March 31, 2025 • 19 mins
Legal marketing is undergoing major shifts in 2025, from AI integration and Google's evolving search algorithms to changing social media strategies and the rise of video content.
• Google's emphasis on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (EEAT) means generic content won't rank well
• Online reputation management should be proactive, not reactive, as reviews heavily influence potential clients
• Client connection remains the foundation of effective legal marketing regardless of technological changes
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
What's changing in legal marketing this year.
Welcome to Legal Marketing 101.
I'm Toby Rosen.
Today, we are talking aboutfive things that are changing in
legal marketing in 2025.
It was really tough to pairthis list down to just five
items and I think we're stillkind of going to go a little bit
long for this episode.
So let's dive straight in withthe topic that is on everyone's
(00:26):
mind AI, ai and automation.
Ai, particularly, is everywherein marketing right now, not
just in the lawyer world.
It's just everywhere.
You've seen the headlines ChadGPT writes your blog posts.
You can build a custom model toinfuse them with what you want.
You can have AI-generated ads,ai-powered legal research,
ai-powered briefs that you canscrew up in front of the Supreme
(00:49):
Court.
But when it comes to law firmmarketing, the big question
really is beyond all thenonsense that's getting thrown
around.
The big question is shouldlawyers actually use AI for
content creation?
We're going to be talking a lotabout AI and automation and its
uses in 2025, but the realityis right now, content creation
is the low hanging fruit thatmost people are using this for.
(01:12):
And look, there isn't a simpleyes or no answer to this.
Ai can absolutely streamlineyour marketing efforts, but
there is a big catch it lacksthe nuance, the legal expertise
and, honestly, just the personaltouch that clients expect from
a law firm.
Imagine a client reading a blogpost on your site that just
sounds generic or, worse, it'soutdated, it's two or three
(01:34):
years old and the regulationshave changed.
That is a really fast way foryou to lose credibility.
So how do you balance the AI andthe automation without
sacrificing trust?
It's this question we've beenasking for close to a decade,
and the key is to use the AI asan assistant.
It is not the final decisionmaker.
So let's look at a couple ofexamples of how to do this in
(01:55):
practice.
First, ai generated contentalways, always, always, needs to
be reviewed and refined.
And to prove my point, aiactually wrote that title for
this section, as AI generatedcontent should always be
reviewed and refined.
But if you say always threetimes, it makes it so much more
powerful and just those littlechanges.
(02:15):
Look, ai can help draftarticles, but this human
oversight this is what'scritical.
Think of AI as a first draftgenerator.
That's all it really needs tobe.
It saves us time on researchand structure and just putting
the idea together, and then wecome in to ensure accuracy and
personalization.
Ai and automation areenhancements and really this is
(02:38):
all we want to be using them foris to enhance but not replace.
Human interaction is to enhancebut not replace human
interaction.
Ai chatbots are fantastic foranswering queries or things like
what are your office hours,what's your phone number, how do
I get to the office?
But legal clients want thispersonal attention.
That's part of what they'repaying for.
Smart firms are using AI forquick responses and to help beef
(03:01):
up responses, but they'realways offering an easy way to
connect with a real attorney.
What we're doing is notreplacing our attorneys or
replacing our marketing orsalespeople with AI.
We are counting on ourmarketing and salespeople and
our attorneys and our developersand anyone really to be using
this AI effectively to enhancetheir capabilities.
But the benefits that we'rereaping from AI don't stop there
(03:24):
.
One we're already seeing isthat AI-assisted ad campaigns
can significantly improvetargeting and efficiency.
Platforms like Google andFacebook are already using
AI-driven bidding strategies tohelp optimize our advertising in
real time, and the result isbetter targeting, less wasted ad
spend and stronger ROI.
But it also can make things alittle more competitive.
(03:46):
These tools are always adouble-edged sword If we use
them effectively and efficiently, they can make us much better
at what we do, but they couldalso damage trust, and the other
reality is that everyone elsehas access to them as well.
There's no edge by using theseover any other firm that's
actually going to be payingattention.
The thing we're really countingon at this stage is that most
(04:09):
firms just aren't.
But anyways, let's move on toGoogle, because, while AI is
still one of the big topics atGoogle and I am definitely going
to be talking to you soon abouthow to get into those AI
results you're seeing on theGoogle search results page but
we need to talk about SEO andGoogle search changes, because
now is the time to pay attention.
Google is always tweaking itsalgorithm and the legal industry
(04:31):
is becoming increasinglysensitive to these shifts,
because a lot of these websitesthe legal websites we're talking
about fall under Google's yourmoney or your life category.
