Marketing Updates

SEO

• Google coughs up $1.4 billion to Texas in a privacy lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Google collected users’ biometrics without express consent and tracked their locations even if the feature was disabled. 
  • “In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law. For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says in a statement.
• Video matters now more than ever in SEO. Many foundational SEO tactics remain relevant when it comes to social media video optimization. Social media influences discoverability. SEO works hand in hand with social media to boost visibility, drive engagement, and turn videos into powerful marketing.

Paid Advertising               

• Meta unveils new ad updates at NewFronts 2025. The two that affect legal industry campaigns most are as follows:
  • Reels trending ads
    • This new placement allows advertisers to put ads in the most trending creator Reels.
  • Video Ads on Threads
    • A new placement for video advertisements, reaching a new audience
• YouTube shares its new ad options and usage stats at BrandCast 2025. They also note that YouTube Shorts viewing is up 20% year-over-year. YouTube says that 70% of its channels now post them.      
• Threads advertisements are now available to all Meta advertisers globally. This opens up a new audience for testing.       

Social Media

• The average engagement rate for Facebook is a whopping….0.15%, with smaller accounts (>5k followers) seeing an average rate of 0.30%. Consultwebs has consistently monitored engagement rates for our clients’ social media, setting our target goal at 4%–more than ten times higher than the industry standard.
• Threads will soon begin prioritizing links in posts, unlike X. This is a surprising move, as most social media platforms want users to remain on their platform for as long as possible instead of external sites. 
• After two years, X is still not close to their “Everything App” vision. Unless attorneys have a sizable and highly engaged following, we recommend prioritizing other social media apps that offer higher value results. 
• Google recently removed 15k YouTube channels for China-originated influence activity. China is not the only country that targets USA social media platforms to influence public opinions, but is the top source. An interesting opinion offered in this article is that the threat is less about data privacy and more about the capacity in which social channels have to influence public opinions. 

Antitrust Cases

• Epic Games and Spotify test Apple’s new App Store rules. The updated App Store policies were rolled out last week after Apple lost a major legal battle in the antitrust case filed by Epic Games, when a federal judge ruled that Apple had not followed the court’s orders around in-app purchases. The Kindle app has also released a new version of its app. https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/09/epic-games-and-spotify-test-apples-new-app-store-rules/

AI

• It’s here! Google tests ads in AI overview and AI mode. We knew Google would monetize AI spaces eventually. This means that ad strategies for top-of-page results will likely shift in the near future. Our PPC team will keep you up to date with optimal places to spend ad dollars online as processes evolve. 
• AI mode–the future of SEO? What matters going forward? Clicks, tracking those clicks, branding, and agents (Google recommending “buy now” or “contact” type links for products and services). There is a 10-minute video that explains this well, embedded in this link. It is essential that brands of all sizes adapt to these changes early and optimally, or risk irrelevance online. 

Stay LAWsome–We’ll See You Again Next Month!

Thank you for reading our monthly roundup! We’ll see you again next month for another newsletter packed with insights, trends, and expert guidance for helping your law firm thrive. 

The post May Digital Marketing Industry Updates appeared first on Consultwebs.

So, what happened in April? Let’s dive in!

Marketing Updates

SEO

• Google launches thousands of updates per year. In total, they run approximately 700,000 tests annually. In 2023, that led to 4,700 changes to Search. 
• Google Maps and business profiles get an upgrade to combat fake reviews. What Google says about this change: “We trained a new model with the help of Gemini that identifies potentially suspicious profile edits. A business that changes its name from ‘Zoe’s Coffee House’ to ‘Zoe’s Cafe’ isn’t suspicious—but a business that suddenly changes its category from ‘cafe’ to ‘plumber’ is.” 
• Google AI Overviews reaches 1.5 billion monthly users. 

Paid Advertising               

• Google recently sent out a subtle but impactful policy update to advertisers, confirming changes to its long-standing “Unfair Advantage Policy”. The policy’s enforcement date began April 14th, 2025.                                                                                                                                             

Social Media

• TikTok is here to stay–at least for another 75 days or so. The new extension date is June 19th.
• Instagram’s new edits app is now available. The app is meant to be Instagram’s version of the video editing app Capcut. 
• Facebook announces new measures to combat spam posts and comments. This means their systems will be searching more for irrelevant hashtags on posts. For example: If an attorney posts a testimonial and the caption is about how much they love dogs and has hashtags like #ilovepuppies instead of “Our clients are great! #clienttestimonials #personalinjuryattorney” — the puppy caption would be considered spam.

Antitrust Cases

• Google’s antitrust trial enters remedies phase. DOJ wants Google to sell the Chrome browser. 
• FTC antitrust case against Meta heads to trial.
• Did Meta allow TikTok to grow intentionally in order to dilute their own FTC Antitrust case? This article discusses that possibility in depth. 

AI

• Google adds image search to AI Mode, expanding to more users. You can now upload pictures and ask questions about them. 
• Chat GPT expands memory capabilities.
• As much as we learn from AI, it’s also learning from us. 

See You Next Month!

Thanks for catching up with us. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to get next month’s news straight to your inbox. We’re always here to help you stay ahead in the digital world!

The post April Digital Marketing Industry Updates appeared first on Consultwebs.

Their full report delves into key findings, including the rise of social media advertising, the dominance of specific industries, and the role of OTT platforms in shaping the future of digital marketing. Below we summarize the must know digital marketing information for attorneys.

US Ad Spend on Social Channels Climbs 15% YoY

Social media continues to be a dominant force in digital advertising. Social ad channels, including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, accounted for the vast majority of digital ad spend in the US. 

These platforms outpaced OTT and desktop/mobile display advertising, growing by 15% year-over-year (YoY). This trend further illustrates how brands have leaned more on social media to engage their audiences and reinforces the importance for attorneys to make authentic connections with clients and potential clients in these online spaces.

