A recent article in ‘The Drum’ by Hit Search raised an interesting question; “How digitally effective is the UK’s legal sector in 2021?”  This is an important question, not least because the pandemic has highlighted how some law firms reliant on more traditional modes of marketing have struggled to compete against more tech-savvy businesses with a robust online presence.  This stands to reason as marketing events across the UK were cancelled, and many forms of offline advertising such as posters and billboards were rendered ineffective due to hugely reduced footfall in our towns and cities.  The article went on to analyse the digital effectiveness of the top 50 law firms in the UK.

What is meant by ‘digital effectiveness’?

For the purposes of the research, ‘digital effectiveness’ was defined as “how well a business are utilising technology and digital marketing to reach their target audience”.  In real terms, this is about how effective Solicitors and other law firms are when it comes to email marketing, content marketing, social media, and their overall website user experience.  By scoring how well firms are doing in each area, it is possible to get a picture of just how ‘digitally effective’ they are.

How digitally effective are the UK’s law firms?

Considering the reliance of the top 50 law firms on their website, the research highlighted some significant issues in relation to website performance (a key factor that can reduce the Google search ranking of a website).  Another finding was that while all firms made their front pages mobile phone friendly, service pages were often not.  They also concluded that “None of the ‘Big ten’ firms in terms of turnover actually appeared in the top ten of our digital effectiveness results”.

Another piece in the Financial Times in October 2020 entitled, “Clients are going digital, and so must the lawyers”, looked into the extent to which top law firms have embraced digital transformation.  While it didn’t undertake a technical assessment of the digital effectiveness of law firms in the UK, it highlighted just how much investment is being put in.  It explained that top firms have “advanced” teams of “legal engineers along with technologists, project managers and design thinkers” whose purpose is to enact digital transformation.  They also found that none of the largest law firms could be described as “truly digital”, but many are now using technology and digital content marketing to win new business to great effect.

Final words

Some law firms in the UK have invested heavily in their digital effectiveness and technology to remove their reliance on traditional forms of attracting business.  While the problems identified by Hit Search will no doubt require attention, especially issues relating to SEO performance, the fact is that law firms in the UK are modernising and learning how to switch to a digital marketing model.  And a new breed of law firms have the advantage of starting on digital platforms and understand the importance of content, social media, and data analytics to attract new business.