by Ryan Fenton
Running online ads can be expensive. Especially in the legal world, clicks can cost anywhere from $15 to $75—and that’s just for a click on your ad, with no guarantee of clients generated.
WordStream reported that legal industry cost-per-clicks (CPCs) remain among the highest, averaging $54.86 per click on Google Ads. So when it’s that expensive, how can we afford to advertise? See WordStream, Google Ads Benchmarks for Your Industry (2023), https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/google-ads-industry-benchmarks.
The smartest firms aren’t just throwing money at Google Ads and hoping something sticks. They’re tracking every click, every keyword, every successful inquiry down to the penny. While this article focuses on how the big law firms are getting advertising right, these principles can be applied to solo, small, and medium-sized practices across most areas of law.
KPI and ROI Tracking Smart law firms know their numbers. They can tell you their key performance indicators: which keywords are generating the most revenue, what their cost per acquisition is, how much they’ve spent on those keywords and overall, what the return on investment was. Zero guesswork, it’s about tracking performance and using historical data to move the needle forward in future advertising efforts.
This detailed approach allows them to reduce any wasted funds quickly and re-allocate budgets on the fly, so that they’re always testing in the background whilst keeping their winners front and center. Having lead tracking in place takes the guesswork out of advertising and marketing, allowing you to be more dynamic and accurate with your budgets.
If you know it costs $325 to bring in a custody case worth $5,000, you’re not spending money, you’re investing it.
Why this works: Having a clear understanding of data on cost per acquisition, client value, and ROI lets firms shift budget dynamically toward what works. Eliminating guesswork and aligning spend with profit potential.
Messaging That Matches the Market Let’s be honest, the go-to for ad copy messaging are headlines such as “Experienced Divorce Attorneys,” “Trusted Divorce Lawyers,” and “Over 50 Years’ Experience.” This can be okay, but most of the time, it falls short. Advertising has stood the test of time, and what you say is more important than anything else.
Have a great product or service and poor advertising? Nobody knows or even cares. Have an average product or service with great advertising? You’re increasing your demand to buy. Smart law firms are using messaging that connects with their ideal client.
Remember, some of these people are going through the hardest times in their lives, so we need to connect with them on an emotional level. “We’ll Be Fighting For You,” “We’re In Your Corner When You Need Us Most.” This type of ad copy aligns well with how the client is feeling: lost, alone, maybe fearful of the future.
Emotion is the driver, connecting with your client on an emotional level, understanding them so they feel heard. Advertising that evokes an emotional response, creating a willingness to take action, is often referred to as the affect heuristic—making decisions based on their immediate emotional responses. See D. Vrtaná & A. Križanová, The Power of Emotional Advertising Appeals: Examining Their Influence on Consumer Purchasing Behavior and Brand-Customer Relationship, 15 Sustainability 13337 (2023), https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813337.
Why this works: Messaging that reflects how clients feel and speak builds an emotional connection, which increases engagement and click-through rates. When combined with social proof, ads and landing pages become far more persuasive.
Smart Remarketing This is the biggest hidden goldmine that most law firms aren’t tapping into. Very few people hire a lawyer the first time they see an ad. And it’s said that it takes seven interactions with a firm before a client commits. The Rule of 7 states that a potential client needs to see a marketing message at least seven times before taking action. This is a principle dating back to the 1930s and still cited in modern marketing strategy discussions. See Kathi Kruse, Rule of 7: How Social Media Crushes Old School Marketing, Kruse Control Inc. (2024), https://www.krusecontrolinc.com/rule-of-7-how-social-media-crushes-old-school-marketing-2024.
Smart firms use remarketing strategies to stay in front of prospects during that consideration phase. After the prospect exits the firm’s landing page, over the next few weeks, they’re remarketed to again and again on various channels and feeds. They’re shown case studies, interviews, testimonials, and more, all of which is building trust and credibility subconsciously, so that when the prospect is ready to search again, they naturally feel as though they trust you the most.
Another added benefit is that in a competitive market, such as legal, click costs are reduced by up to 80% compared to cold traffic and significantly improves conversion rates. The firm becomes top-of-mind, and when the time is right, the client returns and converts.
Why this works: The Rule of 7 suggests most prospects need multiple exposures to a brand before acting. Remarketing ensures repeated touches, staying top-of-mind through ads, testimonials, and educational follow-up, significantly increasing the chances of consult-to-client opportunities.
Turning Away 80% and Welcoming the Top 20% Ironically, one of the smartest strategies top firms employ is intentionally turning away most leads. Not every inquiry is a good fit: either they want free consults, don’t have the funds to spend on a case like theirs, or they want something you don’t offer. At this point, most law firms go back to getting referrals because at least they’re getting cases that match their service offerings.
Instead of trying to attract everyone, they use clear pre-qualification messaging. Having a form on your website that turns more people away than it does bring in leads is one way that the smartest firms ensure they’re not just bringing in a lot of no-show, or even low-value cases.
According to Clio’s 2025 Legal Trends Report, small and mid‑sized firms using online intake forms and client intake technology saw conversion rates improve by approximately 5-12% compared to those that did not. Karen Rattray, Highlights From the 2025 Legal Trends for Mid-Sized Law Firms Report, CLIO (Jan. 2025), https://www.clio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-MM-Legal-Trends-for-Mid-Sized-Law-Firms.pdf.
Quality over quantity. This starts in the ad copy messaging, as we already discussed, but leads through to their landing page, where it’s the last step before people can get in touch. This ensures law firms only spend time on the most promising cases, the ones most likely to convert and stay. It reduces no-shows, time-wasters, and clients who ghost after the first consult. And it means most of their time is spent on the cases they want to work on, and that gives them a high value return.
Why this works: Clear pre‑qualification messaging attracts fewer but higher‑fit leads, reducing wasted consultations and improving client and case quality. This improves efficiency and helps firms focus on cases with stronger revenue potential and lower overheads.
Final Thoughts When you piece it all together, the difference between firms generating predictable revenue from online ads and those burning through budget is crystal clear. They track every keyword and ad to understand ROI. They use messaging that aligns with their target market. They follow up persistently through remarketing. They drive traffic to pages built to convert. And they’re brave enough to say no to clients who aren’t a good fit.
When these marketing techniques are applied correctly, they allow law firms to run ads that don’t just attract attention, they attract the right clients and cases. In a world where legal competition is fierce and online visibility can make or break your calendar, smart advertising is no longer optional—it’s the foundation of modern law firm growth.
Ryan Fenton, is the director of CaseFlow PPC, where he works with family law firms to attract more $10K+ divorce-with-asset cases, reducing free consults, no shows and less reliance on referrals. He can be reached at ryan@caseflowppc.com. Tech Tip columns provide advice about how to incorporate technology into one’s practice.