“The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertisement.”

There’s an undeniable truth to that commonly used legal disclaimer. However, there’s an equally undeniable truth to the idea that great marketing makes a huge difference when it comes to achieving success as an attorney. This is especially true in a state like California, where a handful of big-league law firms take the lion’s share of cases and clients.

If boutique law firms in San Diego and other parts of the state want to draw clientele away from the leviathans of the legal business, they need to make their presence known. What’s more, they need to showcase their skills and persuade people why they’re the ideal choice.

In short, they need the services of a great marketing agency. To drive the point home, here are five specific reasons why, whether you’re a divorce lawyer in Orange County or a criminal attorney in Oakland, you need great marketing:

Agencies know exactly what to do:
Not every marketing agency has had success working on behalf of clients in the legal field. However, some have and others even specialize in legal digital marketing services. Such an agency can apply this experience to its marketing efforts for lawyers trying to establish themselves in California.

Big firms otherwise have you beat:
As previously mentioned - and obvious to anyone who’s listened to the radio or driven by billboards in the past 20 years - established law firms already have a heavy marketing presence deployed. Many boutique law firms throughout Northern and Southern California turn to digital marketing experts in order to stand a chance against the big guys blasting the airwaves. Agencies will help highlight how smaller firms offer more personalized and specialized services to clients compared to what they’d receive from BigLaw.

It’s an overcrowded market:
While California is not the most congested state when it comes to the number of lawyers per capita, it ranks 10 among 50. Practicing law in a place with an especially large population of lawyers can be difficult if the goal is to earn a living. With that said, it still breaks down to one attorney for every 230 or so Californians. Considering how just about everybody will need to hire a lawyer at some point in their life, it’s more than enough to go around. The problem is convincing potential clients to turn to you versus someone else. This is where effective marketing comes into play. It’s sure to grow a client list faster than if a law firm wasn’t using the services of a marketing agency.

Clients like it:
Let’s face it, marketing makes most smaller and less familiar organizations seem more official than they’d otherwise appear. Whether or not they’re as reputable as they appear, consumers find peace of mind from the appearance of reliable service. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why marketing works in favor of smaller law firms throughout California. It makes them appear as legitimate as the large ones. In a state where the lines between reality and fantasy are often blurred, indicators of being genuine go a long way.

The success of a lawyer ultimately depends on his or her ability to provide clients with the fruits of exceptional knowledge of the law and intimate understanding of the legal system. However, the ability to attract potential clients means a lot too. To do this, lawyers in California need great marketing.