Search auctions price in urgency
High-intent legal searches can be expensive because timing and need are immediate, but not every caller meets the firm’s matter criteria.
Legal Services Digital Marketing and Lead Generation
Make room for the right clients.
Your intake team can spend a lot of time on enquiries the firm will never accept. I help law firms attract people with relevant matters and understand which campaigns lead to clients they want to take on.
Free discovery call · Around 45 minutes · Directly with Matt · No obligation
Work directly with Matt Gatley · Gold Coast, Australia · Clients worldwide
The digital marketing challenges
Every unsuitable enquiry takes someone’s time.
An interested caller may be in the wrong jurisdiction, outside your practice area or unable to proceed. You need to distinguish that from a suitable prospective client who was lost during follow-up.
I look at the advertising alongside intake and retained-client information, giving the firm a better basis for choosing where to spend and what to improve.
Case quality is hidden in intake
Eligibility, jurisdiction, evidence, limitation dates and likely value often sit in notes that never influence advertising decisions.
Conflicts create unavoidable rejection
A strong-looking matter may be impossible to accept, and that outcome needs to be separated from genuinely poor acquisition.
Practice areas carry different economics
A conveyance, family matter, compensation claim and commercial dispute cannot share one CPL or revenue assumption.
Phone handling changes conversion
Response, empathy, screening and consultation booking can determine whether a suitable prospective client retains the firm.
Revenue arrives much later
Matter duration and billing structure can create a long gap between acquisition, retainer and recognised revenue.
Who this is for
Who I help in legal services.
My work is most useful where firms already invest meaningfully in demand generation and have enough intake and retained-client data to improve the commercial feedback loop.
Personal legal matters
- Family law
- Compensation law
- Employment law
- Criminal law
- Immigration law
- Estate planning and probate
Property and business
- Commercial law
- Property and conveyancing
- Insolvency
- Building disputes
- Business advisory
- Class actions
Platforms and networks
- Legal comparison services
- Referral platforms
- Multi-office firms
- National practice groups
- Legal intake services
Where the customer journey gets difficult
Different practice areas need different matter signals.
I map how an enquiry becomes a suitable, retained and valuable matter, then choose intermediate stages that give timely feedback without flattening every practice area into one funnel.
Family and criminal
- 01Enquiry
- 02Screened
- 03Consulted
- 04Retained
Urgency, location, conflict and willingness to proceed need to be understood before the enquiry has value.
Compensation
- 01Lead
- 02Eligible
- 03Accepted
- 04Matter value
Eligibility and expected case economics matter more than raw claimant volume, while revenue may be delayed.
Commercial law
- 01Enquiry
- 02Qualified
- 03Proposal
- 04Engaged
Business fit, urgency, budget and partner capacity shape whether an opportunity becomes a valuable client.
Referral platforms
- 01Submission
- 02Matched
- 03Accepted
- 04Retained
Duplicate status, provider coverage and accepted or retained matters determine platform value.
A joined-up acquisition system
How the marketing fits together.
Some prospective clients need help now; others spend time understanding their options before contacting a firm. I work on the advertising, information and enquiry process around those needs, using what your intake team learns to improve the next campaign decision.
Capture specific legal intent
Use search around practice area, situation and location while separating information seeking from urgent, serviceable demand.
Create earlier awareness
Use paid social selectively for education, considered services and audiences who may not yet know the legal category they need.
Help people understand the next step
Connect clear explanations, lawyer credibility, process expectations and useful proof without overpromising outcomes.
Screen without losing empathy
Align calls, forms, eligibility, conflicts and consultation booking so suitable matters reach the right practice team.
Keep viable matters moving
Use timely follow-up and consultation reminders while respecting urgency and the sensitivity of each legal situation.
Return retained-matter evidence
Feed eligible, consulted, retained and defensible matter-value signals back into practice-area and channel decisions.
Work directly with Matt Gatley
You work directly with me.
I’m Matt Gatley, founder of We Know Growth and a senior digital marketing expert. My background spans advertising, data, products and sales, with more than 20 years of experience and $350m+ in managed advertising spend.
I’ll take the time to understand how your business wins customers, then work with you on what needs attention. You can ask me about the detail, challenge a recommendation or talk through a decision as the work develops.
Meet MattWays to work together
A few ways we can work together.
If you’re not sure where to start, we can talk it through. An audit helps when the cause is unclear; management or advisory may be more useful when you already know the help you need.
Find what to fix
Growth audit
I investigate what’s happening and explain which changes deserve attention first, with a plan for your team to work from.
Explore the audit Improve acquisitionPaid advertising management
I take care of the campaigns and review what happens to the enquiries, so we can judge the advertising by the business it brings in.
Explore management Get senior directionGrowth advisory
I help you review results and work through recommendations while your team or agency continues to deliver the work.
Explore advisoryCheck your starting pointLead profitability calculator Measurement readiness audit
Straight answers
Legal Services marketing questions.
A few questions you may have before we talk.
What does digital marketing for law firms include?
In my work, it can include paid search, paid social where appropriate, practice-area content, landing pages, call and form intake, consultation follow-up and measurement through to suitable retained matters.
How can a law firm improve legal lead quality?
Define quality using practice area, jurisdiction, eligibility, conflict, consultation and retained-client outcomes. Then compare campaigns and intake against those stages instead of relying on platform lead counts.
Which legal conversions should be sent back to advertising platforms?
Usually privacy-safe milestones such as eligible, consultation attended or client retained, provided they are defined consistently and occur often enough to learn from. Final matter value can be added later when it is reliable.
Can paid social work for legal services?
Yes for some considered, educational or event-driven practice areas, but it has a different job from high-intent search. The channel mix should reflect how prospective clients recognise and research their legal need.
Do you provide legal advertising compliance advice?
No. I work within the firm’s approved professional and legal boundaries and can make the marketing review process practical, but interpretation and final approval remain with the firm and its qualified advisers.
What is the best first engagement for a law firm?
A growth audit is usually best when the constraint could sit across search, practice mix, intake, screening, follow-up or measurement. A management engagement is suitable when those foundations and target matter types are already clear.
Start with a conversation
Let’s talk about the enquiries your firm receives.
Tell me which matters you want to attract and what your intake team is finding. We’ll discuss where the difficulties sit and whether I can help. The initial conversation is free and confidential.
Free discovery call · Around 45 minutes · Directly with Matt · No obligation