TLDR; Social media is an ever-growing part of digital marketing plans. Don’t count paid social media out of your law firm’s marketing strategies!

Social Media Trends: Facebook Dominates, but Other Platforms Gain Ground

Facebook remains the top social ad channel, accounting for 36% of US social ad spend in the first half of 2024. Other platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, gained market share as well.

Notably, Instagram led all US social ad channels with 27% YoY growth. TikTok followed with 19% growth, while X (formerly Twitter) was the only platform to experience a decline in ad spend. The fall of Twitter/X has been an unsurprising one for many marketers, while TikTok’s growth may surprise many due to questions surrounding its possible ban.

TLDR; Attorneys should be prioritizing Meta platforms for paid campaigns. Don’t count out LinkedIn either, especially for organic social media and cultivating a network of peers.

Audience Insights: Understanding Demographics on Social Platforms

Brands tailor their ad spend to reach specific audience demographics across social media platforms:

• Pinterest: Dominated by female users.
• X and LinkedIn: Skew more toward male users.
• Instagram and YouTube: Have balanced gender and age distributions.

Data Source for graphs: Sensor Tower

The demographic data is a helpful tool that allows advertisers to best optimize attorney ads.

OTT Advertising Surpasses $10 Billion in 2024

OTT (Over-the-Top) advertising has become a game-changer for marketers looking to extend their reach beyond traditional channels. Unlike cable TV ads, OTT allows advertisers to target specific audiences on streaming platforms like Hulu, YouTube, and Roku, reaching users on smart TVs, mobile devices, and gaming consoles. Another major selling point for OTT advertisements is its price point–it is much more affordable than traditional TV advertising.

OTT ad spend in the US surpassed $10 billion in the first eight months of 2024, marking a 13% YoY increase. Growth in OTT ad spend has outpaced desktop and mobile display ads (+11% YoY) but remains slightly behind social media advertising (+15% YoY).

TLDR; OTT could be a great addition to attorneys’ digital marketing campaigns who are looking to expand their audience and reach past traditional tv commercials.

Streaming Services: Peacock’s Olympic Boost and Hulu’s Continued Dominance

Major sporting events continue to drive OTT engagement. The Paris Olympics provided a significant boost for Peacock, increasing its US OTT ad market share from 6.8% in 2023 to 8.2% in 2024. During the Olympics, Peacock averaged nearly 3 million daily active users, marking a 130% increase from its 2024 pre-Olympic average.

Hulu remains the leader in OTT advertising, surpassing 10 billion monthly impressions in 2024. Pluto TV and Tubi are closely competing for the #2 and #3 spots. Since launching its ad-supported tier in 2022, Netflix has seen substantial growth, though its ad-supported audience remains a small fraction of its overall user base. Its targeting options are also currently national only, so is slightly less appealing to small businesses.

Ad Category Trends on Streaming Services

Each streaming service attracts different advertising categories:

• Peacock & Tubi: Financial Services dominated ad spend.
• Pluto TV: Automotive brands, including Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, and Hyundai, were the top advertisers.
• Netflix: Travel & Tourism accounted for 18% of its US ad spend, driven by brands like Airbnb and Expedia.

Methodology: How Digital Advertising Data Is Collected

The data presented in this report was compiled by Sensor Tower’s Insights team using Pathmatics by Sensor Tower Digital Advertising Insights. The estimates cover ad spending through August 31, 2024, based on a sample of digital ads collected from select channels in each market.

Pathmatics employs two leading data sourcing technologies: panels and data aggregators. By utilizing statistical sampling methods, the platform estimates impressions, cost per thousand impressions (CPMs), and total ad spend for each creative. Notably, OTT data is derived from real OTT & CTV viewers, representing popular streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix, Pluto TV, Tubi, Peacock, and Paramount+.

What’s Next for Law Firm Advertising? Let’s Map Out Your Future Together.

Digital advertising is more dynamic than ever. With social media and OTT leading the way, it’s important to consider how the shape of advertising influences your law firm’s strategy. 

Attorneys need a trusted partner who is informed on paid advertising strategy refinement to maximize their ad spend efficiency and to reach the right audiences in the right places. Speak with us one-on-one today to discuss your paid advertising options.

The post The State of Digital Advertising in 2024: Trends, Growth, and Market Insights Attorneys NEED To Know appeared first on Consultwebs.

These winning firms have one common strategy, and their success is far from coincidental; it is forecasted! 

They all diversify their digital advertising efforts to an Agile approach tailored for law firms and experience adaptive and dynamic techniques that helped them unlock:

• Stronger online presence
• Visibility
• New heights of digital success

These law firms’ experience:

• Teamwork and collaboration
• Data-driven decision making
• Quick and iterative releases

Be one of these money-making law firms dominating the digital advertising space today.

Secure Your Spot

Please note: Our law firm marketing agency maintains an exclusive partnership model, accepting only a select number of law firms per state and practice area to ensure our undivided focus on optimizing your firm’s market position. Spots are booked quickly; book yours before it fills up.

Effective Agile Digital Advertising Efforts Produce Results

As proof, this is the data of a law firm partnered with Consultwebs. ( For privacy purposes, we will keep the law firm’s name anonymous and address it as ‘the firm’.)

The firm focuses on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD) and Personal Injury (PI) cases. The firm leveraged using LSAs in its digital marketing strategy, and look how it paid off.

• For Personal Injury cases, the firm’s ave. Spent was $928.65 and got $5,727.25 earnings from the generated cases, making a 516.73% ROI.

• Meanwhile, in SSD, the firm’s ave. spend was $2,128.34, and got $11,772.73 in earnings from the generated cases, making a 453.14% ROI

• In combination with PI and SSD, the firm’s ave. Spent was $3,056.99, and received $17,500 in earnings from the generated cases, making a 472.46% ROI.

So you might be wondering, how did Consultwebs practice Agile digital advertising? Take it from Matt Smyers, our Senior Digital Advertising Advisor.

