England: Small law firms wasting money on print advertising

A survey by IRN Research of 100 practices found that they continue to use print advertising and word-of-mouth despite knowing these ways of attracting business are ineffective.

In contrast, website marketing as well as social media and paid search results, regarded as more effective, were partly ignored by small firms, meaning those whose turnover is less than £25 million.

Despite engagement on social media and paid search being seen as the second and third most effective marketing strategies, less than 50 per cent of respondents used them regularly.

While most used print advertising, a mere seven per cent said it was their most effective tactic. Forty per cent said it was not important.

Qamar Anwar, managing director of First4Lawyers, which commissioned the research, said: “At a time of ever-greater sophistication in marketing, too many law firms are relying on tactics that may have worked ten years ago but no longer deliver results in the digital age.”