You are a smaller boutique legal firm looking to expand your practice in the heartlands? You’re worried about the competition, the brand and firepower a big four firm has? There is an advantage that smaller firms has. Big brands may not be able to leverage social media and the internet as effectively because of bureaucracy. But you can.
In bigger firms with hundreds of staff, it is probably their interest to present a professional and branded image of the company to the public. In contrast, a smaller to mid size firm can go direct to consumer, create customer oriented content and personalize your approach as compared to bigger firms.
Let’s take a look at how to market a smaller law firm without being reliant on referrals.
Niche Down to Differentiate Yourself as a Smaller Boutique Firm
There is a popular marketing book released by the name of “100M Offers” by business icon Alex Hormozi. It created a craze in the digital marketing world on crafting “offers” so good that people are stupid to not buy. If everyone is shouting FREE, DISCOUNTS, MONEY BACK GUARANTEE… then may I know what separates you from the rest?
Your market is more important than the offer itself.
In fact, Alex too stresses that the market is more important than the offer.
Here’s an interesting graph providing a break down:
As you can see, even in weak markets, growth feels like playing on the hardest difficulty, regardless of how strong the founder is.
Hence the quote:
“When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.”
– Warren Buffett.
You may be wondering: what does business strategy have to do with getting more clients? That is a problem with many digital marketing agencies. They obsess over clicks and impressions while completely missing actual business outcomes that grow your bottom line.
The truth: real growth requires strategic positioning, not just technical marketing pointers.
Your Market > Product Market Fit > Offer > Technicals
Some lawyers that run their own smaller practices tell me they are full service firms, and that they do everything. Or that being ‘cheap, fast and good’ is their ultimate selling point. That may be true as I marketed for a lawyer that dealt with broad types of cases. However, if you’re starting out to market to cold audiences (people that don’t already know, like and trust you), it is way more effective for the market to perceive you as a specialist.
Look, the leads you get from digital marketing aren’t qualified ain’t because ‘Facebook ads not working’.
It is because you aren’t perceived as an specialist in a niche market that has burning pains.
Singapore Airlines and Scoot Airlines appeal to different segments of a market, albeit being under the same group company. They appeal to entirely different segments with different spending power, willingness to spend and what they perceive as value to them.
The more niche your business is, the more specialized you are perceived by the market. The more niche you are, the more you are perceived to be able to solve a true burning pain point.
You aren’t going to trust a doctor that says he can do everything. You trust the oncologist because he specializes in cancer treatment.
Singapore’s top IP litigation specialist commands fees that would make general practitioners blush. He or she may focus exclusively on technology patent disputes, attracting only a small segment of businesses. However those clients gladly pay premium rates for her specialized expertise rather than risking millions with a lawyer who handles everything from divorces to real estate.
Here’s a story from legendary Gary Halbert, an advertising and copywriting legend.
He once asked a room of aspiring writers, “Imagine you’re opening a hamburger stand on the beach—what do you need most to succeed?”
Answers included, “secret sauce,” and “great location” and “quality meat.”
Halbert replied: “You missed the most important thing—A STARVING CROWD.”
Henceforth, being extremely clear on your market means understanding:
- Existing demand in your market
- Who your ideal customers are and who your customers aren’t
It is crucial to define your market even before spending a dollar on marketing.
So Marcus… how do I specialize and niche down you may ask?
How to Niche Down: Immersion Exercise
Here’s a useful method on niching down in your market I use. You should niche down using this two step formula.
“I help… [Audience Qualifier One] + [Audience Qualifier Two] achieve [Burning Desire] through [Specific Method/ Product You Provide]… without [Burning Pain Points/ Old Methods that Do Not Work]’
The key here is to use two qualifiers, to ensure you aren’t going too broad. Yes, actually write it down and practice it!
I decided to niche down my marketing services to help lawyers and law firms in Singapore. Instead of saying, “I help business owners” (that’s really broad), I niched down.
For lawyers, in real world application, you can probably niche down to one practice area. There are lawyers that brand themselves as family lawyers, IP lawyers, civil litigation lawyers and so on and so forth. There are already lawyers in smaller firms that brand themselves as female or male family lawyers.
Clients from either gender can perceive them to be more sympathetic to their cause.
Figuring Out Your Practice Area Market Demand with Google Keyword Planner
Google is one of the best sources of market research you can use to validate the demand for your market. Go to Google Keyword Planner and search for keywords related to the specific legal services you provide.
For example, if you’re looking to specialize in family law, you might look up terms like “divorce lawyer Singapore” or “family law firm Singapore.” If there’s substantial search volume for these keywords, it’s a GREAT sign. Secondly, if you see many advertisements and other businesses in Google’s search results for your particular market, it’s a green flag!
That means your business idea has a market because competition and saturation simply indicate there’s already existing demand! You’ll simply have to position yourself differently from the rest!
Here are two traits of customers in a validated market with demand.
Trait 1: The Ability to Pay
The most important part of a business is paying customers. They have to have both the willingness and ability to pay. These prospects are already in good professional jobs with the ability to pay.
Trait 2: Willingness to Pay
Going into a market that has red hot demand should be the first qualifier. There is no need to worry about “saturation”. The real estate and insurance industry are highly considered “oversaturated”. Yet, there are many real estate and insurance agents in both industries clocking million dollar commissions year after year.
That is because once there is a willingness to pay, all you’ve got to work on is differentiating your messaging… and crafting out an “irresistible offer.”
Go Direct to Consumer (Legal Consumers if You Will)
Traditionally, the marketing journey for smaller law firms begins with word of mouth referrals, local reputation, personal connections or an ad space in a local newspaper.
