Do's and Dont's: Advertising Rules for Lawyers in Canada
Shamil Shamilov
Husband, Father & Founder at dNOVO Group | Passionate About Growing Legal, Medical & Home Services Businesses
On opening a legal practice in Ontario, you will want to do everything possible to make it thrive. A solid marketing strategy is at the core of every successful law firm. New business is crucial to your firm's success. While finding creative ways to reach new clients is essential, you must adhere to advertising rules for lawyers.?
How can you avoid unethical lawyer advertising and its potential consequences? Do the rules apply to all advertising platforms? Are the rules more lenient for online advertising? Is your law firm playing it too safe and limiting your ability to attract new business???
Understanding the lawyer advertising rules and responsibilities that apply to you is crucial irrespective of the advertising method you employ. What should you know about lawyer advertising rules in Ontario??
By all means, do not contact Saul Goodman. His marketing strategies could spell doom for your legal practice.?
If you want the best return on your marketing campaigns without breaking the rules, you can count on us. We will help you understand lawyers' advertising rules in Ontario, including how you can follow them for the best results.??
First, Some Background on Law Firm Advertising Rules
Before we cut to the chase and explain the advertising rules for lawyers in Ontario, we’re going to take a look at how and why they exist.
This is because explaining the context behind this topic is part of the SEO strategy behind our blog – but context matters a great deal to lawyers, too.
So, if you’d like to understand the historical background of legal advertising rules and the impact of digital marketing, keep reading.
If you’d rather get straight to the point, we get it.?Skip ahead .
A Brief History of Advertising Rules for Lawyers
Back in the good old days, law firms never needed to advertise.
Every little town or district had a local legal practice, with the partners’ names in gilded letters above the window.
In many countries (including Canada), advertising a law firm was illegal.
And in Germany, up until 1990, you’d face serious objections for listing your practice in the yellow pages!
In the US and Canada, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in 1977 (Bates v. State Bar of Arizona ) finally granted attorneys the right to market their services.
But the ethics of law firm advertising have continued to be challenged and debated by court systems.
The most important decision was made in New York in 2007 – an attorney’s Ten Commandments of what NOT to include in an ad:
Interestingly, rules 1, 2, 4, 6, and 10 were later amended and struck down for being unconstitutional.
So, Can Lawyers Advertise in Ontario?
Yes, absolutely.
Just follow three core rules from the Law Society of Ontario’s Code of Conduct.Rule
Summary
3.02(2)
Marketing messages must be accurate, not misleading, and in the best interests of the public.
3.03
You can’t say you’re a specialist in an area of law unless you’ve been certified by the Law Society of Ontario.
3.02(3)
Lawyers can advertise their fees if they are accurate, disclose tax additions or inclusions, and are honoured by the lawyer.
Those are the rules, straight from the Ontario government.
Now, go and follow them.
Only joking; let's dive deeper.
Potential Consequences of Violating Lawyer Advertising Rules
One of the most known advertising rules for lawyers is never to make a false or misleading statement. However, additional rules apply. What happens when you break the rules??
Well, the penalty you face will vary depending on your violation. You won’t find many online resources on lawyers who face penalties for violation of advertising rules. However, as outlined by Canada’s main legislation for advertising, Competition Act, the potential consequences for breaking the rules include:
You wouldn't want to find yourself in this predicament, would you? Here's what to avoid while advertising your law firm.?
LSO Advertising Rules – What You Can’t Do
Claim to be a ‘Specialist’ or ‘Expert’ Without Certification
If someone’s ex-wife takes custody of their child unlawfully and takes them across their state border, they’re going to be desperate for legal help.
And if they see your ad on Facebook claiming to be an expert in child abduction, they’ll be calling your number in a matter of seconds.
They're in a desperate state, and they take your ad seriously.
But if your level of expertise hasn't been verified by a third party
Now, that dramatic story makes the rule sound super simple – don’t say you specialize unless you’ve been approved by the Certified Specialist program.
But, of course, it’s more complicated than that, with many legal experts thinking?a specialized lawyer does not need to be certified .
You can get tangled up in all that, or you can just follow the rules and get certified. We recommend the latter.
Apply for certification?here .
Another thing you can do is avoid the words "specialist" and "expert" altogether while still insinuating your proficiency in this area of law.
Here’s a clever example:
No Emotional Appeals While Advertising
Most adverts seek to trigger an emotional response from the target audience. Particularly, most ads evoke feelings of belonging, happiness, anger, fear, or greed. Consumers are accustomed to these marketing tactics, especially during holiday seasons.?
Unlike standard marketing messages, ads that play with the consumer’s emotions have a success rate of 31%. However, lawyers cannot tap into this common advertising strategy.
