Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Digital advertising is an effective way to drive traffic and leads to professional services firm websites, especially law firm websites. Advertising online now takes many forms including search ads, image ads, video ads and hybrid forms that can be targeted to appear in locations ranging from search engine results to social media feeds and to millions of diverse websites that form part of online advertising networks (e.g., the Google Display Network [GDN]).
Online marketing and advertising offer many benefits over more traditional advertising methods. There are no minimum ad costs and no contracts, meaning small budgets can still generate results and campaigns can be edited or cancelled at any time. They are also measurable; these channels provide metrics that help us to determine which ads and strategies have worked best, which ones need improvement, and what changes will likely lead to that improvement.
Search Engine Marketing
Having a clear understanding of what success looks like for your firm is essential when developing a search engine marketing (SEM) strategy.
We start our process by understanding your firm, your target markets, your ideal client’s online journey and sales funnel, your selection criteria, and your desired actions and outcomes from the marketing campaigns, whether they be in the form of conversions (lead-generation), clicks (traffic generation), or impressions (awareness generation).
Once we complete this phase, Cubicle Fugitive develops targeting recommendations for the marketing campaigns. This includes establishing keyword targeting lists, geographic location targeting parameters, audience targeting criteria (including remarketing), and strategic bid adjustments as needed.
Digital Marketing Campaigns
We create strategic digital marketing campaigns that target potential clients during all phases of the buying cycle and remarket to interested parties who have demonstrated an interest in your firm and its offerings (e.g., visited the website). Once the initial targeting has been confirmed, Cubicle Fugitive will create the approved advertising campaigns. We also provide ongoing maintenance and optimization to ensure that you stay competitive in the evolving digital marketplace.
Delivering on KPIs to Ensure an ROI
Cubicle Fugitive provides regular campaign performance reports. These include an overview of key performance indicators (KPIs), information on what’s working and what needs to be improved, and our recommended next steps to ensure continued campaign success. These reports are customizable, and we are happy to share as much detail and metrics as you require including ad group reports, keyword reports, ad reports, call details reports, and conversion reports. Depending on an ad campaign’s goals, this usually involves focusing on a combination of the following KPIs:
- Conversions: Conversions will measure the number of people who complete a lead generation action after clicking a digital ad. These actions are unique for individual firms and can include actions ranging from completing a website contact form, making a phone call to your firm, clicking a contact link (e.g., email address/mailto link or vCard link) or sometimes even navigating to a key webpage (e.g., contact page or bio page). Conversions are most often the primary KPI for ad campaigns run by professional services firms.
- Cost per conversion: While conversions measure the quantity, cost per conversion measures efficiency. Without harming total conversion numbers, we seek to generate conversions at as low a cost as possible.
- Conversion rate: The rate at which people who have clicked an ad then complete a conversion action. This metric tells us in-part whether we need to make improvements to your website’s landing page and whether we are generating quality ad traffic.
- Click-through rate (CTR): The rate at which people who see an ad then click on an ad. This metric tells us in-part whether we need to make improvements to the digital ads and/or the ad targeting.
- Impression share: The share of impressions that the ads receive compared to the total number of impressions that the ads were eligible to have received. By comparing this metric to the “lost search impression share” due to rank and due to budget, we can get a better idea of whether we should adjust our bidding strategy to be either more aggressive or more conservative.
Cubicle Fugitive has experience working on several types of online advertising campaigns including:
Google Ads Search Network Ads and Microsoft Ads
Search advertising places your ads front and centre for your potential clients. Making heavy use of keyword targeting, these ads can be used to promote your services to internet users right when they’re looking for them. It is an optimal way to reach people who are searching for your services online, ensuring your brand is seen by the right people at the right time. Search ads are one of the most effective ways for professional services firms to drive traffic to their websites.
Major search engines each have their own advertising platforms such as Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) for Google’s search engine and related services, and Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) for Bing and Yahoo. They primarily employ a pay-per-click model (PPC) in a real-time auction which ensures that you only pay for positive outcomes which guarantees accountability and helps to control ad budgets. Ads platforms are increasingly making use of automation and machine learning to dynamically adjust your bids to changing digital market conditions.
While search ads are primarily focused on keyword targeting and location targeting, they can also incorporate audience targeting (including remarketing), device targeting, time of day targeting, and limited demographics targeting. With the right strategy, these tools can be used to deliver fantastic results for your firm.
Google Display Network Ads
The Google Display Network (GDN) allows advertisers to employ visual ads (image ads and video ads) across more than 2 million websites, videos, and apps. This prominently includes YouTube, a Google-owned property. The visual format, large reach, and generally low cost per click (CPC) make them well suited for awareness campaigns, reaching people who could make use of your services but haven’t explicitly been searching for them.
These ads usually employ audience-based targeting to reach users based on their interests, demographics, and past visits to your website (i.e., remarketing). They can also be targeted based on specific topics and placements. Display ads are very inexpensive and can help you to promote your firm and its brand across wide audiences with visually appealing formats.
Social Media Ads
Another key avenue of traffic to professional services firms’ websites is social media where users may be likely to engage with consumer-focused content (e.g., Facebook and Instagram) or business/professional focused content (e.g., LinkedIn). Advertising on these platforms is a great way to target the audiences you want to reach in the places where they consume their content.
Learn more about our expertise with social media advertising.
Digital and search engine marketing is extremely competitive, and we will work with you and your firm to build awareness and drive qualified leads to your website through a targeted strategy and campaign. Contact us today to find out how we can help grow your business.