I want to talk about saving your practice £5,000 to £10,000 per annum on a wasted marketing activity – advertising. By the end of this article, if you do not feel compelled to act, your advertisements are either excellent, or you are happy throwing away your hard earned profits.
Nearly all solicitors advertise, but do you ensure that your advertising is producing the results it really should be producing?
1. How much does your advertising cost you?
An advertisement in a local paper will cost in the region of £100 to £300 on per week. I know that many firms advertise weekly and that this is often their main or only form of marketing. At an average cost of say £200 per week, this amounts to an annual spend of £10,000. This is not an insignificant sum, so you really must make sure it is money well spent.
2. The Position of your advertisement
A simple change to the position of your advertisement can have a dramatic impact on your response rate. Like my website marketing article last month, the position must be on the right hand side of the page. If it is not, move it now. There are many facts and figures to back this up, but the easiest way to prove it is to ask your paper to move your advertisement and see if your enquiries increase. They should do, if not read on for other reasons.
3. What are you trying to achieve?
If you have a huge marketing budget, you may carry on advertising and not worry about achieving results. The reality for many High Street practices, however, should be very different. If you are advertising and it is not generating business for you, change your advertisement or stop right now.
Your ad should be promoting only one service. If your only advertisement is a general advertisement simply listing all of your services, stop it now. Target only one area of law at a time, and ensure there is a strong message to encourage your audience to pick up the telephone and call you. For Wills and Probate, this might be telling them that you will be able to save them over £100,000 on Inheritance Tax, or for conveyancing that you will complete the transaction in the fastest time possible.
4. Monitor responses
This is vital. Whether you use a different telephone number or put an unusual name (Eg Ask for June Law when you call) in the advertisement you need to monitor response rates. If you are spending £5,000 to £10,000 per annum you must ensure that you are receiving value for money.
5. Which Newspapers?
Local free newspapers with property and car sections will normally provide the best results.
WANT TO MAKE YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS WORK HARDER FOR YOU?
If you want the same results you have always achieved carry on doing as you are. If you would like to achieve better returns on your investment in advertising, download the free guide below now:
Ready To Take Action And See Results Now?
Please call 0117 290 8555 to arrange a mutually convenient time for a telephone discussion, Email me or complete a Free Online Enquiry. There is no cost or obligation. We will have a chat about where you are and where you would like to be and I will suggest some things you can do to get there quickly.