Marketing built on evidence, not assumptions
Most law firm marketing is built on assumptions about how people find and choose a lawyer. Assumptions are expensive. They lead firms to bid on the wrong searches, say the wrong things, and give credit to the wrong channels.
We’d rather build on evidence. Through our Legal Services Consumer Research Program, AttorneySync partners with Near Media, a local search and market research firm, to study legal services consumers directly. What we learn shapes the strategy, messaging, and measurement behind every client campaign.
Two kinds of research, one strategy
Legal services consumer research
Surveys tell us what people need, expect, and value when they hire a lawyer. We survey people who have actually searched for and hired a lawyer, along with people responding to realistic legal scenarios. We ask:
- Where they started looking, and which sources they trusted
- How many firms they considered and contacted
- What made them choose one firm over another
- How quickly they expected a response, and what happened when they didn’t get one
This tells us what prospective clients are trying to accomplish and what reassures them, which is the raw material for positioning and messaging.
User behavior research
What people say and what they do aren’t always the same. In our behavioral research, real consumers share their screen and audio while they search on desktop and mobile, thinking out loud as they look for a lawyer for a close family member. We watch what they search for, what they click, what they skip, what they read, and which firm they would contact first.
Behavior research shows where decisions actually happen: in the local pack, in Local Services Ads, in reviews, in AI Overviews, and often without ever visiting a website. That tells us where your firm needs to show up and what it needs to look like when it does.
Putting them together
Consumer research explains why people choose. Behavior research shows where and how they choose. Together they guide the decisions that matter most in a campaign:
- Channel strategy. Where to invest so your firm is present at the moments people decide.
- Messaging. What to say so prospective clients see your firm as the right fit.
- Experience. What your profiles, ads, website, and intake need to do to earn the call.
- Measurement. Which signals tell you a campaign is working before it shows up in signed cases.
Aligning creative with your audience
People choosing a lawyer are often stressed, short on time, and comparing names they barely know. In that moment, the firm whose message speaks to what they’re actually worried about has a real advantage.
That’s why we align creative messaging with audience research. Instead of generic claims every firm makes, like “aggressive,” “experienced,” or “we fight for you,” we build messages around the questions, fears, and priorities the research surfaces: whether they’ll be taken seriously, how quickly someone will respond, what it will cost, and whether they can trust the firm.
When messaging matches what your audience is looking for:
- Ads and profiles earn more attention from the right people, because they answer the question the searcher is asking.
- More of the people who see your firm consider it, because the message feels relevant instead of interchangeable.
- More of the people who consider your firm contact it, because the reasons to choose you are clear at the moment of decision.
- Brand advertising sticks, because a message people care about is easier to remember when they need a lawyer later.
Each of those steps raises the likelihood that your firm is the one chosen over the competitor one result away.
Local brand awareness as a leading indicator
Brand campaigns build demand over months. Waiting for signed cases to judge them means waiting too long to know whether they’re working. Local brand awareness gives an earlier read.
Unaided awareness
Unaided awareness measures whether people in your market name your firm on their own. A survey asks something like, “Which law firms can you think of that handle car accident cases in your area?” with no names offered. It’s a demanding measure: being named unprompted means your firm is top of mind. It’s also closely tied to being chosen, because the firms people recall first are the ones they’re most likely to search for, call, and recommend.
Aided awareness
Aided awareness measures whether people recognize your firm when shown a list of names: “Which of these law firms have you heard of?” It’s easier to earn than unaided awareness and usually moves first when a brand campaign starts reaching people. Recognition matters on its own, too. A familiar name stands out among unfamiliar ones in search results, ads, and directories.
Why awareness leads results
Awareness typically moves before leads and signed cases do. A rise in aided awareness shows a campaign is reaching people. A rise in unaided awareness shows it’s sticking. Both tend to come before increases in branded searches, direct calls, referrals, and conversion rates on your other marketing.
Measuring awareness in your market before and during a brand campaign helps answer the questions that last-click reports can’t:
- Is the campaign reaching the right people in the right places?
- Is the message memorable enough to change who people think of?
- Should we stay the course, change the creative, or shift the budget?
We pair awareness with the downstream signals it should lead to, such as branded search volume, direct and referral inquiries, and blended cost per client, so you can see the whole chain from attention to signed cases.
Research you can put to work
The research isn’t a report we hand over and forget. It’s part of how we plan, write, and measure every campaign, and it keeps evolving as consumer behavior and search platforms change. Read more about how people choose personal injury lawyers, or see how research shapes our omni-channel media and legal advertising work.