What are the Benefits of Lead Attribution for Law Firms?

Law firms constantly seek ways to improve their marketing and increase revenue. One of the best ways to do this is by using lead attribution.

Lead attribution is a marketing tool that allows law firms to measure the effectiveness of their lead generation efforts, ensuring that they’re spending money on the right channels. Find out the benefits of lead attribution for law firms and how you can figure out where your leads are coming from with backdocket.

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE LEAD ATTRIBUTION?

You want to know where to focus your marketing efforts and ensure you’re getting the most for your marketing budget as a law firm.

Benefits of lead attribution include:

• Identifying the channels that bring in the most potential clients
• More accurate targeting of potential clients coming from a particular channel
• Improved communication with clients who are interested in your services

For example, suppose you advertise your legal services on Google AdWords and receive 100 leads per month. One of those leads could be a potential client who found your website through an ad. Another lead may have discovered your services through a website linked to yours. Knowing where your leads come from is essential to understand if your ads are effective.

Types of Lead Attribution

There are various lead attribution models, each with a unique approach to assigning credit for conversions. From simple to sophisticated, these models offer different perspectives on the customer journey.

Let’s explore some of the most common lead attribution models and how they can provide valuable insights for your firm.

First Touch Attribution

• How It Works: Assigns credit to the initial touchpoint that introduced the lead to the law firm.
• Insights: Identifies the first channels that attract potential clients.
• Best For: Law firms with a strong brand presence and a focus on awareness-building campaigns.

Last Touch Attribution

• How It Works: Assigns credit to the final touchpoint before the conversion.
• Insights: Reveals the most effective channels at closing deals.
• Best For: Law firms with shorter sales cycles and a strong focus on conversion.

Multi-Touch Attribution

• How It Works: Distributes credit among multiple touchpoints that contributed to the conversion.
• Insights: Provides a more comprehensive view of the customer journey.
• Best For: Law firms with complex sales cycles and a variety of marketing channels.

HOW LEAD ATTRIBUTION WORKS IN THE CLIENT INTAKE AND ONBOARDING PROCESS

The client intake and onboarding processes start whenever you capture the attention of a new potential client. They may have called your office, emailed you, or completed an online form on your website to schedule a consultation. However, there is no way for you to know whether they came from referrals by past clients, online advertising campaigns, or web searches.

You may learn where your clients discovered you through your intake and onboarding process. Once you know this information, it becomes easier to understand which marketing channels work well for your law practice and which ones don’t perform. You can then focus on optimizing channels that are performing well while scaling back on those that aren’t offering results.

It is important to attribute where a potential new client came from when you first interact with them. Using these practices during the client intake process can improve the rate at which leads become paying clients and increase your law firm’s profitability.

Ways to achieve accurate lead attribution during onboarding include:

Maintaining a client intake policy and process

Educate your attorneys and staff on how to handle the initial contact with clients. Establish an intake process to ensure they understand the expectations of tracking each lead, including asking clients about how they found out about your law firm.

Lawyers and staff members should also understand the goals of lead attribution as it pertains to reaching out to more potential clients through the most popular sources.

Discovering how a prospective client found you

Asking a potential client how they heard about you in the intake phone call is one of the easiest ways to find out the source. If they came through a paid search ad, you know where to focus your marketing efforts.

If they came through a referral, you can determine whether the referrer was a past client or a professional acquaintance. A prospective client might have heard about your law firm through social media, such as Twitter or LinkedIn. In this case, you may focus your marketing budget on developing a social media presence to reach more clients.

Manage every lead in practice management software

A law firm’s intake process involves a variety of data fields, and duplicating information is time-consuming and prone to error. As part of your client intake process, you can set up your practice management software so your lawyers and staff members can input the clients’ information as they speak to them.

Backdocket’s practice management software helps you track the status of each lead and client in real-time. You can easily see who is currently a client, who converted from a prospect, or which sources led them to your law firm. This information is accessible ‌through backdocket’s dashboard and customized reports.

BOOST YOUR FIRM’S GROWTH WITH BACKDOCKET

Backdocket can define key stages in the lead intake process to identify sources, maximize conversions, and increase your law firm’s revenue. With backdocket’s practice management system, you can easily see which marketing efforts generate the most leads and conversions and translate the information into actionable marketing strategies. Contact us today to book a free demo and discover how we can improve your law firm’s marketing and communication efforts.

Originally published June 20, 2022. Updated September 6, 2024.

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