{"id":4988,"date":"2025-02-27T15:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T04:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pillarscroll.com\/insights\/law-firm-marketing-budgets-when-spending-less-drives-better-results\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T10:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T23:36:45","slug":"law-firm-marketing-budgets-when-spending-less-drives-better-results","status":"publish","type":"ps_insights","link":"https:\/\/www.pillarscroll.com\/au\/insights\/law-firm-marketing-budgets-when-spending-less-drives-better-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Law Firm Marketing Budgets: When Spending Less Drives Better Results"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tRecently, a partner heading marketing at an 80-person commercial firm asked me a question that many law firm leaders grapple with: \"We've got our 2025 marketing budget locked in \u2013 should we prioritise updating our website, investing in video content, or doubling down on LinkedIn?\"\u00a0\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

It’s a common dilemma. With limited marketing resources, how do you decide where to invest? While I’ll address these specific options shortly, the answer begins with a counterintuitive insight about law firm marketing budgets that might reshape how you approach this decision.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Counterintuitive Finding: Less Marketing Spend, Better Performance<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

A recent benchmarking study by Macquarie Bank<\/a><\/span> uncovered a fascinating pattern: high-performing law firms consistently spend less on marketing and business development compared to their peers. The study defines high-performing firms as those achieving greater than 30% net profit margin before partner drawings and salaries \u2013 a significant benchmark in the legal sector.<\/p>

The numbers tell a compelling story. These top-performing firms invest approximately 2% of their total revenue in marketing and business development activities. In contrast, other firms spend an average of 4% \u2013 double the amount for lower returns.<\/p>

At first glance, this finding seems to defy logic. Surely more marketing investment should yield better results? The reality is more nuanced. The distinction lies not in the amount spent, but in how these high-performing firms approach their marketing investment.<\/p>

This insight is particularly relevant for firms like our questioner’s, where decisions about allocating marketing budget between website updates, video content, and LinkedIn presence need to be made. It suggests that the key to success isn’t necessarily about choosing all available marketing channels, but rather about making strategic choices about where not to invest.<\/p>

For many law firm leaders, this insight arrives at a crucial time. As firms face increasing pressure to demonstrate return on investment while maintaining competitive positioning, understanding how top performers achieve more with less becomes invaluable. The question shifts from “How much should we spend?” to “How should we spend?”<\/p>

In the sections that follow, we’ll explore the practical implications of this finding, examining how firms can apply these insights to their own marketing budget decisions. However, it’s crucial to understand that this 2% benchmark isn’t a universal target.<\/p>

Some practice areas require a different approach to this benchmark. Consumer-facing practices like personal injury and criminal law typically require higher marketing investment to maintain a consistent flow of individual clients. Similarly, firms with diverse, unconnected practice areas \u2013 for example, those offering wills and estates, planning and environment, and migration law \u2013 often cannot achieve marketing economies of scale. These firms typically need to treat each practice area as a separate business from a marketing perspective.<\/p>

However, for commercial and private client firms where new work primarily comes through existing relationships (whether referrals or current clients), the 2% benchmark serves as a valuable reference point for evaluating marketing investment. The key is understanding whether your firm’s structure and practice mix allow you to achieve marketing efficiencies, or whether you need a more nuanced, practice-specific approach to budget allocation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Understanding Your Marketing Budget Framework<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

When advising law firms on marketing budgets, I often find they’re trying to plan too far ahead. Most law firms will benefit from using a rolling quarterly budget rather than locking themselves into annual commitments. This approach, which I observed repeatedly during my time as head of marketing in law firms, allows for more responsive and strategic investment decisions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Rolling Quarter Approach<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRather than attempting to forecast and allocate an entire year’s marketing budget at once, consider breaking it down into quarterly segments. This method allows you to:\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t