This means the content needs tobe especially accurate,
trustworthy or useful.
We are on a higher standardthan a lot of the internet.
One of the biggest things tokeep in mind this year as you're
(04:52):
working on SEO is Google'scontinued emphasis on EEAT
experience, expertise,authoritativeness and
trustworthiness.
This acronym means Google isfavoring content written by
subject matter experts,particularly like attorneys,
that are backed by real worldexperience.
And what this means for lawfirms, first, is that generic
(05:13):
content isn't going to cut it.
So the basic, ai generatedlegal blogs that are just
regurgitating Black's LawDictionary or whatever common
knowledge these are going tocontinue to rank poorly and get
worse.
Google wants to see originalinsights, case examples, real
expertise.
The next thing is authorbylines and credentials.
(05:33):
These are going to matter a lotmore.
If an attorney writes anarticle, we want to make sure
we're including their bio, theircredentials, a link to a
specific profile for them.
All of this being done to boostcredibility to Google and
ultimately help us increase ourrankings.
And finally, video content.
I know your attorneys don'tlike doing this, my attorneys
don't like doing it either, butvideo content is becoming a
(05:56):
really significant rankingfactor.
This has been really blown upin the last few weeks by some
blog posts from Google, butGoogle has often prioritized
video and search results.
This is something we've alwayssort of known, but it's really
really starting to be a majorfactor when it comes to
visibility and the shortinformative videos even the
(06:18):
30-second, 60-second, that kindof stuff.
It can really help us whenwe're trying to gain visibility
in a crowded search market.
And let's talk a little bitabout Google's AI-driven SGE,
the search generative experience.
This is something we're goingto get a lot deeper into and the
reality is it's still justrolling out in a few different
markets.
So sometimes you're going tosee the AI summary, sometimes
(06:39):
you're going to see traditionalresults, but here's what this
really means If you're notoptimizing for this, you could
lose your website trafficovernight.
So how do we stay ahead of this?
First is we keep our contentupdated.
So outdated pages we need tokeep refreshing them.
It's not just about creatingnew content.
It's about making sure that allthe old stuff is current or, if
(07:00):
it's not current, it's linkedto the current version and it's
updated to acknowledge that.
And we really want to focus onprioritizing local SEO.
This is something I'vementioned over and, over and
over again and I can't stressthis enough.
It's the thing for AI, google,my Business listings, local
backlinks, citations, and thengeographic-specific content,
(07:20):
local pages on your website.
These are all going to rise tothe top of the list of most
important SEO strategies.
And finally, we need to makesure our site is technically
sound.
If it doesn't load fast, ifit's not mobile friendly,
google's AI is not interested.
So make sure you have the clearnavigation and make sure your
user experience is doing well onGoogle's page.
(07:40):
Speed insights All of these aregoing to be absolutely critical
for websites that want to stayon the search engine results
page, because the AI is notgoing to put up with crappy
design.
There are a lot of sort ofhidden things that AI is doing
and arenas and industries thatit's evolving, and SEO is
definitely definitely one ofthem.
But there is one rule that hasremained the same Law firms that
(08:04):
provide real value to potentialclients will always have an
edge.
So this all brings us to animportant question If you're
going to get taken over by AIand you're not going to be able
to push your website, how shouldwe be rethinking our paid
advertising strategies inresponse to these changes?
And if you've noticed yourGoogle ads budget disappearing
faster than ever, you are notalone.
(08:26):
The cost per clicks for legalkeywords yes, they've been
rising for like two decadessince this came online
essentially Google ads and thistrend is not going to slow down.
Some of the most competitivepractice areas personal injury,
criminal defense, even familylaw, we're seeing CPCs over $100
in major markets.
So the question we are allfaced with, especially when
(08:47):
we're working in firms withfewer than 10 attorneys, is is
paid advertising still worth itfor us?
And the answer in a lot ofcases is still yes, but that's
only if you're really smartabout it.
Dumping money into Google adswithout a solid strategy,
without a good campaign manager,is probably one of the top ways
to burn cash without gettingany return other than literally
(09:11):
lighting money on fire in frontof your office.
Now we are going to talk a lotabout best practices for Google
Ads this year.
Trust me, this is somethingwe're going to get into.
But today we are going to talkabout something that Google is
pushing really hard.
That is not great, and that'sperformance max.
If you've run into Google Adsrecently and you talked to one
of their representatives you'vegone into your account you've
(09:33):
probably seen this pop up as arecommendation.
You talk to one of theirrepresentatives, you've gone
into your account you'veprobably seen this pop up as a
recommendation.
