Networking is a powerful way to gain new customers, but what if you’re not much of a networker? Are there other ways to make high quality connections that may earn you more customers? Yes, one of those methods is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

What is PPC?

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, also known as cost-per-click (CPC) allows law firms and other businesses to leverage the power of the internet to direct traffic to specific websites. Powerful networks such as Facebook, Google, and websites have larger or niche audiences that can target ads based on the cost per keyword or phrase that you bid on.

Websites, Search Engines and Social Media

There are basically three venues for placing PPC ads—websites, search engines, and social media. Search engines, such as Google, have a bidding system where ads have a different value based on what you want. For example, you can bid on Google AdWords based on clicks, views (video only), impressions, or conversions.  In the case of websites, businesses can purchase ads that display on certain pages and in certain parts of the page. Size and location may impact the price of a website’s PPC ad. And of course, the size or niche type of audience may make certain ads more valuable than others. At Smokeball, we target small law firms when it comes to advertising. In the case of social media PPC ads, companies like Facebook, offer a unique opportunity to link right into your target market’s timeline based on what they’re discussing and their interests. Facebook mines user data to target ads, that data includes:

• The user’s age and gender.
• The user’s relationship status.
• The user’s online shopping behavior.
• The user’s page likes.
• The user’s educational level.

When leveraging online data about your target audience, PC ads can serve as some of the most powerful advertising available to small law firms.

Fast and Measurable Results

PPC ads allow any law firm to create an ad campaign quickly and measure the results. Most companies that offer PPC ads provide instant data about how many people viewed the ad, how many clicked the ad, and in some cases where those clicks and views came from on the internet. This is a great way to discover what factors (such as keywords) cause a person to view or click your ad. It’s also a great way to split test ads to figure out which are the most effective.

Perfect for Local Customers

PPC ads allow you to target people in a limited location.  This is especially useful to law firms who won’t benefit from ads that target a national or even regional audience. You can tweak your ad’s settings so that only people located within your city or even within certain zip codes will see your ad. When you’re paying per view or even per click, targeting by location can save you money and make your advertising campaign more effective.

Networking is a powerful way to get new customers but it’s not the only way.  If your law firm explores the usefulness of pay-per-click (CPC) ads, you can win over new customers without having to leave your office.

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Lynn Luong is the Digital Marketing Manager for Smokeball, a case management software that increases productivity and efficiency for solo attorneys  and small law firms to become more profitable.  Lynn has over 8 years of experience in marketing with a focus on digital by developing successful strategies and managing many areas of marketing.