Aside from referrals, the majority of new business is now generated from online sources including lawyer directories, rating and review sites; Twenty-one percent cite social media as being a primary driver of new business
Seattle, Wash — Avvo, Inc., the web’s largest expert-only health and legal Q&A forum and directory (http://www.avvo.com/), and LexBlog, the world’s largest legal blogging network, (http://lxbn.lexblog.com ) today published the results from the 2012 Legal Market Survey Report, providing insight into legal marketing trends and strategies currently employed by lawyers, primarily solo practitioners and small firms. The report, based on data from an April 2012 survey to 1,325 attorneys across the United States, reveals that online marketing is the primary driver of new business, and while social media and blogs have dramatically changed how they market their services, attorneys are overwhelmed by the number of online tools available.
Key findings:
- Aside from referrals, the majority of new business is generated online through lawyer directories, rating and review sites (56 percent) and social media (21 percent) compared to offline print sources (17 percent
- Nearly 25 percent spend more than 75 percent of their marketing budget onlin
- 72 percent monitor their online reputation on a regular basis
- Despite the shift to online marketing, in person events remain priority business development channels. 75 percent still attend conferences and 57 percent speak at events
“When asked how legal marketing has changed in the past five years, the lawyers in our survey overwhelmingly responded with two words: social media,” said Mark Britton, founder and CEO at Avvo, Inc. “The vast majority of lawyers understand that they must have a robust online and mobile presence to be found by clients and recognized by their peers, but are challenged by the time and expertise required to manage their online presence effectively.”
“By personally using social media, I network through the Internet to build relationships and build my word of mouth reputation. Being that my company, like law firms, gets its best work by word of mouth and relationships, social media is the best business development friend I’ve ever had,” said Kevin O’Keefe, CEO and Publisher of LexBlog.
The survey also asked lawyers how they believe legal marketing has changed the most in the past five years. Below are a few of the common themes:
- The adoption of new marketing channels has created chaos among bar associations who struggle with adapting new rules and regulations, resulting in confusion and uncertainty for lawyers.
- Potential clients no longer rely on word of mouth – they do their own research when looking to hire an attorney, most often online, and come to appointments better educated and prepared with questions and requirements for establishing a client relationship.
- Older lawyers and more traditional law firms are adapting to the online world. Where at one time digital media was dismissed or its use even banned, there’s now an understanding of how important these tools are for the practice.
Availability
The 2012 Legal Market Survey Report is available now as a free download from: http://lawyernomics.avvo.com/.
About LexBlog
From an operational standpoint, we simplify things for lawyers–LexBlog provides a turnkey solution that walks the lawyer through strategy, project management, design, development, ongoing training and support (including hosting and backup). After the blog or custom solution launches, we continue to support and train the lawyer to reach higher levels of engagement. Visit www.lexblog.com.
About Avvo, Inc.
Avvo is the web’s largest expert-only legal and health Q&A forum and professional directory, providing trusted answers to consumer health and legal questions every 9.7 seconds. In Avvo’s free Q&A forum consumers can get free legal advice or free medical advice from more than 125,000 participating lawyers, doctors and dentists. Avvo’s professional directory provides comprehensive profiles, patient and client reviews, peer endorsements and the unbiased, industry-recognized Avvo Rating for more than 90% of doctors, dentists and lawyers in the U.S. Launched in 2007, Avvo is privately held, with funding from Benchmark Capital, Ignition Partners and DAG Ventures. For more information, visit www.avvo.com.