Google claims it's using AI tooptimize your ads across search,
display, youtube and even Gmail.
It sounds great in theory, butfor law firms, performance max
usually is a bad idea.
It may be a good idea one day,but right now, today, it's just
not great.
And why?
Because law firms, we need highintent traffic.
(09:55):
We don't just want ads showingup randomly on YouTube videos or
irrelevant website.
We don't need brand saturation.
Performance Max takes controlaway from us, meaning Google
decides where to show our ads.
So if we're not careful, ourbudget can go towards low
quality placements instead ofhigh converting search traffic.
And because of the limitationsto essentially, you know, under
(10:17):
the guise of making it easierfor us, we're not able to really
control some of these things.
So I stick with the manuallycreated search campaigns.
Everything is manuallycontrolled.
We use exact and phrase matchkeywords to make sure we're
targeting our high intentsearchers.
We're using location targetingto avoid wasting money on clicks
that are outside of ourgeographic area and we're using
(10:37):
negative keywords to filter outirrelevant searches like free
legal help or pro bono assumingwe don't offer pro bono services
.
The thing is, performance maxcan work for some industries,
but for law firms the risk ishigh a lot of the time.
Like with everything, if youwant to test it, I do recommend
testing it.
But here's the thing If itdoesn't work.
(10:58):
You need to set some KPIs tosay this is working or it's not
working, and you need to havetracking in place to make sure
you actually are getting gooddata.
You want to keep control ofyour budget and focus on what
actually converts, andPerformance Max isn't going to
tell us a whole lot, so oursystems have to be pretty robust
.
Now let's move on to an areathat is getting a lot of
(11:18):
attention lately, and that'ssocial media.
Social media advertising forlaw firms is not really dead,
but it's changing Facebook oncethe go-to platform for attorneys
has seen increasing ad costs,lower engagement and people just
migrating away over the lastcouple of years.
At the same time, linkedin hasbecome actually kind of a strong
(11:39):
option, especially for firmsthat are doing B2B sales,
corporate lawyers, estateplanning, even and here's how to
approach these LinkedIn ifyou're targeting businesses or
high net worth clients, whosometimes spend some time on
LinkedIn, it can be a prettyserious goldmine.
The targeting is really precise.
That's one of the biggestadvantages of the platform, and
this allows us to specificallyreach CEOs, executives, in-house
(12:01):
counsel or just whatever typeof decision maker we're trying
to reach.
But LinkedIn ads are not cheap,so they work really the best
for these high value cases,long-term branding, something
where either the ROI is going tobe so significant that it kind
of doesn't matter what our costis, or if we're really
comfortable setting aside acertain amount of cash for
(12:23):
branding.
That's really where LinkedIn isgoing to serve you well.
Facebook ads, though it canstill be somewhat effective for
consumer facing law firmsthinking about things like
personal injury, family law,estate planning but the key here
is retargeting and that's whyfamily law is one of the good
options here.
Planning, but the key here isretargeting, and that's why
family law is one of the goodoptions here.
Running these cold ads to newaudiences it's expensive and a
(12:45):
lot of the time we can't figureout the targeting to actually
get the right people, especiallywhen we're talking about
something like divorce or familylaw, where it's really
difficult to classify thosepeople.
But retargeting people who havealready visited our website is
very cost effective andparticularly in the family law
lane, where we can't use Googleads for retargeting, it's an
(13:06):
awesome option.
At the end of the day, googleads does remain the best paid
channel overall for law firms.
But social media ads onFacebook, on LinkedIn, even
starting to look at things likeTikTok.
These can be really effectiveif we use them strategically.
So where should your dollars go?
It depends, it's entirelydependent, on your practice area
(13:27):
, your audience, yourcompetition, but what we know
for sure is that blindlyspending money on ads is not
going to work.
Every dollar in 2025 needs tobe measured, optimized and then
backed up by data.
If we don't have that as afundamental infrastructure for
our system, we are going towaste some money somewhere.
And before I forget aboutTikTok, let's talk about video
(13:49):
marketing and short form content, because for a long time, law
firms viewed video marketing assomething extra, something a
little bit extravagant,something that only the big
firms with the big budgets couldreally afford to do.
And that's just not the caseanymore.
Youtube shorts, tiktok,instagram and the iPhone you're
holding in your hand orlistening to this podcast on,
have made video one of the mosteffective ways to connect with
(14:12):
potential clients, and the firmsthat embrace it are seeing real
results.
Short-form content worksbecause it meets people where
they are.
