Dec 6, 2022
Legal marketing statistics can help guide professional services marketing teams on tactics, budgets, technology upgrades and other strategic decisions. Great data gives legal marketers a glimpse of the big picture, helping their firms win more clients, growing their customer base. Below are five legal marketing statistics that your marketing team needs to know to adapt and grow.
And with the legal industry becoming increasingly more competitive, growth strategies should be at the top of every legal marketing team's priorities.
"80% of professional services marketers or business development professionals waste up to 1/4 of their weeks on tedious and repetitive tasks." Accelerating Growth Report
This was one of the most shocking insights that came out of our industry-wide report that focused on growth teams within the professional services industry. Although teams have a lot more on their plates as compared to the decades prior, they are increasingly bogged down by tasks that should be automated.
At the same time that this issue is at the forefront, the risk of spending money on marketing (i.e. non-billable) activities is especially potent, according to Call Rail's Marketing Outlook report. While legal marketing firms can’t control digital and print advertising costs, they can invest in solutions that help them create time-saving efficiencies, empowering them to squeeze the most out of the money they are spending.
The value of marketing automation
Marketing automation for professional services is a crucial priority for shrinking and/or budget-conscious teams. Software that automates processes like content creation, social media scheduling, etc. can free up hours each week that team members can spend on higher-value activities.
When marketing automation is paired with data management software -- automatically connecting data to your content and reporting processes, as well as streamlining data access for all relevant team members -- true efficiencies begin to rise, and the risk of your marketing spend is mitigated.
A boost in productivity and efficiency provides several benefits including the ability to:
- Generate higher profits
- Charge lower prices
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Offer more attractive wages
- Get increased access to capital
“The global legal services market is expected to reach $1211.63 billion in 2031.” ResearchAndMarkets.com
Considering the market was at $713.12 billion 2021, that is a significant growth rate. And it's projected to increase year after year.
ResearchAndMarkets.com stated the growth rate from 2021 to 2026 is predicted to be 6.97%, and 5.6% from 2026 to 2031. This statistic tells legal marketing teams that competition will only increase over the next nine years.
With so many more firms entering the industry, legal marketing teams will need to seek out innovation to capture more clients. While professional services marketing is not historically known to be at the forefront of transformation, many teams are now feeling the pressure and beginning to adopt a more cutting-edge mindset to set themselves apart from the rest.
This could include producing unexpected and creative marketing campaigns, investing in building personal relationships with current and prospective clients, and leaning into the power of technology.
One technological consideration creeping into top legal marketing leader's priorities is data management software to improve marketing processes and win more proposals. Legal firms earn hundreds of proprietary data points for the deals they work hard to close; it's in their best interest to harness them and put that data to work. Pitchly’s data management software solutions compile and sort data, giving teams easy access to information used to create tombstones, case studies, logo slides, team bios/CVs and company profiles. The result is more clients won, with less manpower used.
“All Baby Boomers will reach retirement age by 2030.” U.S. Census
There are 73 million Baby Boomers in the United States, according to the U.S. Census. And by 2030, all will reach retirement age.
Baby Boomers are one of the biggest generations, second only to Millennials. That means the need for legal advice for retirees and their families over the next decade, like retirement planning and nursing home care will greatly increase. This sector of the industry should be a major focus for legal marketing teams.
Having such a massive portion of the population primed for your services is a great opportunity for your team to put your heads together and strategize specific tactics to get their attention. Perhaps a messaging shift is required, new communication platforms need to be explored, or existing outreach processes can be optimized.
Sharing tombstones - or a visual display of relevant previous work completed - of the clients you’ve helped with these issues, is one popular way to win more business. Showing your ability to successfully provide these services will give you a competitive edge. While many law firms currently hold tombstones as a critical part of their marketing strategy, the process is often riddled with inefficencies. Pitchly’s Tombstone Builder automatically generates content from your client records, giving firms the ability to quickly generate tombstones with custom branding, layout and logos and quickly export the end result to PowerPoint and Word.
“Law firm clients prefer to communicate by phone.” Call Rail
In an age of digital communication, e.g., text, video chat, email and so on, it might be surprising to learn that according to Call Rail’s 2022 Marketing Outlook for Law Firms, 46% of law firm clients often reach out first by phone, with email coming in a distant second at 27%.
What’s more, not only do clients prefer the phone for initial contact, but for ongoing communication as well. The desire for person-to-person communication means legal firms will need to employ enough staff to answer phones and direct calls. Building relationships by talking live with clients over the phone, though time-intensive, generates a much deeper and more long-lasting professional relationships than through asynchronous channels like email.
These live conversations also means that staff needs to have data at their fingertips to answer client and potential client questions. Data management software connects your data between apps so it’s quickly accessible. Investing in technology helps businesses streamline processes, saving money that can be devoted to keeping staff or contractors near the phone.
“91% of law firms say their area of law generally sees repeat clients.” Call Rail
Repeat clients are a goal of every law firm as it’s much cheaper to retain clients than gaining new ones.
In all industries, acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer. This difference can be even starker in professional services due to the high cost when compared to consumer goods.
This, combined with the growing competitiveness of the industry, applies pressure to marketing, business development and client success teams in law firms to prove their value in every client interaction. From a positive onboarding experience, to excellent communication skills, even on-point client gifting, law firms have many opportunities to make it easy for their clients to sign on when their contract is up for renewal, or when they're looking for similar services again in the future.
Professional services firms can use their data to easily create retention pitches based on the value your firm has provided all year. Pitchly helps law firms easily manage client logos and information. The Data Pipeline allows firms to maintain a single record of client and counter-party companies to create and centralize company profile information. Having this data easily assessable allows firms to quickly show current clients the ROI from working with your firm.
Arming yourself with these statistics can help your law firm prepare for the year and even the decade ahead. Learn more about Pitchly’s data solutions by requesting a demo today.
Share this blog on:
