Have you ever searched for your law firm and someone else’s ad comes up first on the search engine results page (SERP)? This happens when a competitor bids for your company’s name or phrases associated with your business – also known as branded keywords. This is a legal paid search strategy, as long as their ad doesn’t infringe on any trademarks.
What can you do to stay ahead of the competition and make sure your law firm comes up first in the ads? You start by creating your own branded campaign and creating ads to boost your law firm’s visibility.
If you don’t know what a branded campaign is or how it works, no problem. Let’s break it down.
What is a branded campaign?
A branded campaign is a paid media campaign that includes bidding on keywords such as your law firm’s name and other phrases identifiable with your firm. Goals for branded campaigns include increasing the recognition and visibility of your law firm when someone searches for those terms, and driving more qualified leads to your website. Your banded campaign ensures your firm’s ad is seen by those who are searching for your firm by name, by attorney, slogan, and other related keywords. They also help to increase the return on investment (ROI) from your digital marketing since the campaign targets potential customers who are already familiar with your services.
This might seem counterintuitive to your lawyer SEO strategy and make you wonder if you’ll lose organic traffic, but that’s not the case. Branded campaigns boost your overall leads and cases. Since your law firm would be targeting individuals who are already familiar with your services, the likelihood of converting those search queries and leads into actual clients is higher.
Branded campaigns are also a good way to protect your firm’s name and reputation because you have greater control over how your branding and message appears, while working to trump other law firms that may use your name or variations of your name as keywords in their own advertising campaigns. By doing this, you are making sure that potential clients are not misled by ads that falsely claim to be associated with your firm.
Investing in branded campaigns conveys professionalism, authority, and a dedication to quality that builds client trust. Having both a branded ad and an organic position on the first page of the SERP gives you an advantage and allows you to control the message you want to show.
Law firm branded campaign cost
You may be wondering, “How much is this going to cost, and what kind of results can I expect from a branded campaign?” As law firm digital marketing experts, we recommend spending about 5% – 8% of your total Google Ads budget for it to be successful. Since this is a branded campaign, your results should be better than your non-branded campaigns. This means that you can expect a higher click-through rate, higher conversion rate, and ultimately higher ROI. After all, potential clients are looking for your firm by name.
Let’s break down what our data at Hennessey Digital has shown:
- The CTR (click-through rate) of law firm branded campaigns tends to be 3x higher compared to non-branded campaigns
- Cost-per-case is just one-tenth of the average cost-per-case for non-branded campaigns
- Cost-per-lead (CPL) is even lower; in fact, it can be up to 191% cheaper to generate a new lead through branded campaigns than the non-branded campaigns
This is why we strongly recommend incorporating branded campaigns into your law firm’s SEO strategy. It will benefit you more in the near and long term, so it is worth diverting a small portion of your total budget to do it.
Final thoughts
A branded campaign can boost your law firm’s exposure and brand recognition while generating more qualified leads that turn into actual cases. At Hennessey Digital, we incorporate branded campaigns into digital marketing strategies to ensure visibility and make sure advertisements are seen by people who are already familiar with your company or who are searching for your company’s branded terms. Your brand advertising efforts also reinforce trust, stop brand infringement and safeguard your company’s reputation.
Curious to know how Hennessey Digital’s customized approach to branded campaigns can help take your law firm marketing to the next level? Contact us to increase your leads and number of cases with an effective and efficient law firm PPC strategy.
Anthony Fournier, Paid Search Specialist, contributed to this post