The Evolution of Lawyer Advertising

The history of lawyer advertising began back in the late ’70s when two ambitious lawyers in Arizona launched the first instance of legal marketing. After a bit of fighting with the state bar and Supreme Court, lawyers were allowed to advertise, thus inviting even more competition into getting that ideal client.

Lawyer advertising changes with the times, just as any form of marketing must do to keep the attention of the potential clients and consumers. Where we get our news and information has changed over the years as well, and lawyer advertising has followed this path just as most other professional services have.

Early lawyer advertising was mainly in the places where other professional services were already advertising: the Yellow Pages, billboards and other outdoor signage. Soon TV and radio commercials followed, allowing lawyers to have a face and voice beyond static pictures and text.

Now the trend is with the Internet, where you can blend traditional print media with digital enhancements to create some pretty far-reaching legal marketing methods. The Internet is tying us together whether we like it or not, and making it easier to track client information from a lawyer advertisement to our databases.

My article on the history of lawyer advertising talks about the struggles we’ve gone through over the years to get to the great period we now live in. Your only real limitations to legal marketing are your state bar, your budget, and your entrepreneurial spirit.

Ben is a nationally recognized expert in attorney marketing and the owner of Great Legal Marketing.

Most attorneys start their firms assuming that being a really, really good attorney should, in and of itself, be a marketing advantage. Those attorneys believe that joining a whole bunch of committees and putting their name in lawyer directories is “marketing,” and they never bother to ask if there is a better way.

Attorneys are catching on, however, and those who succeed learn to leverage their current resources to create effective (and ethical) marketing. What they discover isn’t a magic pill or silver bullet but a different approach to marketing that your competitors haven’t considered.

If you want a peek at what successful attorneys use to market their practice, the HERO Starter Kit is your logical next step.

We’ve put together a FREE (and potentially life-changing) kit for solo and small firm attorneys that will show you a better way to reach potential clients and get them excited to call your firm. Request your HERO Starter Kit from Great Legal Marketing!

by Ben Glass

Ben is a nationally recognized expert in attorney marketing and the owner of Great Legal Marketing.

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  • Ben is a nationally recognized expert in attorney marketing and the owner of Great Legal Marketing.