Legal Services Local Advertising Spending: Explore Trends and Opportunities

Local Ad Spend Up for 2025 and Evolving

According to BIA Advisory Services, legal services will spend $8.63 billion on local advertising, a year-over-year increase of 4.1%. Attorneys and law firms continue to invest here because it attracts new clients.

In addition to larger ad budgets, legal advertisers have changed what tactics they buy. They are turning more toward digital and away from traditional media.

In breaking up the ad spending by category, BIA reports that mobile gets the bulk at 23.3%. They categorize this portion as any digital ad type that runs on mobile (e.g., display, geofencing, social, paid search).

Broadcast TV is a close second, but this number could further decline if legal advertisers move more toward CTV/OTT. This tactic topped the list of spending percentage increases from 2024 to 2025.

The trend of advertising via streaming has increased substantially since 2024, and it has advantages over traditional TV. It’s targetable and non-skippable.

Direct mail holds the third spot, which has been a longtime channel for law firms. The rising costs of paper and postage could, however, could cause them to rethink their strategy. Postage rates increase at least twice annually, and tariffs have caused the price of paper to skyrocket. It may result in an adjustment of investment toward digital channels.

Legal Services Local Advertising: Capitalizing on Spending Trends

As legal services recalibrate their media buys, they may also look more toward local media sellers. They are small businesses themselves and want to engage audiences who are part of the communities they serve. The industry also appreciates streamlined and simplified media planning.

They recognize the advantages of working with one partner for digital campaigns and radio spots.

So, how can you make your plea attractive and relevant? Here are some tips.

Diversify the Type of Practices You Prospect

Personal injury attorneys tend to dominate local ad buys. In a highly litigious society, these firms want to connect with as many potential clients as possible. Another that’s frequent is those who focus on driving violations (e.g., speeding, DUIs).

Both of these practice areas are highly saturated. It’s a good idea to talk to those in other practice areas, which may be in greater demand now, including those specializing in immigration, estate planning, divorce/family law and bankruptcy.

Firms like these may be able to “own” the local ad landscape against competitors because they’re simply not advertising consistently.

Pitch Social Proof as an Ad Campaign

Anyone looking for legal help will make decisions based on trust and credibility. There are many ways firms can demonstrate this — years in business, accreditations, awards and reviews.

Reviews from previous clients may be the most important because they deliver unbiased social proof. There are lots of stats about how consumers feel about reviews, with most saying the majority read them and consider them. A survey found that 42.5% of people mostly trust these, while 38.7% are neutral on the subject.

This data highlights why you have to understand the nuance of skepticism. How can they be sure these reviews are legitimate? Third-party ratings may have more weight because firms can’t “interfere” with results.

Using these as a part of a campaign comes down to storytelling. Do they have past clients willing to tell their stories? If so, these snippets would work well on CTV/OTT and social media.

Recommend Tactics That Align with How Consumers Choose Attorneys

A 2024 report on how people make legal decisions offers some additional insight. First, Google was the top digital channel used, and it wasn’t even close. How does a firm win the search game? It’s not just SEM (search engine marketing) and SEO (search engine optimization).

Any type of digital presence, including advertising, can boost rankings for organic results. Additionally, someone may search after they’ve heard or watched ads for legal services, and they may type in the firm name. Research has shown that audio advertising can increase branded search by up to 40%. A separate survey found that 56% of those seeking legal services searched online after seeing a legal ad.

Another question in the survey asked people to define where their ideal attorney would be. The majority (46.9%) said within 30 minutes. This insight could be very useful in geotargeting. It might not make sense for legal services to run ads on broadcast TV that cover a wider region. With CTV/OTT, they can target at the ZIP code level.

Experiment with Social Channels to Reach Untapped Audiences

The social media ad spend for legal will increase by 12.5% in 2025. It’s still a relatively small part of the budget, but it’s a channel with the opportunity to experiment.

You can suggest a campaign at a low starting point of $5,000 to run for 90 days. It could split across two platforms or concentrate on one. Those you recommend would come from:

• Their practice area
• Who they want to reach

If it’s estate planning, baby boomers and Gen X would be the main targets, and they tend to be on Facebook. Family law would be somewhat broader but may lean more toward millennials, so Instagram may be a better match.

These ads could also have a different tone depending on the topic and audience. Some humor may be appropriate, and that’s bound to get attention on social media.