That is why one of the strategies that Consultwebs strongly leverages is Local Service Ads or LSA.

Local Service Ads for Law Firms

LSA is an advertising program where law firms are verified on Google and pre-vetted as the strongest match in the search results.

The profile of your firm or the lawyer representing your firm would appear at the very top of Google’s search results. This is what it looks like:

Local ads are Google-screened. It provides the user with the most significant information, such as reviews and years in business.

About LSAs:

• It will lead searchers directly to a “click-to-call” functionality.
• LSA ads appear above PPC and all other search ads on Google within the search results
• Unlike PPC, LSA operates on a pay-per-lead basis.
• Local service ads (should not be mistaken for local search ads.)
• It can also be managed through Google Ads (only their billing and payment system)
• It can be operational on a PPC (pay-per-click) basis.

Its goal is to help your firm appear to prospective clients searching in your area for your services. Moreover, LSAs help your firm score quality leads that ultimately become paying clients.  

And when you secure your leads, it also means securing your sales pipeline.

Leads are found in the middle of your sales funnel:

LSAs serve as the  “middleman” between your law firm and clients; this is why Google refers to LSA as the “messy middle.”

Learn more about the messy middle here:

Now that you have a better understanding of what Local Service Ads are, let us briefly talk about the power of PPC. It is a service that some mixed up with LSA, but it also has a significant impact on every firm’s digital advertising strategy if done right.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Works Best With LSA + SEO

Talking about the Agile approach and investing in what works based on the data. Using PPC with the combination of LSA and SEO efforts is a giant strategy to beat.

How? Let us elaborate…

PPC for law firms allows firms to bid on specific keywords related to their services. Using effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your firm’s PPC Ads, ranking on the first page of search results is not impossible.

With LSAs, again, local service ads can be operational on a PPC (pay-per-click) basis, so combining these two strategies can strengthen your ad campaign more.

Here are a few areas your PPC team will work through:

• Reaching your target audience
• Focusing on the right keywords
• Clear messaging within the advertising
• Managing the bids and budget
• Retargeting campaigns
• Boosting a social media ad campaign

The Right Law Firm Marketing Agency That Breathes and Lives Through Agile Digital Advertising Is What You Need

Whether it is in life or in business, it is not about what you want, but what you NEED. Finding the RIGHT partner in business can directly impact the success of your law firm’s GOALS.

Consultwebs values the essence of collaboration and teamwork. Let us talk about how we can tailor your firm’s goals to the needs of your prospective clients through effective digital marketing strategies.

Book Your 1-1 With Our sales consultant Sam Polesak

The post Attorney Digital Advertising appeared first on Consultwebs.

Here’s a shocking statistic:

That means that if you’re not using paid search as part of your law firm marketing strategy, you’re missing out on potential clients. Let’s change that.

It’s true, all successful legal marketing requires a long-term strategy. But, is it enough? We’ll start by saying, a strong legal marketing strategy requires targeted and specific actions to boost your brand image and awareness while increasing traffic and leads. Here we’ll cover why paid marketing is such an important strategy and how you can implement it into your law firm business today.

Paid Advertising: A Key Marketing Strategy for Law Firms

Paid strategies like PPC,( pay-per-click), activate short-term sales, an essential part of your firm’s long-term success.

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is one of the main paid marketing strategies for law firms.

In short, advertisers pay a fee each time someone clicks on their ad. PPC ads are shown to your target demographic when a user searches for key terms related to your business, like “lawyer near me” or “best personal injury lawyer.” You only pay when someone clicks on the ad.

Like a billboard along the highway, with PPC, you pay for advertising “space” on search engines such as Google when someone searches for keywords associated with your law firm.

The beauty behind PPC and other digital marketing strategies is that it is also relevant on other search engines (i.e., Yahoo! or Bing), but naturally, with 80% of the market share, most law firms and businesses choose to focus first on Google.

Here are some of the main benefits of PPC for law firms:

PPC ads can be competitive and bidding for keywords against competitors can get costly.

For this reason, it’s important to have a thorough and expertly executed PPC advertising campaign. For more details, check out the top 9 PPC questions every law firm should have answers to. If you are currently looking for marketing agency we can give you a hand with our:

Compare Marketing Vendors

PPC vs. SEO for Law Firms

It can’t go without saying that another profitable marketing strategy employed by many law firms is SEO or Search Engine Optimization. This is the process of optimizing your website and content so that Google and other search engines organically rank your site higher based on what the user is searching for.

The main difference between SEO and PPC is that SEO is a long-term lead generation strategy focused on organic reach whereas PPC can lead to quick, even instant, results-focused on paid reach.

Takeaway:

Now the question is, should firms focus on PPC or SEO? The best strategy for your law firm will depend a lot on your budgeting and goal strategy. However, if you are looking to boost your sales leads and inquiries from prospective clients, PPC, and paid marketing can help you get there faster.

If you’re unsure where to start with PPC campaigns and paid search strategies for your law firm, feel free to go over this PPC for law firms guide. And if you’re looking to take this conversation outside and see the different digital advertising options available, we’re here to help.

The post The Power of Paid Advertising for Law Firms appeared first on Consultwebs.

Is your firm running ads? If yes, you’ll want to read ahead! Find out more about the new changes to Google ads and the best practices you should implement moving forward.

Ever had this happen to you? You’re enjoying watching a video, and suddenly, a super annoying ad pops up. If you’re like most of us, you’ve been there. Most of the time you probably skip the ad as quickly as possible and continue watching, or maybe you finally decided to ’re ‘outsmart’ the advertisers by installing ad blockers.

According to findings, around 27% of American internet users have ad blockers. Globally, 42.7% of internet users use ad blockers. The reasons? Primarily because, as most people say “there are too many ads,” and others go further, saying, “there are too many ads that are annoying or irrelevant.” See for yourself:

So, what do ad blockers have to do with Google’s recent update to their Destination Requirements Policy? 

