What Is PPC?

Pay-per-click ads are a standard format for internet advertising. If you are familiar with Google Ads, then you are probably familiar with PPC. The general idea is that you bid for certain keywords to trigger your ad and then pay when someone clicks on the ad after it appears.

You will notice right away that the main way of paying for PPC is, as the name suggests, per click. However, clicks are only worth so much to a law firm. You can maximize the value of each click by having an interactive, persuasive website and by writing excellent landing pages, but contact with a potential client is still not a guarantee.

A Look at Pay Per Call

Pay-per-call is a different form of advertising. We are going to talk mostly about the type of pay-per-call leads that you buy from an agency, such as Legal Locator. However, there are other versions of this service that depend on a single advertising platform. One example is Google's Local Service Ads which is a localized PPL service with a "call" option.

Agency pay per call does not depend on a single advertising platform. Instead, the agency generates leads by running large-scale advertising campaigns across multiple platforms. Agencies also typically have a network of affiliate publishers and marketers from whom they buy leads.

All you have to do is set up an account with the agency and indicate the types of calls you would like to receive. The agency then processes all of its incoming leads and sends the most relevant calls directly to you.

How Pay Per Call Benefits Your Firm

Pay-per-call leads benefit your firm by providing stability and efficiency. They let you have a predictable number of incoming leads, and they present those leads in the easy-to-process phone call format. As long as you have someone to answer the phone or have invested in a phone-answering service, there is no need to worry about your leads going cold.

These types of calls are also efficient from a payroll/non-billable-hours standpoint. Rather than plan, maintain, and monitor an advertising campaign — something that can be a lot of work even if you're a full-time marketing professional — you just have a one-time setup with your agency.

All of the actual advertising work is done by the third party. This means that the third party also assumes all risks of advertising, ranging from ethical concerns to unpredictable market conditions.

Why It's Hard to Manage a PPC Campaign

One of the misconceptions about PPC advertising is that it is easy to run a campaign. While it is certainly easy to get started and while there's certainly a lot of support if you want to learn, you still have to put in work in order to make campaigns pay off. That's especially true for lawyers, who have some of the highest keyword costs of any profession or industry.

Managing PPC for lawyers is a relatively complex effort involving targeting campaigns, writing advertisements, creating landing pages, tracking progress, and making small adjustments. These factors help convert visitors into leads, i.e. they motivate people to contact your firm. Being thorough also helps set expectations so those leads eventually have a better chance of becoming new clients.

No advertising campaign is going to guarantee 100% conversion. However, for the best possible ROI, you have to spend a lot of time crafting your message and learning how to use the advertising platform.

Pay Per Call Leads as a Results-First Approach

Pay per lead, and pay per call specifically, is one of the most results-focused advertising services out there. While no reputable agency can guarantee that your calls will become new clients, the fact is that you are already ahead of the game by getting a call in the first place.

With pay-per-call, you're paying for the results you want. After you get the call, it's up to you and your intake staff to decide if the client is a match for your firm and, if so, to close the deal.

How To Make the Most of Pay Per Call

Paying per lead or per call can seem somewhat intimidating from a budget perspective if you're used to less focused types of advertising. Here are some ways to make each lead count:

● Streamline your intake process to focus on calls — develop a sales funnel

● Have someone always available to answer the phone or invest in a call answering service

● Track lead progress through multiple stages to identify and remedy failure points in your intake process

● Focus on buying calls for the types of cases that bring the most value to your firm

● Buy calls to supply a baseline number of leads (rather than getting overambitious and burning calls)

Balancing Different Advertising Tools

You are probably going to want a number of different business development tools and techniques at your disposal. At Legal Locator, we're backed by a full-service lawyer marketing agency, so we are equipped to help you understand where pay-per-call can fit into your overall strategy. Please feel free to contact us today.