As digital marketing continues to grow in popularity, are traditional channels still worth the investment for law firms? Andy Cullwick, director of marketing at First4Lawyers, explains why there may be life in the old dog yet.
In the current cost-of-living crisis, we’re all having to do more for less and marketing is no exception.
Budgets are stretched and it’s not hard to see why traditional channels like radio and TV – particularly the latter where advertising for just a few seconds can cost thousands – are being pushed out of the picture.
Digital marketing, including below-the-line methods such as SEO, social media marketing and pay-per-click, are not only much cheaper but return on investment is much easier to measure – a definite plus when having to justify spend.
As every good marketer knows, however, you need to be where your target audience is and this year’s Legal Services Consumer Panel Tracker Survey shows broadcasters are still very much in the game. When asked what was most likely to influence consumers when choosing legal services, recommendations came out on top and no single channel, traditional or otherwise, stood out.
TV choice
Research indicates that the average UK adult watches around four hours of TV each day between live programming and streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Gone are the days when viewers only had a handful of channels to choose from and nowadays there is much more choice for advertisers too. Non-skippable adverts are a feature of most on-demand TV players and even Netflix, while late to the party, is getting in on the act.
Services like AdSmart allow different adverts to be shown to different households watching the same programme, enabling advertisers to target a specific demographic.
Product or service placement in TV shows is also on the increase as it avoids the issue of viewers skipping through the adverts, although this doesn’t come cheap. Dev’s is no longer the only grocer to grace ITV’s famous cobbles, for example, with first the Co-op and now Sainsbury’s setting up shop on Coronation Street in a slot thought to have cost the retailer millions of pounds.
Radio growth
Despite competition from on-demand music services provided by the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, radio is the real surprise package.
More than 50 million of us – 88% of the adult UK population – tune in, predominantly via DAB and smart speakers, for an average of 20.6 hours per week, Radio Audience Joint Research (RAJAR) shows.
Recent Ofcom research backs up the stats. What’s more, it shows that more than 70% of us are tuning into commercial radio (which is funded entirely by advertising) at least once a week, compared to 55% for advert-free BBC stations.
TV may be out of reach for many, but radio advertising – particularly on regional stations – is typically a much more budget-friendly option. As well as producing shows, an increasing number of stations now also offer additional services like on-demand listening and podcasts.
Learning curve
Businesses have become increasingly digitally orientated in recent years, but when it comes to reach and brand-building power, broadcast is still a major player.
Marketing is constantly evolving and consumer behaviour changing, but it’s all about measuring success and return on investment and finding the right mix for you.
Don’t be afraid to try new things, but don’t be too quick to write off existing channels either. It may seem like social is where it’s all at, but the numbers for TV and radio speak for themselves – sometimes the old ones really are the best.
Andy Cullwick has worked in marketing for more than 25 years, the last decade of which has been working for First4Lawyers. The UK’s largest independent legal marketing collective, which matches potential claimants with specialist lawyers and is seven-time winner at the Personal Injury Awards, is based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