Traditional marketing shines when reaching targeted audiences through respected publications like The Straits Times. Older demographics and senior decision makers may still value printed media such as magazines and newspapers that they can touch and see.
On the other hand, some lawyers I speak to here in Singapore are worried that paid digital marketing such as Google advertising cheapens their law firm brand. They are worried that Meta advertising isn’t the right channel to grow their law firm, or that they’ll flout the legal profession publicity rules.
Look, I am not asking you to ‘sell out’ and I am fully aware of legal industry’s compliance requirements: Law Society Singapore advertising ethical guidelines for legal industry in Singapore.
Today, I am running paid Meta advertising for a lawyer with great results. There are no legal limitations using Meta platforms to advertise your practice. It’s HOW your advertising agency goes about it. You can be assured that I am sensitive to the legal profession’s rules and how we go about advertising your legal services.
Yet, some concerns are ultimately unfounded, as even statutory boards in Singapore are using Meta advertising to drive their messages out. You wouldn’t accuse a statutory board in Singapore of cheapening their brand, would you?
Comparison: Digital Marketing Versus Traditional Marketing
MediaCorp Rates
In corporate boardrooms all across the world, marketing executives look at their marketing budgets and ask how many people actually watched the TV commercial.
There are considerable cost considerations for smaller firms. First, you have to hire a video production agency starting at $2500 to shoot your commercial, and then you have to purchase the $6,088 dollars spot (Mediacorp rates as of Feb 2025).
Unlike Traditional Marketing, Digital Marketing Is Measurable
This means you can identify what is working, do more of it, and stop wasting time on campaigns that don’t work. This is one of the key ideas I presented at Legal Tech Fair 2025.
There are many variables you can test and control with digital marketing. You can A/B test marketing headlines on your landing page. You can also adjust the budget of your advertisements. You can make changes instantaneously.
You can’t do this with mainstream marketing channels such as television or radio. There’s also generally a much lower cost in producing a social media ad compared to a TV ad.
Meta Advertising
Facebook is the most popular social media platform in Singapore. There are 3.5 million Instagram users in Singapore There are approximately 4.2 million Facebook users in Singapore in October 2018, accounting for 64.6% of the population. That’s more than half of the population in Singapore.
Through paid advertising on Meta platforms, you’re able to target, slice, and dice demographics according to age, race, gender, likes, and dislikes. This is extremely powerful.
Pushing content on Meta platforms is not a new concept. SingaporeLegalAdvice.Com does a great job on their Instagram page, posting organic content and building a sizeable audience.
Here’s also a paid Facebook Ad done by a smaller law firm in Singapore:
Google/ Youtube
Google owns more than 95% market share in the Singapore search engine market. They also own Youtube. Singaporeans are cited to watch YouTube videos to be entertained, educated or inspired. They often watch while traveling and commuting.
Small and medium sized law firms in Singapore can capitalize on this by creating educational and entertaining content, like Lavocat has done. From my observations, search engine marketing and pay-per-click ads are the go-to channels for most law firms.
Every time I type in a commercial keyword for the legal industry, I am inundated with Google ads with not-so-good landing pages. It is extremely competitive (and expensive); hence, start with Meta platforms. When others zig, you zag!
No More Complicated Legalese: Customer Focused Content
Today, ‘giving legal advice’ is a commodity.
Yes, hate me all you want but as a consumer, a differentiating factor is explaining legal strategy, risks and potential costs to potential customers in layman’s terms.
I remembered going through my own personal legal dispute. I used ChatGPT to explain legal concepts and terms to me in a layman’s manner. I didn’t have lawyer friends, yet I didn’t require a lawyer. Yes, I did contact one law firm, but they were only willing to look at my case for a potentially hefty fee.
Here are some small to medium law firms in Singapore doing good legal content marketing. Lavocat has a great YouTube channel. I learn about the law so much as a business owner through this channel. Tembusu Law too has a podcast called Legal Tings. I personally enjoyed Mr Adrian Wee’s explanations.
Skip the complex legal terminology, create customer oriented content that speaks directly to pain points and needs. Address the risks, costs and considerations for anyone looking to start a lawsuit: eg. to sue for defamation etc.
Then simply buy traffic to it.
Having an Intake and Lead Management System
Many smaller law firms (and small medium enterprises in Singapore) do not have any intake nor lead management system.
This means the main lawyer is doing all the consulting, sales, and legal work. There is no tracking! I spoke to a lawyer who has more than 150 reviews on Singapore Legal Advice. He’s spending around S$3,000 to S$5,000 per month on Google ads. Yet when I asked him if he has Google Analytics to do the tracking or an intake system, he said no.
Having an intake system not only helps with revenue tracking, but you can also regularly collect market feedback by learning about the objections in customer consults.
Having an intake process helps with considering characteristics such as age, location, income level, interests, and buying behaviour. The messaging that resonates with a tech-savvy millennial founder needing IP protection is going to differ significantly from what appeals to a retired professional seeking estate planning advice.
To continuously refine this feedback loop between your market and your ideal customer profiles is an overlooked process in lead generation.
Conclusion
If you’re a smaller law firm, there are HUGE advantages to create legal content that resonates with the lay person. This helps you be more personable and it’s your strength against big international or Big Four Firms. Then, simply amplify your content using paid digital marketing channels such as Google advertising or Meta platforms.
Through the combination of customer-oriented content, paid measurable digital media buys, and a structured, trackable intake system… you’ll be able to create a client generation system that can take your practice all the way from zero to as high as possible!
However, if you’re overly worried about cheapening your legal practice brand, or are overly concerned about the regulations of the Legal Profession Act, then perhaps it’s better if you stick to traditional methods such as newspaper ad buys and a referral system.
