Law firms are not just competing for clients; they’re battling against rivals who aim to undermine their digital presence by hijacking their brand and cases. If you’re noticing an uptick in competitors bidding on your brand terms or utilizing your firm’s name in their ads, it’s time to act decisively.
This blog will explore key strategies to protect your brand, defend your digital marketing efforts, and leverage AI-powered insights to ensure you stay ahead of the competition.
The brand infringement crisis in law firm PPC marketing
Brand infringement is becoming an increasing challenge in the legal industry, with many law firms finding themselves under attack by competitors who bid on their branded search terms to divert potential clients.
Our research shows that US law firms are having problems when it comes to brand infringements in search:
- Competitors are trying to steal legal cases by bidding on rivals firms’ brand terms on Google Ads.
- Competitors are using rival firms’ brand names in paid search ad copy.
These challenges aren’t limited to just local markets; they affect firms at both state and national levels. Understanding these threats is the first step toward taking control of your online presence.
Common pain points in the legal industry
1. Lack of visibility into the competitive landscape:
Many firms struggle to understand their competitors’ strategies, leaving them vulnerable to market shifts and opportunities.
How Adthena can help:
Adthena’s Whole Market View provides full transparency into your competitors’ ads, bidding strategies, and top-performing keywords. This gives you a comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape, so you can identify threats and opportunities.
2. Pressure to improve search ROI:
Executives often scrutinize PPC performance, especially when referral channels outperform search, making it difficult to justify high ad spend.
How Adthena can help:
Adthena’s PPC Market Share and PPC Market Trends features help you track your law firm PPC campaign performance and allocate budget effectively. By using actionable data to optimize ad spend, you can improve ROI, maximize conversions, and justify your budget decisions to stakeholders.
3. Competitors hijacking brand terms:
With many competitors bidding on your brand terms, it becomes essential to safeguard your traffic and leads.
How Adthena can help:
Adthena’s Brand Protection feature sends you real-time alerts whenever competitors bid on your brand terms, giving you the tools to respond immediately and protect your traffic. Additionally, Infringement Tracker monitors keyword usage and provides the data needed to take action and prevent brand hijacking.
4. No clear path to optimize spending:
Despite significant investments in Google Ads, firms often lack guidance on budget allocation to drive optimal returns.
How Adthena can help:
Adthena’s Smart Monitor gives you real-time insights into market shifts and competitor strategies, helping you quickly identify high-performing search terms and optimize spend. It also tracks competitor ad copy to highlight winning phrases, enabling you to refine your messaging and improve performance at a lower cost.
Three strategies to protect your firm
1. Track, prevent, dominate
If competitors are consistently bidding on your search terms, it’s time to take control. Adthena’s Infringement Tracker provides insights into which companies are targeting your law firm PPC keywords, enabling you to respond effectively.
Image showing Adthena’s infringement tracker monitoring search results according to the rules you set
A Georgia law firm reported a 25% reduction in CPCs and a 39% decrease in brand infringements after implementing Adthena’s Brand Protection solution. The law firm faced significant challenges with competitors bidding on their branded terms across the 9 markets they serve. With Adthena, they were able to monitor trademark infringements, identify 44 competitors infringing on their brand, and take action to stop 17 of them from bidding on their terms. The platform’s automated reporting also streamlined the process of handling infringements, helping them protect their brand while reducing the law firm’s PPC costs.
2. Track competitor strategies
To stay ahead in the legal space, you need to continuously monitor your competitors’ strategies. Understanding what search terms are working for them can help you adapt and refine your own approach. Adthena’s PPC Market Trends feature can help you determine the most effective way to distribute your PPC budget based on competitive insights and market conditions.
Adthena dashboard displaying share of clicks across internal terms (30 days)
For instance, Adthena’s tools allow you to visualize share of clicks among competitors, as illustrated in the case of Reclaim Law Group, which consistently captures a significant portion of the click share in the paid desktop text ads segment. Through this visualization, you can see how click share trends fluctuate over time in response to market changes and competitor activity, helping identify when and where they gain or lose market traction.
3. Snatch up valuable search terms
When you identify high-potential search terms, act quickly to secure them. Adthena’s Smart Monitor feature automatically alerts you to key changes in the market, helping you capitalize on opportunities as they arise.
Adthena’s Smart Monitor tracking significant competitor share of click movements over 14 days, across search term groups.
Keep an eye out for when the market starts gaining momentum again. Missing that window, even briefly, could mean losing valuable clicks. Fortunately, Adthena’s Smart Monitor will notify you of critical shifts in your market, enabling you to respond swiftly.
Image showing share of clicks across personal injury generic
Adthena’s PPC Market Trends also allows you to visualize share of clicks among competitors, as illustrated above. You can see how click share trends fluctuate over time in response to market changes and competitor activity, helping identify when and where they gain or lose market traction.
Quick tip: It’s crucial to identify which search terms are worth your investment and where you can cut costs or reallocate funds to improve underperforming areas. In other words, avoid concentrating all your resources in one place.
Take control of your law firm PPC strategy today
Don’t let competitors outperform you in paid search. With Adthena’s AI-driven search intelligence platform, you’ll gain the insights you need to protect your brand, optimize your law firm’s PPC campaigns, and drive more high-quality leads
Discover how Adthena can help your law firm outperform the competition. Schedule a personalized demo with one of our experts today.
