Small law firm marketing is broken. Here’s how we’re rebuilding it

Marketers can’t leave small firms behind.

If you’re running a small law firm, marketing probably isn’t what gets you out of bed in the morning. But it is what keeps you up at night. You’re expected to be everything at once: a sharp legal mind, a steady leader, a business owner, a tech-savvy marketer, and somehow, still the person clients trust to call at 10 p.m. Most of the time, you pull it off. But when it comes to small law firm marketing, you’re not just underserved. You’re underestimated.

The advice out there assumes more people, more time, more budget. It’s built for firms with internal marketing teams and endless capacity—not the solo or small team handling intake, court appearances, billing, and client care before lunch.

But that doesn’t mean growth is out of reach. It just means you need a different kind of system—one that’s built for how small firms actually work, and how clients actually choose their lawyers.

That’s exactly what we’re building.

Why small firm marketing keeps falling short

Let’s be honest: most marketing solutions weren’t built with small firms in mind. If you’re not a seven-figure client, you’re often left choosing between two extremes.

• The churn-and-burn tier, where “affordable” means AI-generated content, vague reports, and campaigns that don’t consider your goals.
• The high-gloss, high-budget tier, where strategies are built for firms twice your size, with little regard for how your team actually works.

Neither option meets small firms where they are. And in the legal industry, that gap matters. Compliance, trust-building, empathy, and accuracy aren’t optional. They’re the foundation of your reputation. But they rarely show up in the templated packages or off-the-shelf platforms marketed to small practices.

Small firms aren’t avoiding digital marketing. They just haven’t been given the right tools or guidance.

The firms doing some of the most critical, community-based work are falling behind—not because they lack skill or heart, but because they’re navigating an ecosystem that wasn’t built for them. And it’s creating systemic issues.

Corporate-backed firms are expanding quickly. Clients are more empowered and more discerning. AI is accelerating everything, and Google’s algorithm changes continue to reshape how people find legal services.

But according to the ABA’s 2023 Legal Technology Survey Report, the number of law firms with websites is actually declining. Among sole practitioners, 35% don’t have a website at all. And across the board, most small firms reported feeling unsure about the success of their marketing efforts— because they have little or no access to their marketing analytics or reporting.

We’ve felt the disconnect, too. In the past, LaFleur often had to say no to small firms, not because they lacked passion or potential, but because our full-service retainers didn’t fit their budgets. That never sat right with us.

So, we went back to the drawing board. We talked to the clients we couldn’t serve. We listened to what they needed, what they were trying to piece together, and what they were tired of hearing.

If you’ve ever been sold a $399 website with no plan behind it, this is for you.

Small firms don’t need more noise. They need clarity, flexibility, and systems that respect how they operate. Tools that grow with them. Partners who understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy—and who believe that small firms are worth building for.

Fewer spreadsheets. More insight.
Fewer generic pitches. More practical storytelling.
Fewer locked boxes. More room to lead.

Being small doesn’t mean being invisible. And it shouldn’t mean being powerless.

We risk losing something essential when we don’t make space for small firms to thrive. Local representation. Culturally competent advocacy. Personalized service that doesn’t come from a case manager in another state.

This matters because communities depend on small firms. And if we’re not helping them stay competitive, we’re weakening the system for everyone.

RELATED: Tips for law firm website design

Essential sites: Built for how small firms work

We call them Essential sites, but what we’re really offering is breathing room.

For too long, small firms have been boxed into two extremes: overpriced, overbuilt platforms packed with features they’ll never use, or bare-bones templates that don’t reflect the depth of their work. We wanted to build something better.

Essential sites use a streamlined framework designed around how small firms actually operate. Built on WordPress for long-term flexibility, optimized for performance and speed, and grounded in legal marketing best practices, these sites lay a strong foundation for growth and connect seamlessly with our Clearboard dashboard when you’re ready to track what’s working.

Here’s what makes them different:

• Clarity over complexity. No bloated add-ons or hidden fees. Just the pages and structure you need to show up with confidence, and none of the noise.
• Voice-forward design. Your firm has a perspective. Essential sites are built to help you express it—clearly, credibly, and in your own words. That means intuitive design and thoughtful structure, not just keywords crammed onto a page.
• Marketing integration. Your website shouldn’t sit in a silo. These sites are built to support campaigns, email, social, and real-time performance data through our Clearboard platform.

And most importantly: they’re built with empathy. From onboarding to documentation to support, we’ve made sure the process is clear, respectful of your time, and led by real people who understand how small firms work.

We built Essential sites to do what most platforms don’t: reflect your reality, respect your expertise, and give you the room and tools to grow.

Clearboard: The transparency small firms deserve

One of the most revealing insights from the ABA’s 2023 Websites & Marketing TechReport is how few firms are tracking performance. It shocks me that only about 20% of the survey’s participants say they get regular marketing performance reports. Even worse, in many cases, access to marketing analytics programs is often held in the hands of one person.

That means many small firms are investing time or money into marketing, but don’t have a clear sense of what’s working.

That’s why we built Clearboard. Clearboard is our analytics and performance dashboard designed for small firms who want clarity without complexity. It brings together key insights: site traffic, conversions, ad performance, call volume, form fills, in one place. No digging through platforms. No chasing down reports. No fluff.

More importantly, Clearboard is built to answer questions like:

• Is our marketing actually driving leads?
• Where are those leads coming from?
• Are we spending money in the right places?

For small firms, that kind of visibility isn’t just helpful, it’s empowering. It turns marketing from a vague cost center into a measurable growth engine.

When you can see what’s working, you can double down on it. When you know what’s not, you can fix it—or cut it.

If our Essential sites lay the foundation, Clearboard helps build the roadmap.

RELATED: What is fractional marketing (and is it right for your business)?

Empathy: The engine behind it all

We didn’t start with solutions like essential sites and Clearboard. We started with listening.

Over the years, we’ve heard frustration from small firm owners who felt patronized, overpromised to, or simply ignored. We’ve watched clients burn through retainers without understanding what they got. And we’ve seen the weight they carry—of representing their clients well, of supporting their families, and of trying to run a modern business in a system that wasn’t built for them.

That’s why we treat empathy as infrastructure.

We build with context. We lead with trust. We tell the truth, even when it’s not what someone wants to hear. And we make sure that everything we create supports your goals.

We’re in the business of giving smaller firms a fighting chance—and a fair shot.

That’s not just good business. That’s good stewardship.

LaFleur: Supporting small law firms, one strategy at a time

We believe in a legal landscape where firms of all sizes can show up powerfully.

That’s why we’ll keep building for the ones who are building something of their own. We’ll keep refining tools that support, not overwhelm. And we’ll keep telling stories that center the people actually doing the work.

If that’s the kind of marketing you’ve been looking for, we’d love to talk.

References

Johs, A. (2024, January 8). 2023 Websites & Marketing TechReport. American Bar Association. Retrieved from https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/resources/tech-report/2023/2023-websites-and-marketing-techreport/