Law firms of any size need some level of marketing for long-term growth and sustainability. To be successful, every law firm must focus on its marketing. In an ideal world, lawyers would have the time to do what they do best and also market their business so it can grow. However, lawyers are inherently busy individuals, and it often doesn’t make sense to try to do it all themselves. Trying to do it all alone is overwhelming, and your time is best spent helping clients.

The simple answer to this time crunch dilemma is to hire someone in-house to take over the marketing efforts. But for many firms, that has a laundry list of drawbacks, such as additional time and expense. Perhaps you don’t have the marketing needs or budget to hire someone to market your law firm on a full- or even part-time basis. Hiring someone in-house means you need to have enough work and room in your budget to keep them busy. So, what are your other options?

Do it Yourself

Continuing to market your law firm yourself is one option. But let’s be realistic; you cannot do it all. With your busy schedule, you might only have one to three hours per week to dedicate to your marketing efforts. If this is the case, pick one or two marketing elements to be consistent with. For example, focus on your blogs or social media posts. If you need more help, as this tiny sliver of weekly time is not likely to move the needle or be sustainable, it’s time to outsource.

Hire an Agency or Freelancer

One viable option could be hiring an agency or freelancer to take over all or most of your marketing tasks. Outsourcing can help take some of this pressure off. Leaving your marketing in the hands of an experienced and knowledgeable agency or freelancer gives you peace of mind that it’s being done optimally. It also lets you focus on your clients and practicing law—which is what you went to school for, after all.

Identify Your Marketing Goals

If you decide to go this route, determine what your primary marketing goals are and go from there:

• Do you want more leads?

• Do you want to see more conversions?

• Do you need to get more referrals?

• Do you need a better ROI for your marketing dollars?

By listing your marketing goals and dreams and what you’re already doing, you can visualize your marketing gap and identify when it’s time to work with a professional. The more significant this gap, the more likely you need to hire a professional as soon as possible. In the meantime, you could be missing out on signing new clients.

Get an Outside Opinion

When you work with a freelancer or marketing agency, you will have a professional on your side who can also audit your marketing plan and tell you what your marketing is missing. Having another person, especially a marketing expert, lay eyes on what you’ve done to market your law firm and your future plans can help you identify your weaknesses and course correct to the right path. Marketing professionals can take what you have already started and turn it into something bigger and more successful.

Benefits of Working with a Marketing Agency or Freelancer

Working with a marketing agency or freelancer can provide your law firm with the following benefits:

• Increased brand awareness

• Greater ability to be found on the internet

• More website traffic

• Building trust and credibility with your audience

• Improved online presence and engagement

• Conversion rate optimization

• Cost efficiency

• Tracking and interpreting marketing efforts

• Strategy and creativity – for example, creating targeted campaigns for niche clients

Last but not least, they allow you to focus on obtaining optimal outcomes for your clients instead of trying to market your law firm.