We’ll delve into the details in the following sections, but briefly, Google continuously aims to provide the best user experience. One obvious way to do so is to discontinue frustrating ad experiences such as flashing and invasive pop-ups. When a user has lots of annoying ad experiences, there’s a higher chance they’ll install ad blockers, which means that your ads, even if they meet Google’s criteria, won’t get seen either.

What happens when users install ad blockers? 

Publishers and businesses cannot make money from ads that no one sees. Without an audience, the entire advertising ecosystem is disrupted. This is 100% avoidable, thanks to Google’s new update.

What’s the Destination Requirements Policy update?

As Google states, “We want consumers to have a good experience when they click on an ad, so ad destinations must offer unique value to users and be functional, useful, and easy to navigate.”

Google wants to ensure its ads offer a positive experience through the Destinations Requirements Policy. To do so, they use something similar to SEO; for example, content that gives EAT (expertise, authority, and trust) ranks better organically.

This all sounds great, but if you’re wondering, “what is Destination in this case?” This isn’t the type of destination you reach at airports. Google defines ‘Destination’ as the page where users land once they click on your ad; this could range from a homepage to a landing page.

Starting October 2022, the Destinations Requirements Policy will be updated to include ad experiences that conform with the CBA, Coalition for Better Ads. This is a nonprofit organization that, like Google, wants to ensure the best ad experience for users. Giants like Google and Facebook are partnered with the CBA.

The CBA created rules all ads should follow under a set of global standards called BAS, Better Ads Standards, and defined 18 types of ads that are disapproved. (More on this in the following sections.)

Implementing the Better Ads Standards’ Practices

The Coalition for Better Ads researched over 66,000 consumers in various countries representing 70% of global ad spending.

Based on this research, the Better Ads Standards’ practices were built. Instead of focusing on what practices to include, the CBA decided to showcase what not to do. Perhaps you’re familiar from first-hand experience with one or more of the following (irritating) types of ads:

• Disruptive unskippable ads
• Obstructive ads aq
• Flashing, animated pop-ups, and others

For example, when it comes to mobile, here are the ads you should avoid at all costs:

There’s an entire list of least preferred ad experiences. Feel free to explore it here.

What type of ads will be disapproved of by Google?

A ‘disapproved’ ad means it violated Google’s policies. When this happens, the ad cannot run until the elements are fixed or appealed.

Here’s the great news! The ad experiences that do not conform to the Better Ads Standards will inform the advertiser via the Ad Experience Report.

Learn how to install and view your reports here:

And even better news for those working with Consultwebs! If you’re running Google Ads with us, feel free to reach out to us, and we’ll be happy to guide you through your reports.

Takeaway

Frustrating ad experiences are common, and you’ve probably had your share! Fortunately, giants like Google are trying to counteract invasive ads and avoid driving users like you and me towards installing ad blockers.

We know that quality ads can be powerful (take the case of the great Super Bowl ads). They help drive users towards valuable free content and help build connections. However, as Google enforces its new policies, you’ll need to use best practices to keep reaching the users that need your services.

If you want to protect your digital ecosystem and, most importantly, your advertisement dollars, we’ve got a team of experts on board and ready to help.

The post Google Ads Destination Policy appeared first on Consultwebs.

It is said that the teams that are going agile are 25% more productive. Moreover, 71% of US companies are now using Agile, and the number is expected to grow. While there are plenty of figures demonstrating the powerful benefits behind going Agile, there’s an apparent reason why some of the top fortune 500 businesses are already implementing this. Here’s a quick example of a giant that went Agile:

Cisco Systems, a multinational tech company, initially used the waterfall technique. This approach slowed the company’s development process, resulting in many problems, from quality issues to missed deliveries. In light of this, they opted for an Agile framework known as SAFe, the Scaled Agile Framework, and introduced agile training with their internal team. The results?

• Reducing defects by 40%
• Increasing efficiency by 14%

And that’s not all! Research shows that many industries, including the legal profession, adopt Agile for 5 main reasons. Check it out:

By now, you may be thinking, “So, what’s agile marketing? How can firms like mine go agile in this day and age?” You’re in the right place.

What is Legal Agile Marketing and Advertising & Why should Law firms care?

Bob, a multi-business owner, is in the market looking for an estate planning firm that’ll take care of his finances. He might have a few attorneys top of mind based on advertisements, billboards, networking events, etc. However, most seeking legal services consider this type of business a high-ticket purchase. Because of this nature, consumers like Bob will not only draw from their awareness; he’ll most likely confide in his close circles, such as family, friends, and colleagues. It doesn’t end here. Besides that, he’s most likely also actively checking review sites like Avvo and more.

Eventually, Bob will have a list of potential estate planning firms, and he’ll start narrowing down that list. Once he has his top choices, he might keep digging to find out more. At last, the ideal dream would be him booking a call with your firm. Nonetheless, it’s clear to see the process is not linear anymore.

In today’s marketing, this convoluted process challenges today’s firms who are trying to identify a clear path of purchase. The one-way customer journey as we once knew it isn’t a linear, direct process anymore. To give you an idea, the traditional funnel looks like this:

All customers going through the sales funnel should convert this way in a perfect world. However, we need to reiterate that today many customers are like Bob and their purchase process is unique and non-linear. They may go back and forth between different stages. So, what does this mean for law firms? Is this a bad thing? Far from it!

We’ll explain this new underlying phenomenon and new opportunities you can venture toward. Let’s begin.

Everything You Need to Know About the Dark Side of the Digital marketing Funnel

It indeed sounds like a concept straight out of the dark side of the force of Star Wars, but this concept was coined back in 2016.  We’ll use a small science lesson to help explain the name and the concept of the dark funnel.

Dark matter is invisible and emits no light, yet it makes up over 80% of all matter in the universe. Amazing, isn’t it? There’s a similar theory in marketing, and it’s called the dark funnel.