The Law Society of Ontario prohibits lawyers from using endorsements and testimonials with emotional appeals in their advertisements. Prior success stories cannot be part of your advertising campaign. You should avoid the following:
The Competition Act sets forth advertising rules for lawyers to protect clients and ensure that lawyers do not take advantage of them. The rules ensure that clients do not make a decision based on the expectation that they will achieve similar results to the ones outlined in other clients’ testimonials.?
Does this mean that your advertisement should never have a human feel? Not really; you could add a personal touch and even incorporate some humour in your advertising. You only need to identify what works best for you.?
By consulting an experienced lawyer marketing agency, you can create an advert that plays by the rules but still capture the target audience’s attention.?
Demonstrate aggression or clear competition with other firms
The Law Society of Upper Canada restricts ads that suggest or imply that the law firm is aggressive.
Like this:
Including characteristics like 'aggressive' in your law firm marketing aligns with the Harvey Specter stereotype but does nothing to demonstrate your skill or expertise.
This advertising law goes against the digital marketing trends in other industries, where aggressive outbound tactics are popular and verge on playing dirty.
A popular example is when brands pay for ads using a competitor’s business name as a keyword.
Just try Google searching
These strategies are effective in that they shove a competing business in front of potentially interested customers.
But do aggressive advertising strategies actually work?
No.?85% of consumers ?say that obnoxious ads give them a poor opinion of the business using them.
LSO Advertising Rules: What You Can Do
Demonstrate Experience in Specific Legal Practice Areas
Obviously, potential clients need to know if their needs fall under your experience.
You can, and should, list the areas of law that you focus on.
If you're not certified, you can simply list your experience without using the words "specialist" or "expert."
Like this:
Even better, you should provide educational resources about the areas of law that you practice.
Not only does this demonstrate your expertise – you’re essentially walking the talk – but it also builds trust with your audience instead of turning them off.
We'll talk more about this when we cover content marketing; skip ahead here.
Use Testimonials (as Long as They’re Unemotional)
Law firms can absolutely use testimonials – just hold the gushing endorsements, emotional stock footage, and melodramatic music.
Here’s an example of a?law firm ?using testimonials perfectly:
These testimonials are candid and human but also stick to the point.
There are countless statistics out there to demonstrate how crucial social proof is to a business’s success.
We’ve chosen three from?this pile :
As long as you stick to the rules, testimonials are an essential part of a lawyer’s marketing strategy.
Only Advertise Your Fees If They Are Correct and Transparent?
Only around 4% of people trust ads; the majority of people understand that ads are often exaggerated. Being honest and transparent could differentiate you from other law firms.?
People need legal services when they least expect it. Therefore, legal costs are often unplanned. Since most clients work on a constrained budget, it is only fair that you disclose to them what you will be charging.
You can disclose your fee arrangements, referral fees, and retainers without violating the advertising rules. You could emulate this law firm and use this disclaimer:?
Every client is unique, meaning that legal fees vary between clients. Therefore, you don’t have to disclose your specific fees. Instead, you can offer a free, no-obligation video consultation to help you interact with prospective clients. This will help them understand your services and pricing.?
6 Strategies For Law Firm Marketing in Ontario, Canada (+ Examples)
1. Prioritize Inbound Marketing
Before we dive into specific methods, let’s call out the one overarching strategy that helps law firms build trust and attract clients while playing by the rules.
What is inbound marketing? The best way to explain it is to compare it to outbound marketing.
Don’t pour your marketing budget into mass advertising and short-lived lawyer’s advertisements that rely on disruption.
Instead, law firms should invest in high-value content that educates their audience on legal topics.
Why? Because?96% of people ?turn to Google first when looking for an attorney.
What gets you to the top of the SERPs? Producing a goldmine of long-form content that is valuable, relevant, and unique – at scale.
Not only does this tactic generate?three times more leads per dollar than outbound , but inbound legal marketing strategies align perfectly with advertising rules for lawyers in Ontario.
This is because blogs, guides, podcasts, and videos offer your audience relevant information without misleading their purchasing behaviour – quality trumps clickbait.
2. Have a Landing Page For Each Of Your Practice Areas?
A landing page is designed specifically for advertising and marketing campaigns. This is where web visitors land when they click on a link on the email, ads from Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other online platforms. Unlike web pages that serve several goals, landing pages serve a single goal or focus: a call to action.?
As a lawyer, you should have a landing page for each practice area to help you to:
Below is an example of a landing page we created for Grillo law:
You don’t have to include all the above components in your lawyer landing page. Include the elements that portray the impact you can have and those that are most relevant to a practice area.?
3. Produce and Distribute Long-form Blog Content
If your goal is to build your domain authority, blog posts should be the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy.
