How Much Should I Invest in Marketing for My Personal Injury Law Firm?

Do you need a marketing plan for a personal injury law firm? The primary purpose of marketing for your personal injury law firm to generate leads. Although you are in business to help people with their due justice, you are also in business to make money and you make money by getting new clients, which you get from generating leads. Marketing is a strategy and tactic used to attract clients to your business. It is a broad, yet simple field that basically falls into two categories; accountable marketing and unaccountable marketing and every strategy used falls into one of the categories. Accountable marketing, whether the investment you make is time or money, will have a measurable return on your investment and unaccountable marketing is basically anything that is not accountable. 

For example, it may be the actions you are using to fulfill the marketing box, instead of focusing on results. As overwhelming and confusing as marketing may seem, the most common question among law firms when it comes to marketing is “how much should I invest in marketing”? This may seem like a simple question, but actually, the investment cost involves more than simply setting a goal for costs.

Setting a Personal Injury Law Firm Marketing Budget

The marketing budget varies depending on the type of law you practice; if your law firm practices personal injury, you will generally need to spend more in order to generate leads from potential clients. Basically, personal injury marketing is more expensive because it is competitive. Factors to consider when setting a marketing budget for your personal injury law firm include:

• Profit margins

The larger your profit margins are, the more your firm can afford to spend on marketing. For instance, if marketing can net you a $100,000 case, you can in turn afford to spend $1000 on a sure-fire marketing strategy. 

• Gross annual revenues

The more successful the law firm is, the more you can afford to spend to increase the firm’s level of success. For instance, it isn’t unusual for a successful personal injury law firm to spend more than 12-15 percent of their gross annual revenue on marketing.

• Target market

If your firm markets to targeted consumers, you will generally need to spend more to get their attention, especially in the competitive field of personal injury law. Defining a target market is critical for narrowing down how much you need to spend in order to reach them. For example, instead of targeting a general market for “accident victims”, be more specific, such as consumers that have been injured in semi-truck accidents or work-related injuries.

• Geographic marketing area

If your personal injury law firm is located in a highly populated urban area the targeted marketing area may be as small as five square miles, but in a rural area, the market area may be as large as 50 square miles.

• The competition

If you are competing against several other personal injury law firms in the same geographic area, you will need to spend more to compete against them for potential new clients.

• Technology investments

Generally, personal injury law firms that have invested in technology as a way to streamline their business don’t have to spend as much on marketing as a firm that isn’t automated. This basically means that when you are able to utilize automated marketing tasks, such as email and newsletter marketing, you will save both money and time. However, if your firm isn’t automated, you will spend more money to outsource this task.

• Sales cycle

Unlike some practices, such as family planning that doesn’t require immediate actions, practices like personal injury law firms typically have a short sales cycle; someone that is injured at work, generally needs help right away. When there is a lot of competition, your firm may need to spend more on marketing in order to help you reach clients on a consistent basis.

• Average sales

Personal Injury law firms often have clients that earn them varying amounts of money, but their clients also require an education process regarding their injuries, the accident itself, and basic representation. This education generally means you need to spend more on marketing your personal injury law firm in order to establish the credibility of the firm.

• The lifetime value of the average client

What does a personal injury lawyer do? The primary difference between personal injury law firms and other types of law firms is that their clients are typically one-time clients, whereas a family lawyer for instance may be contacted by the same client for several different life events. In this situation, you may be able to use lower-cost marketing strategies to get new clients, but you will need to budget accordingly, which is determined by the specific type of marketing.

Conclusion:

Marketing plan for personal injury law firm? Marketing is an effective, yet complicated, time-consuming strategy that can be extremely beneficial for your firm when it is done in the correct way. However, poor marketing strategies can ultimately hurt your business. Is it worth hiring a personal injury attorney? Do I need a personal injury lawyer? For this reason, when looking for a specific amount to invest in marketing, it’s best to talk with a professional that can develop marketing strategies to help the best attorneys get the best cases. Keep in mind that throughout the marketing process, that some marketing strategies are less costly than others.

For instance, email and newsletter blasts may cost less than several billboards. The goal is to get the attention of potential clients, so whether you are investing the typical amount spent by personal law firms or you are on a tight budget that requires less than the standard 12-15 percent, it’s the marketing strategies themselves that make the difference, so it’s best to spend accordingly.