Understanding today’s customers’ touchpoints

The dark funnel refers to the often hidden yet critical insights many miss when trying to understand the customer journey. It’s the untapped source of hidden and powerful knowledge you can leverage in your marketing. Think of the dark funnel as tapping into uncharted territory, the same way NASA and other aeronautics explore the great mystery of space.

Marketing is a highly-complex service, and the work between capturing a lead, nurturing it, and turning it into an actual case is far-stretched but not impossible, as we’ve seen in the profitable success many firms have with us.

However, can only one channel take all the credit for a firm’s success? Actually, on average, it can take around 8 different touchpoints to engage a user. For this reason alone, the most successful firms today are trying to be everywhere, digitally speaking. We continue to witness this first-hand, case after case.

Perhaps the most significant advantage of tapping into the dark funnel is hitting the mark with clients like Bob. It may seem like you’re blind to understanding the consumer’s behavior when most users today are constantly jumping back and forth in the messy middle, but there’s good news. Customers leave a kind of ‘breadcrumb trail’ across the internet, and you can make the most of it too.

To follow the breadcrumb trail, it’s best to combine data and a thorough understanding of your consumer’s behavior. These are also some of the promises behind the dark funnel, and here are 3 of the main ones:

1. It helps you understand why people come to your website, read your blogs, watch your videos, listen to your podcasts, etc.
2. It helps you define why you should do something and what to do.
3. It helps you understand how things change over time and thus, helps you adapt and evolve.

Now that we’ve talked about a critical piece you shouldn’t miss out on, let’s talk about how you can pull the data “into the light.”

Improving your firm’s chances of being top of mind

Nobody decides to wake up in the morning and call a law firm, but you’ll want to be there when the time comes and they do. Prospects contact a firm once they require legal services, but that shouldn’t stop firms from creating an association and relationship beforehand. This is what is known as brand recall.

Making the most of the digital advertising budget

Firms investing, or looking to invest, in digital advertising services can benefit the most from our marketing Agile management. Why? The top benefit of Agile is better management of changing priorities and projects. Due to the dynamic and complex nature of digital advertising, this is a match made in heaven.

In fact, the latest tech report by AgileSherpas finds that Agile management is being adopted primarily for social media efforts.

With Agile management in place, Consultwebs can swiftly relocate a firm’s digital advertising budget accordingly. The adoption of Agile is helping businesses dynamically reallocate their budget on an ongoing basis:

An Example of How Agile Marketing Works With Consultwebs:

• If data suggests costs are increasing on Facebook during the holiday season, we would have limited options when making Facebook campaign alterations or turning it off before Agile.
• Now, Agile allows us to use those funds on other platforms like Google Ads, LSAs, Digital Audio, etc. Here, clients can still get consistent results while Facebook runs at a higher cost.

Moving Faster Without Compromising Quality With Agile Marketing

In 2012 a group of forward thinkers met to create a guide pertaining to the future of modern marketing. This event was known as Spring Zero, a two-day gathering where many provided their take on digital marketing’s future. This led to the question, “Which method is ‘the best?” With that question in mind, Agile Marketing was born.

Agile Marketing is an approach based on the principles of agile methodology. These are the 5 principles in agile marketing:

• Adapt to change: Your firm’s business is dynamic by nature; therefore, it’s best to modify your plan of action from time to time.
• Experiment and test: To find out what’s working and what isn’t it’s critical to have organized controlled experiments.
• Quick iterations: A/B test with small changes in your marketing and re-run the modified strategies.
• Frequent interactions and feedback: For anyone in business, law firms included, feedback is necessary to grow.
• Constant learning and improvement: If you want to grow your firm, you’ll need to tweak your legal marketing.

The objective behind agile marketing is to manage all projects related to legal marketing. In other words, moving faster without compromising the quality of the deliverables.

How firms can implement Agile Marketing:

1. Sprints – A sprint refers to the timeframe you’re giving your team to complete the current projects. This isn’t set in stone, but sprints typically last between 2-6 weeks. More significant projects might not fit into this timeframe. Therefore you can break the projects into pieces.
2. Stand-up meetings – AKA a daily scrum is a short daily meeting where your team gets together to check-in. Each member goes over what they did, goals for the team, roadblocks, etc.
3. A board to track your firm’s progress – It’s your choice whether you prefer sticky notes or a digital Kanban board. As long as you have a central way of tracking your sprint efforts.
4. Teamwork – This is the most critical element. Everyone in your team should be prepared to collaborate and assist.

Measuring your Firm’s Agile Marketing Strategy

“How do I know agile marketing is effective for my firm?” This is perhaps the most crucial question of them all. Here’s the metric in agile marketing: brand recall.

Brand recall correlates to your revenue. However, measuring direct-cause-and-effect is tricky because there isn’t a single-touch attribution. Today’s marketing focuses on being all around the conversion path to reach your audience at different stages. When your ads appear on a user’s screen, that’s an impression. This is important because before you get any user to click and convert, you need to know if you’re commanding their attention.

You want to give users that ‘aha’ moment when they see you, and this is where brand recall comes in. It helps you answer questions like:

• Did users see the ad?
• Did users engage with it?
• Did it make an impact on the viewer?

Learn more about how conversion attribution works and find out how you should best attribute YOUR firm’s conversions by downloading the resource below.

Download Resource

Why Consultwebs has Adopted Agile Management

We understand digital marketing services are dynamic and highly complex, and to meet today’s demands, Consultwebs was the first legal marketing agency to adopt Agile.

Firms want to navigate challenges and venture into new opportunities, which is precisely what Consultwebs is helping firms accomplish. AgileSherpas, the world’s leading Agile training, found that more B2B and B2B industries are moving from traditional waterfall techniques to Agile. Take a look:

Planning for the Unplanned Road Ahead

Investing in organizational agility doesn’t mean problems won’t arise. However, challenges like last-minute requests, lack of consistency in work, and poor effectiveness are handled better than in traditional teams.

