Posted on May 19, 2020 by Joseph Lamport
We recently had a chance to speak with Robert Schmid about how the opportunities and strategies in digitial marketing for law firms have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Robert is the VP of Zola Media, a leading digital marketing agency that handles, among other things, PPC advertising and SEO strategies for small and mid-sized consumer facing law firms.
PinHawk: Have you seen a significant change in the monthly advertising spend among your law firm clients over the last 2 months?
Robert: While we have seen changes, they are frankly less than we were anticipating at the outset of the pandemic. The vast majority of clients that have adjusted their spend have focused on paid search and other forms of advertising that can quickly be turned off and on. We have seen very few firms adjusting their budgets devoted to longer-term marketing initiatives such as organic search and content marketing. The changes we have seen have been for practice areas and regions that have been most directly affected.
PinHawk: Has there been a dramatic change in PPC performance in that same time period?
Robert: It's difficult to generalize PPC performance; certain practice areas have seen increased competition and click costs while others have seen a decrease in bidders. Even in those practice areas with fewer bidders, click costs have not decreased as much as you may expect given that the supply of traffic has also decreased.
PinHawk: Has the change in PPC performance been uniform and across the board or are there significant areas of strength & opportunity?
Robert: Performance, by any measure, has been dramatically different across geographic regions and practice areas. Statistics such as the approximate halving of traffic accidents in California has a direct impact on the number of searchers and potential cases in the always competitive personal injury space.
PinHawk: Do you have advice to clients about how to change their approach to online advertising in the current market?
Robert: Now is a great time to improve your firm's technology and website. Your potential clients are going to come out of this using technology more confidently and expecting more convenience. This is the perfect time to increase your firm's efficiency and ultimately, profitability through the smart use of technology.