The days of clients sittingdown reading lengthy legal blog
posts they're not over, butthey're fading quickly.
A lot of people really preferthe quick, engaging video that
answers their specific questionin 30 seconds or less, and this
(14:35):
makes the challenge for lawfirms not should we create video
content?
It's how do we do it in a waythat feels natural and actually
answers the questions that usershave and doesn't take up all of
their time.
The key here is just to keep itsimple.
Lawyers who succeed with videomarketing.
They're not doing anythingflashy.
I mean, look at the top lawyers.
They're all just sitting in aroom with books behind them.
(14:55):
They're answering the samequestions they already get from
clients or from friends orfamily members, but in this more
accessible format that you knowdoesn't involve the awkwardness
of meeting with an attorney Aquick video that explains a
legal myth, breaks down a recentcase whether you were involved
or not or offers just somepractical advice.
I'm sure you've seen the don'ttalk to police videos.
(15:17):
This advice can go a long way.
People really like it and it'sincredibly shareable.
It's not about making a viralhit, though.
It's just about building trust.
One video at a time, and thenthe viral hit will happen.
And for those who think, oh,legal content, it's not going to
work in this format, go andlook at the attorneys who are
building massive audiences bydoing exactly this.
(15:38):
Some are focusing on real-worldcase breakdowns.
They're going through thingsthat have happened, they're in
the news.
Others are educating oneveryday legal rights Don't talk
to police, or here's what to doin a traffic stop, or it's
mostly police-related stuff.
And then some are justexplaining more complex legal
concepts in a way anyone canunderstand.
How does this tax concept work?
(15:58):
How does universal taxationwork?
And even some non-lawyers aredoing this and being featured on
lawyer channels, or vice versa.
There is a clear, clear demandfor the legal content, but the
firms are not showing up yet.
You could be the one to do it,and for lawyers who are still
hesitant about all of this, thebest way to start is just put
(16:19):
the phone up in front of yourface and hit record.
A basic setup, just a phone,decent lighting and clear audio.
It's plenty to get started.
This podcast is recorded on an$89 microphone that I used a
credit card credit to get forfree, and I've been doing it for
three years like this.
The important thing about allof it is not the production
(16:39):
value, it's the clarity, theauthenticity and the consistency
.
But here's the thing At the endof the day, all this marketing
stuff, it's not just aboutbringing in leads.
At least for you it's not.
For me it is.
This is all about buildingrelationships.
A client's experience with yourfirm doesn't start when they
walk through the door.
It starts the moment they hearabout you or the moment they
(17:00):
Google your name, and that's whyyour online reputation is more
important than ever in 2025.
Most lawyers, you guys, alreadyknow that reviews matter, but
what many of you don't realizeis just how much they influence
decisions, whether the peopleunderstand that or not.
When potential clients searchfor legal help, they are not
just looking at your credentials.
In fact, it's one of the lastthings they look at.
(17:22):
They are looking at what otherpeople like them have said.
A strong reputation can be themost powerful marketing tool you
have, and a neglected onlinepresence will be the final nail
in your coffin.
This is where you need to beproactive.
It's easy to think of reviewsas something that just happens
naturally, but that is not thecase.
And even when you get a reviewor two on your Google my
(17:45):
Business wow, it was organic thefirms that maintain their
strong reputations the ones thatare beating you are the ones
that are actively engaging withclient feedback.
That means making suresatisfied clients know how to
leave reviews, responding tofeedback in a way that shows you
care, and keeping an eye onwhat's being said about your
firm online, even on otherprofiles and beyond reviews.
(18:07):
Another really commonlyoverlooked piece of reputation
management something that is afantastic moat in a bad
situation is the way that firmsshare their clients' success
stories.
Sure, there are ethicalconsiderations that come into
play with case studies andtestimonials, but when we do
this the right way, these areincredibly effective at showing
(18:30):
what a firm can do instead ofjust saying it or hearing about
it.
It gives specific details.
When potential clients see realexamples of how a firm has
helped others, it reinforcestrust in a way that no ad
campaign ever can.
Because, at its core,reputation management isn't
about damage control.
It's something we want to bedoing proactively because, again
(18:50):
, it's about relationshipbuilding.
A strong reputation does nothappen by accident.
It's built over time, throughconsistent client experience,
through thoughtful engagementand a commitment to the
transparency of the business.
The firms that prioritize thiswill always have an edge over
the competition, no matter howmarketing trends evolve.
2025 is certainly going to be ayear of change, but if there's
(19:13):
one thing that you take awayfrom this episode.
It's this Legal marketing isn'tjust about visibility or
clients through the door.
