When catastrophe hits, it’s tempting to follow the same script as everyone else. Whether you’re facing an economic recession or a global pandemic, your instincts may tell you to pull back and guard your budget more closely than ever.
This is exactly what many law firms did when COVID-19 spread across the U.S. But our research shows that the sooner firms reinvested in marketing, the faster they bounced back from this coronavirus-induced slump.
COVID-19 presented challenges for all law firms
Lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 became widespread across the nation in mid-March 2020. As cities everywhere shut down, people stayed home and the need for attorney services dropped significantly.
The average decrease in auto sign-ups from March to April across cj firms was 42%, but by May, many firms had already rebounded back to or better than their pre-COVID sign-up totals.
What are the common denominators for firms whose sign-ups have bounced back?
Firms that remained on air during the pandemic, even at reduced levels, have fared better overall. And among all cj firms, TV rates were renegotiated to maximize April’s reduced spends, helping to keep the cost per sign-up efficient even as the total sign-ups fell.
PPC spend is another strong indicator for a rebound in sign-ups. The best results occur when PPC spend is 15%-25% of the overall marketing budget: ideally 5%-10% on branded campaigns and 15%-20% on unbranded campaigns.
By maintaining a TV presence throughout the shutdown and supplementing it with a strong PPC presence, firms were able to see a quick turnaround to their typical sign-up totals.
What does this mean for your strategy?
It’s understandable that some law firms have cut back on their marketing budgets during the pandemic. But however intuitive that strategy might seem, our data suggests that a strong media presence is the best way to climb out of a COVID-induced lull.
At cj, we’re always looking for ways to turn challenges into opportunities. If you’re already a member of the cj family, and you’d like to talk about a strategy to improve the number of sign-ups your firm is receiving, contact your Brand Strategist.
If you’d like to speak to someone at cj about establishing a greater presence on TV and the web, let us help you create a strategy. Shoot us an email today to start the conversation.