After all,?almost half of consumers now read 3-5 pieces of content ?before reaching out to a sales team.
Blogs (and similar communications like guides and case studies) are essential for law firms to…
But they’re difficult to get right.
The most relevant reason for this is that lawyers don’t have the time or the expertise to think of topics, write about them engagingly, and produce enough content per month to see results.
This law firm offers topical resources with tangible, actionable advice. However, it falls down in the visuals department, with no images or structural elements to help readers process and retain information.
So, how can your law firm get it right?
Reach out to a?digital marketing agency ?that specializes in content marketing for law firms.
The best marketing agencies will:
To be honest, that was?a shameless plug for us .
4. Employ Video Marketing
Online videos have become one of the most popular marketing channels for businesses. With the advancement in technology, it has become increasingly easy to upload, watch, and share videos online. It’s obvious that people love videos. Videos are more expressive than photos, articles, and infographics.
Recent statistics indicate that:
Compared to all other forms of web-based content, videos are the fastest growing and the ones being consumed the most. For your law firm, video is a great way to share complex legal concepts, interact with clients (both existing and prospective), and prove to clients that you are knowledgeable. You just need to partner with an experienced digital marketing agency to help you leverage content and grow your legal practice.?
Even if you want to capture clients’ attention, avoid being controversial like this divorce lawyer:
You should make the most out of video marketing. In your video marketing campaigns, you can:
In addition to being more engaging than conventional long-form articles, videos allow the expression of emotion, which can help you convert leads into clients.?
When creating the video, keep in mind what your target audience is looking for and your goals for making the video.?
5. List Your Legal Practice in Directories
A core part of your law firm’s ability to rank on Google is how many reputable sites are linking to it.
The most effective way to start?link building for your law firm's website is to get listed in directories.
Getting listed on a directory is beneficial not only to your domain authority but also to the 96% of people who turn to Google when seeking an attorney.
If they can find you quickly and easily, you’re already off to a great start providing a valuable service.
Let’s take a look at the value of directory sites for lawyers in Ontario.
When searching for "lawyers in Ontario," the top organic results on page 1 are ALL directories:
We’ve turned this into a helpful table to show you the amount of traffic going to these sites.
This is what the scores mean:
(This table was made using data from Semrush.com, correct as of 28/09/2021)
Now you understand the importance of getting listed in an online legal directory – but how do you get there?
You'll need to contact the directories you want to be listed on directly. Some will be free; others will require an ongoing fee to be listed.
But, before you get listed, make sure your online presence is looking sharp.
Here’s a checklist:
You don’t want your hard-earned traffic to bounce as soon as they see your outdated website!
6. Embrace Google AdWords Campaigns
If you are considering Google ads for lawyers, you should start by searching the keywords in your area to see the ads that appear. Google AdWords campaign involves creating campaigns around search terms that your clients are looking for.?
Google AdWords campaign is an attractive digital marketing option for lawyers. When done right, it could generate clients quickly. Unlike SEO strategy, Google ads produce instant results.?
To be successful, you must avoid the common AdWords mistakes lawyers make:
There are many ways of improving your Google AdWords campaign. One of the proven ways is by targeting long-tail keywords in Adwords. Targeting long-tail keywords can help you attract more traffic and optimize your ad spend.??
Long-tail keywords often come into play when web visitors are searching for something specific on the internet. They normally have a minimum of three keyword terms derived from the head term.?
Consider a keyword like "lawyer in Ontario."
Even if the keyword has a significant volume score, it has a higher average cost per click and a low chance of ranking. As Semrush outlines, you require 42 referring domains to help you rank. If you spend your marketing dollars on this keyword, you’ll simply be wasting money.
A high percentage of Google searches consist of long-tail queries. Other than lower cost and less competition, long-tail keywords are specific and highly targeted; they suggest that the searcher could easily make a purchase.?
When researching long-tail keywords, you should always consider the searcher's intent. While some keywords are great to target for SEO, they might not be relevant for PPC. Seek the help of an experienced digital marketing agency. Request for case studies to see how they have helped other law firms with paid advertising.?
Convert Leads into Clients with a Proven Legal Marketing Strategy
This blog has explained a lot regarding lawyer advertising. It gives you an in-depth understanding of;
Given that lawyers often work on a tight schedule, how can you get started with digital advertising? This is where dNOVO comes in.
We are a well-established, reputable marketing agency that provides effective advertising solutions for law firms in Ontario. We understand the ins and outs of SEO and all aspects of digital marketing. We will do everything in our power to get the best results for you.?
Are you ready to win more clients with our proven digital marketing solutions? Contact us today. We will take your firm to the next level.?