Chintan Zalani
How Do Law Firm Marketing Teams Look Like in 2025
Here’s the thing: your marketing strategy is only as effective as the people in your team.
In this post, we asked twelve lawyers about the structure of their marketing team.
Do they hire everyone in-house? Are they outsourcing from freelancers or full-service agencies?
Handling Marketing Solo
Solo attorneys put on many hats to address budget constraints while they build a name for their firm.
To win law firm clients in the early days, Jimmy Lai of Lai & Turner Law Firm PLLC had to do small-scale marketing by himself. This includes attending legal networking events to gain referral leads.
In the early days, our marketing was done primarily by myself. Marketing consisted of attending networking events to generate word-of-mouth marketing. This was necessary to allow the firm to have funds to invest in additional marketing.
However, it’s worth noting that doing marketing solo was never the end goal for Jimmy.
He also hired freelancers to fill skill and knowledge gaps, especially when tackling the technical aspects of marketing, to better manage costs.
“Freelancers helped with our website and SEO,” stated Jimmy. “Our current marketing budget is 15% of revenue.”
The takeaway here is to know when to scale your marketing efforts and who you come to for help.
Meghan Freed, co-founder and managing partner at Freed Marcroft, summarized this perfectly.
Relying on a single marketing generalist or even a part-time employee is common. These individuals handle a wide range of tasks, from social media management to content creation and SEO. However, as the firm grows, the need for specialized expertise becomes apparent.
Supplementing In-House Marketing with External Agencies
Most law firms keep a lean internal marketing team while hiring law firm marketing agencies to support more elaborate campaigns.
Scott Monroe, founder of Monroe Law, P.A., depends on a blend of internal marketing specialists and an outside marketing agency with that much-needed expertise.
We had a modest budget allocated to marketing where our marketing efforts were handled internally, focusing on basic strategies like word-of-mouth referrals, local networking, and some DIY digital marketing.
We then decided to partner with an outside marketing agency that specializes in law firm marketing and digital PR. This decision was driven by the agency’s expertise in legal marketing, particularly in areas like SEO, content creation, social media management, and reputation management.
Managing a small internal marketing team while sourcing bigger projects from an agency is a strategy shared by Joy Owenby, founder of Owenby Law, P.A. Internally, they handled traditional marketing activities like networking and local community involvement—as well as basic digital marketing like social media.
Joy emphasized their decision to choose an agency over freelancers for the purposes of cohesiveness and more streamlined management.
This agency handles a wide range of our marketing needs, from digital advertising and SEO to content creation and social media management. We chose to work with an agency rather than freelancers because we wanted a cohesive, integrated approach to our marketing efforts.
Andy Gillin, managing partner at GJEL Accident Attorneys, also decided to work with an agency to supplement their small in-house marketing team.
Internally, we have a small but dedicated team focusing on content creation, social media, and overall marketing strategy. However, we’ve realized that bringing in external experts can make a profound difference.
Their intensive overhaul included a complete website redesign, which aligned with our need for a faster, more user-friendly site.
This approach is echoed by Jonathan Feniak, founder of Feniak Consulting Group LLC and general counsel at LLC Attorney.
LLC Attorney’s internal team consists of individual professionals who focus on digital marketing, client outreach, and content creation. They then enlisted the help of external paid advertising and SEO agencies to provide the expertise they lacked.
To complement our internal efforts, we also collaborate with a couple of external agencies for specialized tasks like SEO and paid advertising, which has allowed us to tap into expertise we don’t have in-house.
This hybrid approach has worked well for us, given our firm’s size and the need to manage costs effectively. We’ve strategically allocated our budget to cover both in-house initiatives and external partnerships, ensuring a well-rounded and efficient marketing strategy.
Similar to LLC Attorney, C.L. Mike Schmidt of Schmidt & Clark LLP also manages a three-person internal marketing team consisting of a content specialist, a digital strategist, and a marketing manager. He then works with agencies for specialized tasks like digital PR and legal SEO.
We have an in-house marketing team consisting of three full-time professionals: a marketing manager, a content specialist, and a digital strategist.
However, we do lean on external agencies for specialized tasks. We work with a PR firm to manage our public relations and a digital agency for advanced SEO strategies. Our budget for marketing has been gradually increasing as we’ve seen the benefits of a well-rounded strategy.
Supporting Internal Teams with Both Freelancers and Agencies
Hiring individual freelancers offers more flexibility in terms of costs and marketing scope than working with agencies.
However, established law firms tend to choose an agency first before hiring freelancers who can handle specific marketing tasks.
Scott Distasio, founder of Distasio Personal Injury Law, states that hiring external agencies and freelancers enabled their in-house team to keep up with the ever-evolving landscape.
We maintain a small, yet expert, in-house team that handles regular marketing tasks, coupled with strategic consultation and execution provided by external agencies and freelancers.
Specifically, we’ve benefited from freelance professionals specializing in SEO, social media, and content creation. Relying on their expertise has enhanced our online visibility, leading to a more robust client acquisition.
While some attorneys outsource their legal marketing expertise, others prefer having complete control over strategy and branding.
Mark Hirsch, co-founder of Templer & Hirsch, talks about that exact same approach to marketing.
Our core team includes a marketing head who knows a great deal about the legal field, a digital marketing expert, and a content creator. This in-house base gives us tight control over our brand messaging and strategy.
We hire outside agencies and freelancers to help us with specific tasks. For example, we work with a public relations firm to communicate with the media during a crisis. Experts in SEO and PPC make us more visible online, and graphic artists make us look better.
Mia Mancinelli Cloud, founder of Cloud Law Firm, also internalized their firm’s marketing leadership while hiring agencies and freelancers for specialized, technical tasks. This includes SEO, PPC, content creation, and consulting.
The team includes an internal marketing manager who oversees daily activities such as social media management, content creation, and client communications. We also have a designer who focuses on branding and marketing materials.
To enhance our capabilities, we also rely on external agencies and freelancers for specialized tasks. For example, we work with a digital marketing agency to handle our SEO and PPC advertising. We also hire freelance writers and consultants to provide high-quality content and strategic insights.
Mark Pierce, founder and CEO of Wyoming LLC Attorney, who also works with a hybrid team consisting of freelancers, agencies, and in-house professionals.
Freelancers allowed Mark to execute one-off marketing projects that their go-to agencies normally don’t handle. For example, they once hired a freelance content specialist to work on an informational video series, which boosted client engagement.
We frequently hire reputable digital marketing agencies to aid with SEO and PPC campaigns, while freelancers are engaged for specialized tasks such as graphic design and videography.
These collaborations have helped us gain significant online visibility and client reach. An anecdotal example would be our YouTube informational video series produced by a gifted freelancer, which saw a 75% increase in client engagement rate.
Working Exclusively with an Agency
Finally, there are lawyers who prefer letting an agency handle everything from top to bottom.
Ross Albers, founder and CEO of Albers & Associates, chose to outsource everything from a full-service legal marketing agency—strategically increasing their investments based on their firm’s growing needs.
We chose to work with an agency because we wanted access to a broader range of expertise, including SEO, content marketing, digital advertising, and public relations, all of which would have been challenging to manage entirely in-house.
Final Thoughts
It’s clear that, for every authoritative law firm you find online, there’s a team of seasoned legal marketing experts responsible for their results.
As stated by Meghan Freed, partnerships with agencies can “provide specialized skills, fresh perspectives, and additional resources for projects like website development, SEO, or paid advertising campaigns.”
If you’re still looking for an agency to be your partner toward marketing success, contact us here and request your free marketing audit.
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