One of the most common complaints or misconceptions against law firm marketing is that it can be difficult to measure results and ROI.

Let’s take a look at television commercials, for example. While you can estimate the number of people who see a television ad based on the ratings for a particular program, it isn’t an exact science. Thanks to DVR and streaming services like YouTube TV, people can skip through ads entirely. Even if they don’t skip through the ads, there’s no guarantee that the viewer is actually paying attention.

Furthermore, unless new clients fill out a questionnaire (“how did you hear about us?”) or similar survey, it’s impossible to ballpark how many new bankruptcy leads are a direct result of that television ad campaign. Even then, the margin of error could be substantial.

Of course, it’s not just television ads. Radio ads and billboards also pose the same challenges.

Fortunately, digital marketing services for attorneys have circumvented those challenges. Through analytics and tracking tools, we can identify exactly where bankruptcy leads come from, their behavior on your website, and how much it costs to generate a qualified bankruptcy lead.

This isn’t to say that one type of marketing is better or preferable than another type of marketing.

However, if you are carefully tracking your marketing dollars and marketing efforts, then you will want measurable results. At Gorilla Webtactics, we take a data driven approach to digital marketing for law firms. Let’s take a deeper look into the cost of bankruptcy lead generation.

How Much Will My Law Firm Pay for a Qualified Bankruptcy Lead?

When it comes to digital marketing, you truly get what you pay for.

One of the simplest ways to illustrate this is through PPC conversions and their respective costs. Google AdWords provides the opportunity to pay for different conversion types in its campaigns. However, there are multiple types of conversions — and these conversions are not equal. 

Consider the types of conversions measured by Google AdWords:

• Website traffic. Depending on your niche, location, and competition, the cost per website visit can cost as little as a few cents all the way up to several dollars. For the sake of this illustration, let’s say the cost per click is $5.00. On paper, $5 for a single conversion might look very appealing, but once you realize that the “conversion” is simply to get a website visitor, that cost is much less impressive.
  
  In general, website traffic (especially first-time visitors) still tends to be very top-of-funnel. People are weighing their options and looking for the solution that’s right for them. The cost for this conversion will be cheaper and will yield incredibly high volume, but only a small percentage of these people will actually convert into paying clients for your law firm.

• Leads. In order to attract high quality bankruptcy leads, you have to drive traffic to your website. However, not everyone who lands on your website will become a lead. Qualified leads are further down in the sales funnel process, and are therefore more expensive to acquire, yet more valuable to law firms. These potential clients are willing to provide their contact information to attorneys through a sign-up landing page. When it comes to bankruptcy leads, the cost can be as little as $30 to $60 for less qualified leads to over $200 for the most valuable leads.

• Sales. The sales campaign is most often used by eCommerce businesses that want to pay directly for the cost of a sale. While this campaign type isn’t appropriate for law firms looking to generate leads, it’s still important to be aware of it when analyzing the broader paid ads landscape.These types of ads are more expensive than both website traffic and lead ads since they are at the very bottom of the funnel. 

With all of that being said, the sweet spot for a qualified bankruptcy lead tends to be in the realm of $200. While this might sound expensive, this lead is near or at the very bottom of the funnel. They are actively seeking a lawyer to help file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

The key word here is “actively.” These people aren’t simply looking for information. They’re not people who have previously filed for bankruptcy. These are potential clients who are taking proactive steps to contact a lawyer for representation.

How do we know these are active leads?

• Strategic keyword targeting. Experienced PPC professionals understand the psychology of bankruptcy leads. Potential clients tend to search specific key phrases, depending on where they are in the sales funnel. A combination of analytic tools and keyword analysis allow us to identify prime keyword bidding opportunities to yield leads for bankruptcy lawyers.

• Retargeting. Are you going to purchase a car the first time you hear about it? Probably not. But if you hear about that car or auto brand again and again in a positive light, then you are more likely to consider purchasing it in the future. The same is true for digital advertising, especially for high-value propositions.
  
