Google Ads vs. TV Advertising: Comparing Lead Costs

While Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is especially popular among law firms, TV remains a mainstay among legal practices looking to build brand recognition. These days, with both options getting widespread use among legal practices, the question remains:

Which one is a better investment when wanting to generate leads?

As a provider of TV advertising, you might expect a biased answer from us. So it’s only fair we compare the fees with each option.

For Google Ads, clicks determine your costs. You post an ad and when someone clicks it, you pay a fee. The challenge with this approach is that your cost varies depending on what keywords you target.

Due to high competition, the legal industry has many of the most expensive terms. Recent HubSpot research shows costs for simply getting a click on your ad can run as high as $1,090 for the phrase “Houston maritime attorney.” Again, this is just for a click — not a lead.

Fortunately, the average cost per click in the legal industry is quite a bit lower at $6.45. Yet, again, you must consider that this is for a click, and most ad clicks don’t convert into leads.

The average conversion rate is 3.8 percent for Google Ads. This means roughly 96 out of a 100 people who click on an ad do nothing. They go to a website or landing page and leave without calling or submitting an inquiry.

So if you’re a truck accident attorney in Dallas and target a common phrase such as “truck accident attorney dallas,” you’re stuck spending a fortune just to get a few leads. At $515 per click, that’s about $13,552 per lead ($515 x 100 ÷ 3.8).

Even in smaller markets, the cost is still considerable. For instance, clicks for “personal injury lawyer pittsburgh” go for about $65.

That’s still $1,710 per lead ($65 x 100 ÷ 3.8).

You have to get down to less than $10 per click before your investment is even close to what our method of TV advertising delivers per lead. Now, of course, if you’re running Google Ads and seeing a strong return on your investment, keep going!

We’re simply sharing these numbers with you because many attorneys think they can’t afford TV advertising or, if they’re already on TV, they overspend without knowing it.

With our method of TV advertising, you only pay for the phone call leads your commercial (which we create as part of your campaign) generates. So not only do you keep your costs low, you advertise with zero risk. You also avoid expensive media buys and long-term contracts.

And, because you only pay for valid leads, you invest a small fraction of what your competitors spend on traditional TV advertising.

Want to see what TV advertising options are available in your market? Reach out and we’ll let you know.