It's about connection.
The firms that understand thisthis year will thrive, no matter
how things change and how crazythings get.
That's it for Legal Marketing101.
Check out RosenAdvertisingcomfor more Thanks.
What's changing in legal marketing this year.
Welcome to Legal Marketing 101.
I'm Toby Rosen.
Today, we are talking aboutfive things that are changing in
legal marketing in 2025.
It was really tough to pairthis list down to just five
items and I think we're stillkind of going to go a little bit
long for this episode.
So let's dive straight in withthe topic that is on everyone's
(00:26):
mind AI, ai and automation.
Ai, particularly, is everywherein marketing right now, not
just in the lawyer world.
It's just everywhere.
You've seen the headlines ChadGPT writes your blog posts.
You can build a custom model toinfuse them with what you want.
You can have AI-generated ads,ai-powered legal research,
ai-powered briefs that you canscrew up in front of the Supreme
(00:49):
Court.
But when it comes to law firmmarketing, the big question
really is beyond all thenonsense that's getting thrown
around.
The big question is shouldlawyers actually use AI for
content creation?
We're going to be talking a lotabout AI and automation and its
uses in 2025, but the realityis right now, content creation
is the low hanging fruit thatmost people are using this for.
(01:12):
And look, there isn't a simpleyes or no answer to this.
Ai can absolutely streamlineyour marketing efforts, but
there is a big catch it lacksthe nuance, the legal expertise
and, honestly, just the personaltouch that clients expect from
a law firm.
Imagine a client reading a blogpost on your site that just
sounds generic or, worse, it'soutdated, it's two or three
(01:34):
years old and the regulationshave changed.
That is a really fast way foryou to lose credibility.
So how do you balance the AI andthe automation without
sacrificing trust?
It's this question we've beenasking for close to a decade,
and the key is to use the AI asan assistant.
It is not the final decisionmaker.
So let's look at a couple ofexamples of how to do this in
(01:55):
practice.
First, ai generated contentalways, always, always, needs to
be reviewed and refined.
And to prove my point, aiactually wrote that title for
this section, as AI generatedcontent should always be
reviewed and refined.
But if you say always threetimes, it makes it so much more
powerful and just those littlechanges.
(02:15):
Look, ai can help draftarticles, but this human
oversight this is what'scritical.
Think of AI as a first draftgenerator.
That's all it really needs tobe.
It saves us time on researchand structure and just putting
the idea together, and then wecome in to ensure accuracy and
personalization.
Ai and automation areenhancements and really this is
(02:38):
all we want to be using them foris to enhance but not replace.
Human interaction is to enhancebut not replace human
interaction.
Ai chatbots are fantastic foranswering queries or things like
what are your office hours,what's your phone number, how do
I get to the office?
But legal clients want thispersonal attention.
That's part of what they'repaying for.
Smart firms are using AI forquick responses and to help beef
(03:01):
up responses, but they'realways offering an easy way to
connect with a real attorney.
What we're doing is notreplacing our attorneys or
replacing our marketing orsalespeople with AI.
We are counting on ourmarketing and salespeople and
our attorneys and our developersand anyone really to be using
this AI effectively to enhancetheir capabilities.
But the benefits that we'rereaping from AI don't stop there
(03:24):
.
One we're already seeing isthat AI-assisted ad campaigns
can significantly improvetargeting and efficiency.
Platforms like Google andFacebook are already using
AI-driven bidding strategies tohelp optimize our advertising in
real time, and the result isbetter targeting, less wasted ad
spend and stronger ROI.
But it also can make things alittle more competitive.
(03:46):
These tools are always adouble-edged sword If we use
them effectively and efficiently, they can make us much better
at what we do, but they couldalso damage trust, and the other
reality is that everyone elsehas access to them as well.
There's no edge by using theseover any other firm that's
actually going to be payingattention.
The thing we're really countingon at this stage is that most
(04:09):
firms just aren't.
But anyways, let's move on toGoogle, because, while AI is
still one of the big topics atGoogle and I am definitely going
to be talking to you soon abouthow to get into those AI
results you're seeing on theGoogle search results page but
we need to talk about SEO andGoogle search changes, because
now is the time to pay attention.
Google is always tweaking itsalgorithm and the legal industry
(04:31):
is becoming increasinglysensitive to these shifts,
because a lot of these websitesthe legal websites we're talking
about fall under Google's yourmoney or your life category.
This means the content needs tobe especially accurate,
trustworthy or useful.
We are on a higher standardthan a lot of the internet.
