increase your online presence and build up your digital image so that people see you as an authority in your industry. You can do several things on your own to improve this, including making sure that you have active profiles on all social media platforms and that you engage with people regularly on each platform. 

You will also want to pay someone to go through and do an SEO audit and a brand audit to check out what your online presence looks like and find areas of improvement. This isn’t a one-time investment, either. It’s something that you’ll have to do regularly to make sure that your law firm is visible, and that it appears as a reputable authority and among the best in the industry. 

Tactic #5: Outsource what you can 

Cost: $250-$1,000 or more, depending on services outsourced and other factors

Outsourcing is something that has become a standard part of business for so many. The ways that you can outsource keep growing, and when it comes to attracting clients, why not outsource things like lead intake and communications? That way, you can focus on your existing clients and know that those incoming leads aren’t getting ignored or overlooked—they can be answered by a live person at all times when you choose the right partners. 

Smith.ai has a dedicated team of virtual receptionists that can handle all of your needs, starting with a 24/7 answering service so you never miss another opportunity. We’ll also be there to assist with lead screening and intake, appointment scheduling, live website chat, and even your outreach campaigns. And we’ll help you craft a strategy to manage every detail at an affordable price.

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai. 

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