Which Will Target Prospective Clients Better?

For years, there has been a debate among marketing and advertising experts about which sector of their field (digital advertising vs. traditional advertising) is more profitable and yields a higher ROI.

Digital marketing continues to gain ground year after year, thanks to the excellent results it provides for each law firm that manages to create successful marketing campaigns for their brands, making use of elements such as social media.

The picture does not look good for traditional marketing, which gradually evolves to adapt to the new digital way of living and the Internet of Things (IoT). Television channels and cable providers have seen how the rating numbers have fallen dramatically over the past five years, due to the success of streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney +.

According to Leichtman Research Group, in 2018 alone, cable providers in the United States lost 1 million users. In 2013, 86% of US households used this service and by the end of 2018, the figure dropped to 78%, almost 10% in less than a decade.

Looking at the previous numbers, it is not difficult to understand why law firms that used traditional advertising (television, radio, and press) have evolved to restructure the way they capture new clients and cases.

Beyond the well-known social media and the low cost that a digital marketing campaign requires, what makes it so successful? 

A key answer: Digital advertising is highly targeted and is an effective way to align brand advertising with the company’s ideal customer.

Experts have a name for this: Targeting.

What is targeting?

Targeting is a type of online marketing that aims to align advertising to the needs of clients who the law firm wants to reach. In the field of display advertising, targeting is essential for the optimization of the advertising budget.

Targeting can be defined as the classification and definition of the target audience or segmentation. It is very important to know what your segment or target audience is in order to create an advertising campaign that adapts to the needs of that audience and can, therefore, be successful.

In short, the more precise the target audience, the easier it will be to create the right campaign and the easier it will be to get their attention.

Normally, online targeting is carried out through cookies which provide useful information about user behavior. However, due to the uncertainty about the limits of this practice to not invade the users’ privacy, many prefer to avoid its use directly.

Remember that the ideal customer is someone whose needs or problems can be solved effectively by your services. In conclusion, the ideal client is the one that needs your legal services to improve his or her quality of life.

The benefits of highly targeted digital advertising

Imagine you are surfing the Internet and you see an ad for a business course that interests you. What happened? How did the course find you? Simply, the advertiser has done a great job.

There is no sense in showing your ads to people who are not interested in your legal services. It will only make your law firm seem intrusive and can potentially cost you money.

A television or press marketing campaign does not allow you to segment the public in such a personalized way as its internet and digital counterparts do. Although a law firm is able to reach millions of people through a television commercial, the ad does not guarantee that the viewer is interested in acquiring their services.

Therefore, although traditional marketing could potentially mean an audience of millions, it does not allow law firms to canalize their investment in advertising towards the ideal client.

By investing in digital marketing campaigns, we will have a more accurate and adjusted knowledge of the profile of the users to whom the campaign will go, the ads will be shown to whom we want at the right time. In addition, you avoid being intrusive, and the user who receives your advertising will consider it relevant, as it is consistent with their needs.

The more segmentation, the less competition. Thanks to this, we can detect market opportunities, save and optimize your advertising budget and, obviously, increase the number of sales and brand visibility.

A process of continuous evolution

As the internet evolves, social media companies modify their algorithms and new technologies are born, the field of possibilities to customize a digital advertising campaign grows every day.

The question is no longer whether law firms should make use of digital media to promote their services, but how they can make the most use of each new tool.

The battle between digital marketing and traditional media has resulted in an almost definitive victory for digital since it has forced traditional to make use of many of the tools that digital media has created over the past decade.

You are likely already using digital marketing in your business to increase income and attract new clients. However, it is important that you pay attention to the development of each campaign.

Also, remember that digital advertising is in a constant process of adaptability, evolution, and growth; therefore, you have to be up-to-date on the latest developments in the sector.