All firms investing marketing dollars need a team that is:

• Aligning with your goals, especially long-term ones.
• Maximizing the customer experience.
• Moving the needle.

Before diving in, you’ll want to know: “How Agile is my firm’s marketing?”

https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/first-legal-marketing-agency-to-go-agile Here you will find the Agile Quiz https://consultwebs.involve.me/get-started" />

Find Out How Agile Your Firm is With this FREE analysis.

Whether you want to plan for the unplanned road ahead, ask more questions, see Agile management in action, or more, we’re here to help.

Top FAQs For Law Firms Going Agile

1. What exactly is Agile for law firms?

Agile is all about adapting to evolve and thrive in today’s highly dynamic, complex, and competitive business world – especially for those in the legal profession. By definition, Agile is “the ability to create and respond to change. It is a way of dealing with, and ultimately succeeding in, an uncertain and turbulent environment.”

This brings us to the next question…

2. What’s the difference between Agile and Waterfall?

Most involved in the marketing, advertising, and business process are familiar with the good old Waterfall technique. It involves the creation of monthly, quarterly, and yearly plans combined with a series of launches throughout the year. While it’s pretty straightforward, in today’s highly dynamic world, it may be challenging to foresee the market 6 or even 12 months from now, and this is where Agile comes in.

Agile focuses on shorter sprints and shorter campaigns that reflect current market conditions. Unlike waterfall’s rigid structure, Agile focuses on the ability to pivot to thrive in today’s dynamic environment.

3. What are the main characteristics of a legal Agile team?

Whether you’re looking to implement this internally or with your legal marketing agency, there are 4 main characteristics of an Agile team:

• Teamwork and collaboration
  • Working with more collaboration across teams, ensuring everyone contributes ideas. The more, the merrier.
• Data-driven decision making
  • Data in today’s world is one of the most valuable assets, and decisions driven by data are worth their weight in gold!
• Rapid and iterative releases
  • To regularly adapt and adjust to your firm’s current needs, it’s best to work in short sprints that allow room for improvement as you go.
• Adherence to the agile marketing manifesto
  • Last but not least, the team should stick to the Agile Marketing Manifesto. If you want to know the history behind the Manifesto and its 4 values, check out this short explanatory video:

4. “Can you name a few benefits my law firm can expect from going Agile?”

5. “What are some of the top Agile techniques my law firm can implement?”

• Sprints – A sprint refers to the timeframe you’re giving your team to complete the current projects. This isn’t set in stone, but sprints typically last between 2-6 weeks. More significant projects might not fit into this timeframe. Therefore you can break the tasks into pieces.
• Stand-up meetings – AKA a daily scrum, this is a short daily meeting where your team gets together to check in. Each member goes over what they did, goals for the team, roadblocks, etc.
• Teamwork – Everyone in your team should be prepared to collaborate and assist.
• A board to track your firm’s progress – It’s your choice whether you prefer sticky notes or a digital Kanban board. The point is to have a central tracking record of your sprint efforts.

Want a FREE Kanban template? We’ve created one for you!

Want to try it? Download by clicking on the image above, print a copy and put sticky notes in the categories!

6. “Let’s say I want to implement a Kanban board. How do I define the ‘In Review’ section?”

The previous Kanban board offers a general birdseye view of how your team’s workflow works with Agile, but Kanbans can be 100% adjustable according to your firm’s process. Usually, it begins with an idea and follows through with the to-do and doing, but confusion may arise under the ‘review’ stage.

A basic Kanban board would typically stick to one ‘review’ section, but you can break it down into multiple sections. For example:

• Ready for review: The work is done, and the person in charge of reviewing needs to go over the task.
• Review in progress: The person in charge of reviewing is already going through the task.
• Waiting on 3rd party: The work is done, except the team is waiting on an external party to check it.

7. “Does daily stand-up really help my team? I feel a sprint is enough. What added value do daily stand-ups offer?”

We’ve discussed some Agile techniques, two of them being sprints and stand-up meetings. Firms looking to go agile should incorporate both. Here’s why.

Things move fast; a week from now, your team might have different priorities, and going an entire week without checking in on your teammate’s progress introduces a high level of risk. This is one of the main reasons many businesses are going Agile;  they want to be able to switch gears rapidly without compromising team communication and quality work.

8. “How do I get my team on board with real agility vs last-minute pivots?”

Frequent last-minute changes impact a team’s staff and clientele in more ways than one might expect. If we were to revisit the case of Cisco Systems, the waterfall technique with strict timelines and “last-minute pivots” impacted the company’s delivery and bottom line.

On the contrary, real agility relying on sustainable techniques like stand-up meetings, sprint projects, and cross-functional team collaboration helps build “moldable guardrails” around the team. Because Agile focuses on shorter periods, it allows the team to focus on what’s essential now while keeping an open mind to any future changes.

Eventually, All Roads Should Lead To…

Your clients!

One of the most potent underlying benefits of Agile is the ability to remain consistent with your success, your team, and, most importantly, your clients. In the business of law, consistency beats predictability. Most people prefer to avoid the unknown, and if a client knows a firm can consistently deliver the same level of service, they will be comfortable because they know what to expect from you.

Learn more about how conversion attribution works and find out how you should best attribute YOUR firm’s conversions by downloading the resource below.

Download Resource

The post Agile Marketing for Law Firms appeared first on Consultwebs.

You’ve probably been told that to sell, your central focus should always be around your ideal buyer persona(s). This is true, but this only scratches the surface.

There are plenty of arguments in favor of targeted audience segmentation: it’s cost-effective, focused, and helps tailor your messaging strategy. But, what if we told you there’s a new marketing strategy that can help you reach people beyond your imagination?

It’s called optimized targeting, one of Google’s latest additions. This new concept is still a form of audience segmentation, but it essentially reaches people outside your pre-determined demographics. This may sound counterproductive, but there is a reason why Google rolled out this new update: redirect the people outside your firm’s circle towards you.

