John Wanamaker supposedly said "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
In an an effort to figure out "what half is working," attribution was born. Coupled with a transition from traditional, offline ads to digital media, attribution became the holy grail for analyzing advertising spends.
But in their exuberance of solving Wanamaker's riddle, advertisers failed to appreciate the limitations of even the most sophisticated attribution models.
On top of this, the consultants descended with their chants of, "if you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Which turned into, "if you can't measure it, don't do it."
So, in their infinite wisdom, guided by their data-driven gurus, they cut everything that couldn't be justified through attribution.
Even worse, most of them relied on last-touch (last-click) attribution models.
So, if someone saw a TV ad, picked up their phone, and clicked a search ad, "PPC" got all the credit.
Cut the TV budget! It's not working!
If consultant couldn't find conversions from social media?
Stop wasting time on social media!
And on, and on, and on.
On behalf of their competitors, thank you.
Conrad and I recently joined Zack at Lawyerist to record a conversation about AI and marketing. You might think that we spend the whole time on how lawyers can use AI to publish content. You'd be wrong. While AI can certainly support publishing, there are many more interesting ways to use it in legal marketing. […]
As more legal services consumers turn to ChatGPT for local law firm recommendations, a fascinating intersection between AI, search, and maps unfolds. While Google remains the undisputed leader in local business data, ChatGPT is increasingly becoming an entry point for searchers seeking legal representation. But here’s the kicker: instead of keeping users within its ecosystem, […]
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I'm grateful for my friend, Charley Mann of Law firm Alchemy. If you're a lawyer, subscribe to his Free Email List. In a recent email, Charley calls out bad guru advice on hiring: "Trying to execute a major SEO improvement? You need to find people who will help you, instead of trying to DIY it […]
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Meh, links! All things being equal, links still tend to move the dial more than any other factor in legal SERPs. Maybe links are having a diminishing impact internet-wide. But in my experience, quality links, especially relevant links (both topically and geographically), tend to improve law firm visibility in search more than most everything else. […]
When you think of "marketing," what's the first thing that comes to mind? Ads? SEO? Social Media? What about: Helping others?Taking the lead? Rallying around your community? Need an example? Learn from Bart Siniard at Siniard Law Injury Attorneys efforts to help rebuild Mary's Pit BBQ. These efforts aren't about marketing. They're about supporting a […]
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