One of the biggest things tokeep in mind this year as you're
(04:52):
working on SEO is Google'scontinued emphasis on EEAT
experience, expertise,authoritativeness and
trustworthiness.
This acronym means Google isfavoring content written by
subject matter experts,particularly like attorneys,
that are backed by real worldexperience.
And what this means for lawfirms, first, is that generic
(05:13):
content isn't going to cut it.
So the basic, ai generatedlegal blogs that are just
regurgitating Black's LawDictionary or whatever common
knowledge these are going tocontinue to rank poorly and get
worse.
Google wants to see originalinsights, case examples, real
expertise.
The next thing is authorbylines and credentials.
(05:33):
These are going to matter a lotmore.
If an attorney writes anarticle, we want to make sure
we're including their bio, theircredentials, a link to a
specific profile for them.
All of this being done to boostcredibility to Google and
ultimately help us increase ourrankings.
And finally, video content.
I know your attorneys don'tlike doing this, my attorneys
don't like doing it either, butvideo content is becoming a
(05:56):
really significant rankingfactor.
This has been really blown upin the last few weeks by some
blog posts from Google, butGoogle has often prioritized
video and search results.
This is something we've alwayssort of known, but it's really
really starting to be a majorfactor when it comes to
visibility and the shortinformative videos even the
(06:18):
30-second, 60-second, that kindof stuff.
It can really help us whenwe're trying to gain visibility
in a crowded search market.
And let's talk a little bitabout Google's AI-driven SGE,
the search generative experience.
This is something we're goingto get a lot deeper into and the
reality is it's still justrolling out in a few different
markets.
So sometimes you're going tosee the AI summary, sometimes
(06:39):
you're going to see traditionalresults, but here's what this
really means If you're notoptimizing for this, you could
lose your website trafficovernight.
So how do we stay ahead of this?
First is we keep our contentupdated.
So outdated pages we need tokeep refreshing them.
It's not just about creatingnew content.
It's about making sure that allthe old stuff is current or, if
(07:00):
it's not current, it's linkedto the current version and it's
updated to acknowledge that.
And we really want to focus onprioritizing local SEO.
This is something I'vementioned over and, over and
over again and I can't stressthis enough.
It's the thing for AI, google,my Business listings, local
backlinks, citations, and thengeographic-specific content,
(07:20):
local pages on your website.
These are all going to rise tothe top of the list of most
important SEO strategies.
And finally, we need to makesure our site is technically
sound.
If it doesn't load fast, ifit's not mobile friendly,
google's AI is not interested.
So make sure you have the clearnavigation and make sure your
user experience is doing well onGoogle's page.
(07:40):
Speed insights All of these aregoing to be absolutely critical
for websites that want to stayon the search engine results
page, because the AI is notgoing to put up with crappy
design.
There are a lot of sort ofhidden things that AI is doing
and arenas and industries thatit's evolving, and SEO is
definitely definitely one ofthem.
But there is one rule that hasremained the same Law firms that
(08:04):
provide real value to potentialclients will always have an
edge.
So this all brings us to animportant question If you're
going to get taken over by AIand you're not going to be able
to push your website, how shouldwe be rethinking our paid
advertising strategies inresponse to these changes?
And if you've noticed yourGoogle ads budget disappearing
faster than ever, you are notalone.
(08:26):
The cost per clicks for legalkeywords yes, they've been
rising for like two decadessince this came online
essentially Google ads and thistrend is not going to slow down.
Some of the most competitivepractice areas personal injury,
criminal defense, even familylaw, we're seeing CPCs over $100
in major markets.
So the question we are allfaced with, especially when
(08:47):
we're working in firms withfewer than 10 attorneys, is is
paid advertising still worth itfor us?
And the answer in a lot ofcases is still yes, but that's
only if you're really smartabout it.
Dumping money into Google adswithout a solid strategy,
without a good campaign manager,is probably one of the top ways
to burn cash without gettingany return other than literally
(09:11):
lighting money on fire in frontof your office.
Now we are going to talk a lotabout best practices for Google
Ads this year.
Trust me, this is somethingwe're going to get into.
But today we are going to talkabout something that Google is
pushing really hard.
That is not great, and that'sperformance max.
If you've run into Google Adsrecently and you talked to one
of their representatives you'vegone into your account you've
(09:33):
probably seen this pop up as arecommendation.
You talk to one of theirrepresentatives, you've gone
into your account you'veprobably seen this pop up as a
recommendation.
Google claims it's using AI tooptimize your ads across search,
display, youtube and even Gmail.
It sounds great in theory, butfor law firms, performance max
usually is a bad idea.
