As we have discussed in this blog ad infinitum, online marketing is a must for the modern day attorney. Whether you strategy is lead generation or thought leadership, the world wide web offers unlimited opportunities for business development for lawyers. It’s about putting together the right campaign to help you / your law firm achieve your goals.
At WebPresence, Esq., our marketing strategists are former attorneys. This gives us a leg up, as not only do we understand your law practice, we understand the legal marketplace. We will not suggest that you engage in a form of marketing that will not work for your practice or help you achieve your specific goals. We will also work with you to ensure that your marketing efforts makes financial sense.
Which brings us to two big questions:
How much does each lead costs you? And how much does it cost you to get a new client?
Knowing the answers to these questions can help you ensure that your marketing dollars are well-spent and even allow you to put more money toward effective marketing strategies, bringing you more clients.
Measuring Your Average Cost Per Lead
To estimate the Cost Per Lead (CPL), let’s start by looking at the number of in-bound calls / emails your firm receives in a month. A lead is considered the prospect’s initial contact with the firm. Hopefully, every person who answers the phone at your office is keeping track of who is calling and where they are calling from on a lead-tracking form.
With an accurate idea of how many leads your firm is generating each month, you can calculate CPL. Here’s how:
- Select a time frame (a month, a quarter or a year).
- Determine how many leads were produced during that time frame.
- Add up the law firm’s financial investment in marketing and business development during that time frame.
- Divide the investment by the number of leads.
Whether this number is a reasonable one will depend on your average client value. If the average client brings you $2000 and the ACL is $200, then you’re likely in good shape. The other number to look at is the conversion rate of your leads, with greater than 30% being ideal for most firms.
Measuring Your Average Cost Per Client
Now let’s look at your law firm’s average Cost Per Client (CPC), or how much it actually costs your firm to produce one new client. This number does not look at how much is costs for you to perform your work.
To estimate your average CPC:
- Select a time frame (a month, a quarter or a year).
- Determine how many “new clients” were produced during that time frame.
- Add up the law firm’s financial investment in marketing and business development during that same time frame.
- Divide the investment by the number of new clients.
Once again, the number you come out with for your CPC will be good or not so good depending on your average client value. The higher your average client value, the higher your CPC can be, so long as you are still making a notable profit.
To discuss whether these numbers make sense for your firm, contact our legal marketing team to receive a thorough, complimentary marketing audit.
