Pay-per-lead sites vs running your own ads for a law firm
By the Margin Media team · Updated
For a law firm, pay-per-lead sites are quicker to start and your own ads are better to keep. A bought lead is often sold to several firms, so you pay to join a race. An enquiry from your own ad comes to your phone alone, and the account and its history stay with the firm.
How do the two compare side by side?
The main difference is who else gets the enquiry and what you are left with when you stop paying. The table sets out the points an owner should weigh.
| Pay-per-lead sites | Your own ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets the enquiry | Often several firms at once | Your firm only |
| What you pay for | Each lead, whether or not it fits | Clicks, paid straight to the ad platform |
| Work to get started | Little: sign up and leads arrive | Campaigns, ads and a page for each to build |
| Say over the kind of matter | The seller's categories | Your own wording, search terms and area |
| What you keep if you stop | Nothing | The account, its history and your pages |
| What it demands of your phone | An answer within minutes, or the lead is gone | A fast answer, but no rival holding the same lead |
When are pay-per-lead sites the better choice?
They are the better choice when a law firm needs calls this week and has nothing built. A newly opened firm, or one testing a practice area before committing to it, can learn a lot from a month of bought leads. They only pay off if someone rings each lead back at once. Check your state bar's rules on paying for leads.
When are your own ads the better choice?
Your own ads are the better choice once the firm knows which matters it wants and plans to advertise for more than a season. You choose the searches, the area and the words, and each month's results improve the next. The cost is the building, and the patience to let a campaign settle before judging it.
How does Margin run ads for a law firm?
Margin builds and runs the ads in an account your firm owns, on Facebook and Instagram, with a booking page for each campaign. The ad budget is your money, paid to the platform. Mia, the AI receptionist, can answer the calls the ads produce and book the consultation onto the portal calendar, and your office is told. Check your state bar's rules on ad wording.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Ads on Facebook and Instagram, in an account you own
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
- Booking onto your calendar
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
How Margin works for law firmsSee the portal with a sample business
Related questions
Are leads from pay-per-lead sites exclusive to one law firm?
It depends on the seller and the plan. Some sell each enquiry to several law firms, some sell exclusive leads for more. Ask before you sign how many firms receive each lead and what happens when a lead is plainly wrong.
Can a law firm use pay-per-lead sites and its own ads together?
Yes. A law firm can buy leads while its own campaigns are being built, then compare the two on the same measure: what each booked consultation cost. Keep whichever source wins on that measure.
Why do bought leads not answer when my law firm calls them?
Because another firm reached them first, or they filled in a form and went back to their day. A bought lead goes cold in minutes, so a law firm that calls back hours later is usually calling someone who has already chosen.