It may be a good idea one day,but right now, today, it's just
not great.
And why?
Because law firms, we need highintent traffic.
(09:55):
We don't just want ads showingup randomly on YouTube videos or
irrelevant website.
We don't need brand saturation.
Performance Max takes controlaway from us, meaning Google
decides where to show our ads.
So if we're not careful, ourbudget can go towards low
quality placements instead ofhigh converting search traffic.
And because of the limitationsto essentially, you know, under
(10:17):
the guise of making it easierfor us, we're not able to really
control some of these things.
So I stick with the manuallycreated search campaigns.
Everything is manuallycontrolled.
We use exact and phrase matchkeywords to make sure we're
targeting our high intentsearchers.
We're using location targetingto avoid wasting money on clicks
that are outside of ourgeographic area and we're using
(10:37):
negative keywords to filter outirrelevant searches like free
legal help or pro bono assumingwe don't offer pro bono services
.
The thing is, performance maxcan work for some industries,
but for law firms the risk ishigh a lot of the time.
Like with everything, if youwant to test it, I do recommend
testing it.
But here's the thing If itdoesn't work.
(10:58):
You need to set some KPIs tosay this is working or it's not
working, and you need to havetracking in place to make sure
you actually are getting gooddata.
You want to keep control ofyour budget and focus on what
actually converts, andPerformance Max isn't going to
tell us a whole lot, so oursystems have to be pretty robust
.
Now let's move on to an areathat is getting a lot of
(11:18):
attention lately, and that'ssocial media.
Social media advertising forlaw firms is not really dead,
but it's changing Facebook oncethe go-to platform for attorneys
has seen increasing ad costs,lower engagement and people just
migrating away over the lastcouple of years.
At the same time, linkedin hasbecome actually kind of a strong
(11:39):
option, especially for firmsthat are doing B2B sales,
corporate lawyers, estateplanning, even and here's how to
approach these LinkedIn ifyou're targeting businesses or
high net worth clients, whosometimes spend some time on
LinkedIn, it can be a prettyserious goldmine.
The targeting is really precise.
That's one of the biggestadvantages of the platform, and
this allows us to specificallyreach CEOs, executives, in-house
(12:01):
counsel or just whatever typeof decision maker we're trying
to reach.
But LinkedIn ads are not cheap,so they work really the best
for these high value cases,long-term branding, something
where either the ROI is going tobe so significant that it kind
of doesn't matter what our costis, or if we're really
comfortable setting aside acertain amount of cash for
(12:23):
branding.
That's really where LinkedIn isgoing to serve you well.
Facebook ads, though it canstill be somewhat effective for
consumer facing law firmsthinking about things like
personal injury, family law,estate planning but the key here
is retargeting and that's whyfamily law is one of the good
options here.
Planning, but the key here isretargeting, and that's why
family law is one of the goodoptions here.
Running these cold ads to newaudiences it's expensive and a
(12:45):
lot of the time we can't figureout the targeting to actually
get the right people, especiallywhen we're talking about
something like divorce or familylaw, where it's really
difficult to classify thosepeople.
But retargeting people who havealready visited our website is
very cost effective andparticularly in the family law
lane, where we can't use Googleads for retargeting, it's an
(13:06):
awesome option.
At the end of the day, googleads does remain the best paid
channel overall for law firms.
But social media ads onFacebook, on LinkedIn, even
starting to look at things likeTikTok.
These can be really effectiveif we use them strategically.
So where should your dollars go?
It depends, it's entirelydependent, on your practice area
(13:27):
, your audience, yourcompetition, but what we know
for sure is that blindlyspending money on ads is not
going to work.
Every dollar in 2025 needs tobe measured, optimized and then
backed up by data.
If we don't have that as afundamental infrastructure for
our system, we are going towaste some money somewhere.
And before I forget aboutTikTok, let's talk about video
(13:49):
marketing and short form content, because for a long time, law
firms viewed video marketing assomething extra, something a
little bit extravagant,something that only the big
firms with the big budgets couldreally afford to do.
And that's just not the caseanymore.
Youtube shorts, tiktok,instagram and the iPhone you're
holding in your hand orlistening to this podcast on,
have made video one of the mosteffective ways to connect with
(14:12):
potential clients, and the firmsthat embrace it are seeing real
results.
Short-form content worksbecause it meets people where
they are.
The days of clients sittingdown reading lengthy legal blog
posts they're not over, butthey're fading quickly.
A lot of people really preferthe quick, engaging video that
answers their specific questionin 30 seconds or less, and this
(14:35):
makes the challenge for lawfirms not should we create video
content?
