Give your law firm’s digital ads new life with dynamic phone number insertion
Lawyers, if you didn’t get the memo: The internet is the new Yellow Pages. Law firm marketing is officially a digital play.
Rather than tracking phone calls from clients thumbing through the phone book, today it’s all about tracking leads and conversions through the internet.
Call tracking used to be simple: Put a tracking number on your TV ad, a tracking number in your Yellow Pages ad, and monitor inbound-call numbers.
When a person used the phone book they would scan for the heading of attorneys; look at the largest ads; find the ones that mentioned the service they needed; and call three to five ads to “interview” lawyers. In the past, law firms used a simple internal system to track the phone calls that converted to cases, and thus prove the profitability of marketing efforts.
Unfortunately, Yellow Page ads are not as effective as they were. It’s now all about generating traffic to your website.
Your website is a conversion tool. You must display all of your law firm’s information in a format that is easy to read and navigate.
On the internet, people type what they’re looking for into a search box. They are shown websites that best pertain to their search or “answer” their problem. Users will then scan presented websites, and, based on what they see, may or may not call you. Like before, people make up to five calls to interview law firms and make a decision about who to go with.
Today, the internet is an undoubtedly more powerful channel than the phone book, but it’s also more complicated. There are so many more digital channels to keep track—and take advantage—of.
Digital marketing strategies for lawyers require more precision and demand that law firms know the answers to all kinds of questions, including:
- Is our website generating phone calls?
- What’s the most profitable ROI channel: TV, SEO, PPC, social?
- Are our SEO and PPC efforts working? Are they producing calls and cases?
To answer these questions, lawyers should be using something known as dynamic phone number insertion (DNI). DNI is a tech tool that measures the impact of digital efforts on inbound phone calls.
If you’re not using a company that has this tracking capability, you should start looking for one that does. As smart lawyers build marketing plans for the future and learn how to systematically advertise their law firm online, DNI is an absolute must for tracking the success of digital marketing campaigns and legitimate return on investment.
How does DNI integrate with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
When a consumer clicks though to your website from an organic listing, DNI technology generates and displays a number unique to that specific user. Essentially, each user will see a different number appear on your website. When they call that exclusive number (all linked to your office system), we are able to monitor the inbound calls, knowing that each came from your organic SEO efforts.
How does DNI integrate with Pay per Click (PPC)?
Much the same way it does with SEO. When users land on your website by clicking on your paid Google ad, each person will see a different phone number based on the keyword search they initiated. This gives you remarkable control over targeting keywords more efficiently and managing your PPC budget. You can strategically shift money toward keywords that are producing strong phone calls and away from keywords that are ending in clicks alone. That’s dynamic!
Wait. Aren’t there already unique numbers in PPC ads?
Yes, most Google ads are tied to a distinct number. Do a search for “injury lawyers”. You will notice the top ads (denoted by the yellow “Ad” icon) have a tracking number different from other numbers listed on the attorney’s website. If a user doesn’t click the ad but calls the number listed, this is a “free” inbound call, which provides valuable ROI. Our current numbers show attorneys are getting approximately half of their phone calls from Google ads.
Bottom Line
With today’s available technology, it’s hard to deny that lawyers should be spending money on targeted search engine marketing.
Ready to see how profitable your online marketing can be? The experts at Network Affiliates use DNI to enhance our clients’ digital marketing strategies and produce results people can measure. We’ve got all kinds of marketing tips for law firms. Contact us today to learn more (888) 461-1016!