Let’s say after a few months, your firm hits a plateau when trying to acquire new clients. There are little to no calls and cases coming in, but you are putting all your marketing efforts towards reaching your desired audience. What can be the possible solution?

You need to find new ways to reach people who are more likely to engage with your firm, and this is a prime example of a situation in which Google’s optimized targeting may well be you ticket to success.

What is optimized targeting?

Optimized targeting is Google’s latest feature that has been automatically applied to advertisers leveraging demographic/audience targeting on display, discovery, and video campaigns. Its purpose is to find people outside your pre-determined circle and that essentially mirror your current audience.

The beauty behind this new form of advertising is that, although it’s automatically on, you always have the power to turn it on or off at any given moment. In addition, it’s not exclusive to a specific campaign; it considers your account as a whole.

You can also adjust the mode. Either keep the targeting setting automatic or change it to manual.

• Automatic mode: Leave it as is. It’s already configured to be on.
• Manual mode: It’s possible to change any campaign setting to target by keywords or demographics. You can do so by following these instructions.

Optimized Targeting vs Audience Expansion.

They both mention target and audience, and they’re Google features, but there are differences between the two:

• Audience expansion: Focuses on increasing conversions by expanding your reach to audience segments that look like your existing and manually-selected audience, in addition to the latter audience. For example, a firm that adds reaching the target for “car accidents” expands to “auto injuries” and “vehicle accidents.”
• Optimized targeting: Focuses on expanding to users that are most likely to convert, based on conversion-data that is being gathered from your current audience. Your manually-selected audience provides the data-driven foundation for this model and reaches prospects outside your pre-determined audiences.

Think of the two types of campaigns as being in the same family tree. They are essentially from the same roots, but they are different branches.

Although both terms have grown to different branches, there are some similarities between them:

1. The purpose is the same: expand your reach.
2. Google automatically applies both. It doesn’t prioritize one over the other.
3. They can work together, not against each other.

How does optimized targeting work?

We know so far, this type of ad goes beyond manually-selected campaigns. Nevertheless, how does it work?

1. As previously mentioned, it’s automatically set and turned on for all your Google campaigns.
2. Once you have an active campaign, it will start looking for users that match your campaign’s goal(s). The following are the three primary campaign types:
   • Image ads that appear on the sites or apps that your audience visits and uses.
   • Text ads that can show on the Google SERP when someone makes a search query for a service you offer.
   • Video campaigns: Video ads that are typically 6-15 seconds long and that show right before or during a YouTube video.
3. Google gives you the option to add targeting signals, the criteria the search engine will follow to find people outside your circle.
   • Do you want to reach similar audiences according to their behavior? Then you can choose the audience segment as the target signal.
   • Do you want to reach more people according to search query similarities? Then you can pick ‘keyword’ as the target signal.

If you decide you’d like to turn this setting off, you can follow these steps:

1. Select the campaign you want to launch.
2. Select the ad group.
3. Click on Settings.
4. Click on edit the ad group targeting.
5. Turn the optimized targeting off.
6. That’s it. You’re done!

“Does my firm need optimized targeting?”

You need to reach people who will engage with your firm, but it all boils down to usability. Is this something your firm’s ads need? If you’re still unsure, follow the checklist below:

• Has your firm seen substantial results with audience segmentation alone?
• Have your campaign efforts been slow at getting you the results you need?
• Is working with smaller audiences getting you enough quality calls and cases?
• Do you want to increase your conversion rate without hurting your wallet?
• Would you like to identify new people who are responsive to your campaigns?

The biggest question is, are you looking for new ways to scale up? We are guessing your answer is “Yes” or, more accurately, “Of course!”

If this is the case, your firm should seize this opportunity.

Working smarter, not harder.

It may happen that a business sometimes hits a wall on growth. But, it’s also possible to grow by taking full advantage of new opportunities coming your way.

Sometimes this means stepping outside your comfort zone and trying new growth strategies, i.e., adding optimized targeting in your ads.

If you want to experience new ways to reach clients in your area, let’s formulate a campaign strategy that generates more business for your firm.

The post Optimized Targeting in Google Ads: Everything Your Firm Needs to Know appeared first on Consultwebs.

In their newest update, they are cracking down on advertisers who run “ads that use clickbait tactics or sensationalist text or imagery to drive traffic” and “as that use negative life events such as death, accidents, illness, arrests, or bankruptcy to induce fear, guilt, or other strong negative emotions to pressure the viewer to take immediate action.”

While this may seem to target specific advertisers (ahem, legal), this does not in any way aim to single out any one type of advertiser, but more so, is an extension of their current non-exhaustive policies to protect consumers from questionable marketing tactics.

Still, this has a lot of our legal clients (and others) questioning, “how does this affect me”?

In general, if you are using an agency partner to manage your Google Ads, you should be in great hands. Your agency will have the expertise and knowledge to know where the line stands with Google and will ensure that your ads are compliant.

This is especially true of agencies who hold Google Premier Partnership status (like Consultwebs), as ad compliance is also a requirement to be in good standing for partnership status.

In the case that ads are disapproved, your agency will work with Google’s technical teams to either fix the ads or re-submit for review if they truly are not in violation. This can happen with Google’s sometimes ambiguous rules that are often subject to more than one interpretation.

If you are running ads on your own or you just have questions about this new policy that are keeping you up at night, read on.

We’ve reached out to our friends at Google to see if they could help address some of the more common questions. Here’s what we know.

As a Law Firm, should I be concerned, and how can I prepare for the changes?

There is no need to be overly concerned. If your ads haven’t been in violation to date, then you are likely ok to proceed with the ads you have been using.

The important thing to note is that these are extensions of pre-existing policies that are now more specifically outlined.

The new policies do outline examples of what types of content will be in violation. Of which, you can see in detail here.

Essentially, you just need to avoid showing images of real-life negative events to induce fear/guilt and avoid using phrases that scares a user into taking immediate action or that are sensationalized such as “click here to find out”, or “you won’t believe what happened.”

