More than two-thirds of solicitors polled by the organisation believed clients shopped around before choosing a lawyer. However, the reality is only one quarter do this, which means first impressions are important.
Law firms also tend to make marketing decisions on gut instinct or anecdote rather than hard facts, the research showed, and only half of personal injury firms surveyed analysed the performance of their marketing in the previous quarter or year when making spending decisions.
First4Lawyers’ research also found solicitors overestimate how impressed clients are by recommendations from family and friends, local offices and a quality mark, while underestimating the significance to clients of online searches.
Qamar Anwar, First4Lawyers’ managing director, said clients considered online searches ‘the best-quality enquiry out there.
‘Our own statistics show that a contact that’s come from search engine marketing activity is more likely to convert into a live lead than from any other form of marketing.’
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 40% of firms have cut their marketing budget and 19% have made marketing staff redundant. A bullish 17% of firms, however, have increased their marketing spend instead.
The results of the research are contained in First4Lawyers’ white paper, ‘Choosing a lawyer: what drives consumers?’.
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