It's how do we do it in a waythat feels natural and actually
answers the questions that usershave and doesn't take up all of
their time.
The key here is just to keep itsimple.
Lawyers who succeed with videomarketing.
They're not doing anythingflashy.
I mean, look at the top lawyers.
They're all just sitting in aroom with books behind them.
(14:55):
They're answering the samequestions they already get from
clients or from friends orfamily members, but in this more
accessible format that you knowdoesn't involve the awkwardness
of meeting with an attorney Aquick video that explains a
legal myth, breaks down a recentcase whether you were involved
or not or offers just somepractical advice.
I'm sure you've seen the don'ttalk to police videos.
(15:17):
This advice can go a long way.
People really like it and it'sincredibly shareable.
It's not about making a viralhit, though.
It's just about building trust.
One video at a time, and thenthe viral hit will happen.
And for those who think, oh,legal content, it's not going to
work in this format, go andlook at the attorneys who are
building massive audiences bydoing exactly this.
(15:38):
Some are focusing on real-worldcase breakdowns.
They're going through thingsthat have happened, they're in
the news.
Others are educating oneveryday legal rights Don't talk
to police, or here's what to doin a traffic stop, or it's
mostly police-related stuff.
And then some are justexplaining more complex legal
concepts in a way anyone canunderstand.
How does this tax concept work?
(15:58):
How does universal taxationwork?
And even some non-lawyers aredoing this and being featured on
lawyer channels, or vice versa.
There is a clear, clear demandfor the legal content, but the
firms are not showing up yet.
You could be the one to do it,and for lawyers who are still
hesitant about all of this, thebest way to start is just put
(16:19):
the phone up in front of yourface and hit record.
A basic setup, just a phone,decent lighting and clear audio.
It's plenty to get started.
This podcast is recorded on an$89 microphone that I used a
credit card credit to get forfree, and I've been doing it for
three years like this.
The important thing about allof it is not the production
(16:39):
value, it's the clarity, theauthenticity and the consistency
.
But here's the thing At the endof the day, all this marketing
stuff, it's not just aboutbringing in leads.
At least for you it's not.
For me it is.
This is all about buildingrelationships.
A client's experience with yourfirm doesn't start when they
walk through the door.
It starts the moment they hearabout you or the moment they
(17:00):
Google your name, and that's whyyour online reputation is more
important than ever in 2025.
Most lawyers, you guys, alreadyknow that reviews matter, but
what many of you don't realizeis just how much they influence
decisions, whether the peopleunderstand that or not.
When potential clients searchfor legal help, they are not
just looking at your credentials.
In fact, it's one of the lastthings they look at.
(17:22):
They are looking at what otherpeople like them have said.
A strong reputation can be themost powerful marketing tool you
have, and a neglected onlinepresence will be the final nail
in your coffin.
This is where you need to beproactive.
It's easy to think of reviewsas something that just happens
naturally, but that is not thecase.
And even when you get a reviewor two on your Google my
(17:45):
Business wow, it was organic thefirms that maintain their
strong reputations the ones thatare beating you are the ones
that are actively engaging withclient feedback.
That means making suresatisfied clients know how to
leave reviews, responding tofeedback in a way that shows you
care, and keeping an eye onwhat's being said about your
firm online, even on otherprofiles and beyond reviews.
(18:07):
Another really commonlyoverlooked piece of reputation
management something that is afantastic moat in a bad
situation is the way that firmsshare their clients' success
stories.
Sure, there are ethicalconsiderations that come into
play with case studies andtestimonials, but when we do
this the right way, these areincredibly effective at showing
(18:30):
what a firm can do instead ofjust saying it or hearing about
it.
It gives specific details.
When potential clients see realexamples of how a firm has
helped others, it reinforcestrust in a way that no ad
campaign ever can.
Because, at its core,reputation management isn't
about damage control.
It's something we want to bedoing proactively because, again
(18:50):
, it's about relationshipbuilding.
A strong reputation does nothappen by accident.
It's built over time, throughconsistent client experience,
through thoughtful engagementand a commitment to the
transparency of the business.
The firms that prioritize thiswill always have an edge over
the competition, no matter howmarketing trends evolve.
2025 is certainly going to be ayear of change, but if there's
(19:13):
one thing that you take awayfrom this episode.
It's this Legal marketing isn'tjust about visibility or
clients through the door.
It's about connection.
The firms that understand thisthis year will thrive, no matter
how things change and how crazythings get.
That's it for Legal Marketing101.
Check out RosenAdvertisingcomfor more Thanks.
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