  Retargeting (also known as remarketing) is when follow-up ads are served to visitors of your website who didn’t convert the first time. Because visitors are already familiar with your law firm from their first visit, they’re more likely to convert into a high quality lead. However, retargeting isn’t simply just showing the same ads over and over to your website visitors. It’s about strategically leading them further down the sales funnel.

While $200 is the cost for highly qualified bankruptcy leads, the cost for a generic, top-of-funnel lead tends to come in at $30 to $60 per lead.

Many of these cheaper $30 to $60 leads can come in through social media ads as well. It’s not that advertising on social media is bad, but these platforms can attract “Lookie Lous” who are simply curious and interested, but haven’t moved past the consideration phase of the sales funnel.

It’s important to remember that a $30 to $60 lead is still a lead! 

But… because they are higher in the sales funnel, it is going to take more time and effort to get a return on them. They need nurturing, which means investing in automated workflows and constant touch-points. With the amount of follow-up required on a top-of-funnel lead, most serious law firms opt to go for the highly qualified bankruptcy leads, even if they pay much more at $200 per lead.

It’s all about how you want to spend your time and your money. If law firms want to spend $30-$60 per lead and spend their time chasing people down, following-up, and reaching out to potential clients, then more power to them!

At Gorilla Webtactics, we want to see quick returns for our clients, so we focus on leads who have decided they are going to file for bankruptcy and now they definitely know that they want a lawyer. 

Do Bankruptcy Leads Actually Convert Into Paying Clients?

Yes!

This is why it’s so important and strategic to invest in quality leads.

A law firm can focus on top-of-funnel leads, but if none of those leads convert into paying clients due to no follow-up, then it is ultimately wasted money, time, and effort. 

Fortunately, high quality bankruptcy leads tend to average at around a 41% lead-to-conversion rate. In other words, 4 out of every 10 leads delivered convert into paid clients for law firms. 

Out of every 4 clients, approximately 3 on average are Chapter 7 cases whereas approximately 1 turns out to be a Chapter 13 case.

Now, remember, the average cost for a high quality lead (people who are more likely to convert) comes in at $200 per lead.

If 4 out of 10 leads converts into paying clients, this means that a law firm must invest $2,000 to see at least 4 paying clients (10 times $200). 

This raises the question: is that even profitable?

Again, yes!

For most law firms, Chapter 7 cases average out to be $1,250 per client and Chapter 13 cases average out at $3,500.

This means that an average attorney who invests in qualified bankruptcy leads can expect a return of approximately $7,250 on every $2,000 spent. That is a 3-4x return at a minimum. We’ve seen more experienced attorneys with optimized intake processes, higher fees, and higher conversion rates seeing returns around 4 to 5 times their original investment.

Where Can I Buy Qualified Bankruptcy Leads?

While there are many agencies that offer digital advertising services, it’s important to consider whether or not that agency specializes in a specific industry.

For example, running paid ads for an apparel company is going to be different than running ads for an attorney. Not only is familiarity with the industry important, it is also critical to understand the mindset of people who are actively searching for attorneys. In other words, law firm marketing is more than just the technical side of digital marketing; it also takes into account consumer psychology and a deep understanding of how the sales funnel works. Bankruptcy cases are especially sensitive, since people’s financial lives and reputations are on the line.

At Gorilla Webtactics, we specialize in helping law firms grow smarter. Our signature client qualification method is designed to provide better leads for the firms we partner with.

As a full service digital marketing agency for attorneys, we also offer web design, SEO, and reputation management services. A strong marketing strategy utilizes all of these verticals to attract the most qualified leads into your funnel. After all, if someone is clicking on your PPC ad, then it makes sense to send them to an optimized landing page rather than just the home page.

Are you interested in getting quality bankruptcy leads for your firm? Request more information today. We’d be happy to work with you!