If you run a small- to mid-sized personal injury firm, the advertising arms race happening around the country is the best thing that could happen to your practice. And here’s why.
rising marketing costs at large firms create new opportunities for small practices
As the mega-firms pour more and more money into ads, their cost per client acquisition keeps climbing. And when marketing takes up a larger and larger slice of the pie, something has to give.
Higher acquisition costs per client means firms have to justify the cost by loading up fewer people with more cases. Higher marketing costs and more money on marketing means those firms will be forced to look even harder at ways to create more efficiencies on the operations side. That won't be great for clients.
This is what it looks like in practice:
- More AI and less humans.
- More cases for fewer people.
- Less personal attention.
- Less client communication.
- More nickel and diming on expenses.
- Less attention to detail.
- Lower pay and benefits for employees.
This is exactly where small firms win. You’re not competing on ad spend. You’re competing on service, attention, quality, and results.
The economics of high-volume marketing mean big firms must chase efficiency, leaving room for small firms to excel
You can offer a bespoke, high attention to detail client experience those firms cannot. Personal attention. Lower caseloads. Highly skilled, well-paid staff. Real lawyer involvement. Personalized strategies. Better communication.
To paraphrase Sun Tzu from The Art of War, avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak. Lean in to your advantage and attack their weaknesses while those firms cannibalize each other in an unsustainable marketing arms race.
This isn’t about criticizing large Law firms
My opinions about small firms having certain advantages because they do not spend as much on marketing have received some pushback. It's been suggested that I badmouth large firms.
That's not my point. This is simply about leverage and economics.
Understanding leverage, economics, and where small firms naturally have the advantage
Every firm, big or small, has to identify its advantage. If you're a small firm and not spending a lot on marketing, what is that advantage?
Well, if you are not spending $250,000 to $1 million per lawyer on marketing, then each lawyer in your firm isn't starting in a six- or seven-figure hole you need them to make up just to cover the marketing costs. That's something you can use to your advantage.
For example, say Law Firm A spends $500K per lawyer on marketing. Law Firm B spends $50K per lawyer on marketing. I would argue Law Firm B could still be profitable if its lawyers generated revenue that's about equal to what Law Firm A would need to generate just to break even on the marketing spend.
If, say, Law Firm A has to generate $1 million in revenue for its model to work, and Law Firm B only has to generate $500,000, Law Firm B has the ability to do certain things Law Firm A cannot in terms of how it staffs its cases and pays its people.
Law Firm B can keep lower case counts for its attorneys, focus on pay and benefits to attorneys and staff to recruit top talent, and provide highly personalized attention and service. This can help strengthen the firm's referral relationships (both with clients and lawyers) and build its reputation for service and quality.
Compete where they’re weak, not where they’re loud
This isn’t a moral judgment. It’s math. When average marketing spend per lawyer increases, the revenue each lawyer has to produce has to go up as well to cover the firm's marketing and overhead, while still making a profit for the owner.
And as marketing costs continue to rise, firms will naturally look for efficiencies to maintain profitability. That means more cases per lawyer, more automation, and leaner staffing models. That may work for their business model. But it also creates an opportunity for smaller firms to compete in a different lane: depth over volume, relationships over reach, service over scale.
That’s not badmouthing. That’s understanding your position and using it strategically. Would you agree? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.
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