How will I know if I am in violation of policies?

If you are managing your own ads accounts, you will be notified through the Policy Manager in your account. All Google Ads policy violations can be appealed.

How do I appeal violations?

If you have reviewed the policy violation and disagree that your ads are in violation, here are the steps to appeal. Again, if you are running ads through an agency partner, this is already handled by them.

Here are the steps to appeal:

1. Go to the “Ads and extensions” page and find the ad or extension you want to fix
2. Hover over the ad or extension and click Edit.
3. Edit the ad or extension so that it complies with the policy.
4. Click Save. Your ad will be automatically reviewed again. Check the ad’s status in the “Ads and extensions” page for updates.

Here is how to check the appeal status:

1. Click the tool icon in the upper right corner of your account.
2. Under “Setup,” click Policy Manager.
3. On the “Appeal history” tab, you’ll find details for all ads you’ve appealed. The “Status” column shows whether the appeal is still in progress or complete. The “Results” column shows the results of the appeal, including how many ads had their policy approval status updated after the review.

Is my Ads Account at risk of suspension?

If your account continues to violate policies, there is always a possibility that accounts can become suspended. This is true of any of Google Ads’ policies and is not specific to just this new update. For more information on when and why Google suspends accounts, check out this policy resource.

Does this new policy affect just my Google Search Ads?

The policy states ‘it covers advertisements which use sensationalist or clickbait text or imagery which intend to drive traffic’, therefore we can assume that it is across all Google channels; search, display and video.

How will information be “flagged”; human checks or AI checks?

Unfortunately, this information is unknown or not able to be shared. It could be checked by either or. No matter how it is checked, the most important thing is to be mindful of the content and language you are using, to check your ad compliance regularly and to fix any ads that may be in violation of Google’s policies or to appeal ones that may incorrectly be marked as in violation.

And there you have it. The new policy explained in as much detail as is available. Google does not provide any more specifics than what is typically addressed on their policies as to avoid giving one agency advantage over another.

Ultimately, this is where marketers and ad agencies use their best judgment based on their interpretation of the policy as it is outlined. What has worked in the past will likely continue to work and that’s where the focus should be.

Happy Ads managing!

Want more advice on law firm marketing? Sign up for the Consultwebs newsletter, follow us on social media, and subscribe to the LAWsome Podcast.

Sources:

• July Policy Update: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9773289?hl=en
• All Ads Policies: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/topic/1626336?hl=en&ref_topic=2996750,1308156,
• Misrepresentation Ad policy: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6020955?hl=en&ref_topic=1626336
• Personalized Advertising Policy: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/143465?hl=en&ref_topic=1626336
• Inappropriate Content Policy: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6015406?hl=en&ref_topic=1626336
• Google Ads Suspension Policy: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/2375414?hl=en

The post Google Ads Clickbait Policy appeared first on Consultwebs.

According to this post from Google:

“We want to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) stay in touch with their customers during this challenging time. That’s why we’re giving our SMB customers worldwide $340 million in ad credits, which can be used towards future ad spend, until the end of 2020 across our Google Ads platforms.”

Is Google giving out ad credits to law firms? We have been getting that question quite a bit, and fortunately two of our team members, Stefanie LeBlanc and Matt Smyers, have created this video to give you the latest information on how these ad credits may affect your law firm’s digital advertising.

Matt: Good afternoon, everybody. This is Matt Smyers, and I’m joined today by Stefanie LeBlanc, our PPC manager.

There’s been a lot of questions recently from clients and other law firms around the country about the program that Google has announced where they’re going to be offering businesses free advertising. We wanted to try to provide you with the answers that we have, right now, and then please stay tuned as this situation develops. But Stefanie, can you tell us a little bit about what Google is offering, and what we know so far?

Stefanie: Yeah, sure, of course, Matt. So, as Matt alluded to, Google made an announcement where they’re going to be giving $340 million in ad credits to help support small to medium size businesses around the world. So what that looks like is the credits are going to be given to those who have been active advertisers since January 1st of 2019. And so, yes, this is going to apply to law firms, if they meet those requirements.

Matt: So do we have any idea when these credits are supposed to hit or take place, or how a law firm or business might, look for these credits?

Stefanie: Google is currently in the process of building them out within the accounts, so they’re not going to show immediately. We were told that those credits will start to appear within the Google Ads accounts, beginning in late Quarter 2, so in this quarter to those who are eligible.

The way that a law firm can know whether or not they have an ad credit coming to them is starting at the end of this quarter. If they’re running their own in-house advertising or if they’re working, you know, directly with Consultwebs, with us, they’ll see those notifications within their Ads account.

Matt: Do we have any idea how Google is going to determine how much credit each business will get?

Stefanie: We don’t. Unfortunately, that’s not information that they’ve shared with us and how they determine the actual dollar amount. But we do know that we’ll know that amount as soon as that credit becomes available.

Matt: And can that credit be used for all types of Google advertising, or is it for PPC search campaigns only?

Stefanie: Yeah, that’s a good question. And it’s important that clients know that they can use this across all of Google’s products. So that can apply to search campaigns that they’re running, display or remarketing, and video campaigns on YouTube. So they can choose to use that ad credit in any way, shape, or form that they want.

And once that credit becomes available, they have until the end of 2020 to use the credit. So it’s not [that] they have to use it, right off the bat, in the very first month that it becomes available. They can use it at any point during 2020.

Matt: Great. Thank you. So, there you go, folks. That’s what we know, so far, about this pending Google advertising credit. Obviously, we’re keeping our clients informed about any developments. We’re in constant communications with our team at Google. As soon as we know more, we will continue to post these videos and content.

If you want to get the latest updates on Google Ad credits as well as other important legal marketing news, sign up for our newsletter and we will be sure to keep you informed and up-to-date with the information you need to keep your law firm marketing effective:

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