How We Helped A Law Firm Increase Local Lead Volume In Five

In 2014, Stangl Law, S.C., a local criminal defense law firm approached us with two big problems: a deprecated website and a large digital advertising budget with little to show for it. Good leads were few and far between and the entire marketing budget was achieving next to no return. To turn a trickle of lackluster leads into a steady stream of valuable clients, we made radical improvements to the firm’s website and implemented a local content marketing strategy—all while pairing back ad spending to a small, hyper-focused campaign. In just the first year, we achieved a 55% increase in lead volume. By the end of the fifth year in 2020, we achieved a 216% increase in lead volume compared to the first year. Given the firm’s relatively small local client base, its high lead volume often outpaces its ability to take on new clients, giving the firm the ability to pick and choose preferred cases over others.

Poor marketing ROI and a website in need The firm’s marketing problems had two root causes: a website in desperate need of improvement and a poorly-managed ad spend that provided almost no return. The website was deprecated in virtually every way. It suffered from poor structure, stale design, little client-focused information, and no opportunities for converting traffic into leads beyond a phone number listing. Marketing automation tools—like those that enable firms to send instant emails to new leads and receive text message notifications when new leads are created— were non-existent. Nothing was being tracked, so no data was available to identify problems and make improvements. Without marketing tools or a strategy to deploy them, the firm’s business development program was suffering. Prior to partnering with us, it had been spending thousands each month in Google ads that simply didn’t work. Instead of appearing in front of prospects searching for local attorneys and relevant legal questions, they were being injected on sites all over the web. Combined, these problems amounted to a nearly empty pipeline of new prospective clients. The reliance on incoming phone calls alone ignored the massive opportunity for generating clients who were actively looking for legal advice and qualified attorneys online.

The strategy for improvement boiled down to a few key elements: Re-investing the ad budget in creating high-quality, informative articles to attract and convert prospective clients searching for answers to relevant legal questions. Paring down digital advertising to target just a handful of search queries: those whose searchers were most likely to be actively looking to hire an attorney. Re-designing and re-developing the firm’s website to present a more professional “front-door” for prospects while also having the functionality to easily convert traffic into leads and report on successes. Over the course of our partnership, we’ve rolled out two new websites, both combining the latest marketing automation tools with a modern look and feel exuding credibility and authority. Today, the site gives prospects everything they want from a law firm’s website when looking for answers and legal help: Dedicated site pages for each practice area Success stories and testimonials Compelling, informative videos In-depth blog articles that answer critical questions An easy way to contact the firm and request a consultation