Fractional CMO for family law and divorce firms. More retained clients from consults that fit your practice.
Most people research a divorce or custody case for weeks before they call anyone, often from a shared phone. We help your firm show up during that research, follow up discreetly, fill the calendar with consults that retain, and trace each retainer back to the source that earned it.
Where family law marketing loses retainers.
Family law clients decide slowly, then pay retainers that get replenished for months. Each of the seven dimensions either earns that trust or leaks it.
- Problem 01Marketing strategy
Your site speaks to every divorce, including the ones you'd rather not take.
A contested custody case with real assets and a simple uncontested divorce need different messages. When the site talks to everyone, price shoppers call, and the complex matters that fund the practice go elsewhere.
Marketing strategy for law firms - Problem 02Marketing data
You count consults instead of retainers that hold.
A consult that never retains is a cost. So is a client who retains and stops at the first replenishment. Tie retainers and fees collected to source, or the channel filling your calendar may be the one draining it.
- Problem 03Funnel friction and CRO
Free consults fill up with people who want free advice.
Say you hold 30 free consults a month at an hour each, and 6 retain. That's 24 attorney hours on people who were never going to hire you. A short pre-screen, a clear consult scope, or a paid consult credited to the retainer changes that ratio.
- Problem 04Marketing process
The prospect who isn't ready never hears from you again.
Plenty of people research for months before filing. Without discreet follow-up they opted into, the person who called in March hires someone else in June.
- Problem 05Marketing team
Paralegals do intake between drafting and discovery.
Intake gets squeezed by court deadlines. Calls wait a day, emotional callers get rushed, and nobody owns turning consults into retainers or following up with people still deciding.
In-house, agency or fractional CMO for a law firm - Problem 06Marketing technology
Follow-up emails can land in an inbox a spouse reads.
Prospects often research from shared devices and accounts. Your intake and CRM must record safe contact preferences, so no reminder or newsletter lands where a spouse could see it.
- Problem 07Marketing communication
Your site promises aggressive litigation to people who want calm.
Many prospects want to protect their children and avoid a war. Copy built on fighting and winning scares off the clients you want. Steady, clear guidance about the process earns more consults and stays within bar rules on claims.
How the Marketing Impact OS runs in a family law firm.
People decide to file for divorce or seek custody slowly and privately, then all at once. We set the plan to that pattern.
- 01
Weeks 1 and 2
Inspect
We trace retainers and fees by source, check consult show and retain rates, and read your intake notes.
We also see how you appear for divorce, custody and support searches in each county you serve. The dashboard shows what each source cost and how many retainers it signed.
What you getA dashboard of consults, retainers and cost per retainer by source and county.
Marketing Impact OSFamily law firmInspectMarketing attributionLast 90 days vs the 90 beforeAd spend$89,560+12%Signed retainers53+8%Cost per signed retainer$1,690+4%Fees$546,500+9%Source Spend Leads Retainers Fees Cost per retainer Google Ads $45,000 300 18 $180,000 $2,500 Local Services Ads $14,160 120 12 $114,000 $1,180 SEO $12,000 140 10 $105,000 $1,200 Referrals $0 40 9 $121,500 $0 Meta $18,400 210 4 $26,000 $4,600 Total $89,560 810 53 $546,500 $1,690 - 02
Weeks 3 and 4
Ideate
We rank fixes by the retainers each one should add. First we decide which matter types to target and how to structure consults.
Then come a discreet email sequence and content that answers the questions people ask long before they're ready to call.
What you getA ranked list of fixes by matter type, each with the retainers we expect it to add.
Marketing Impact OSFamily law firmIdeateThe plan, ranked by impactGains per month- 1Answer after-hours calls liveCalls after 6 pm go to voicemail today.+4 signed retainers+$41,000 in fees
- 2Move $3,000 a month from Meta to LSALSA costs $1,180 per signed retainer. Meta costs $4,600.+2 signed retainers+$21,000 in fees
- 3Cut Google Ads terms that never signGoogle Ads costs $2,500 per signed retainer.Save $2,500Same signed retainers
- 4Ask every past client for a referralReferrals turn 9 of 40 leads into signed retainers.+1 signed retainer+$10,000 in fees
If the plan holds+7 signed retainers a month
- 1
- 03
From week 5, biggest fix first
Implement
Your team and ours build practice pages by matter type, consult booking with screening questions, safe-contact fields in intake and email follow-up.
The responsible attorney checks every claim against your state bar's rules.
What you getA work list of matter pages, consult screening and safe-contact intake, each with an owner, due week and status.
Marketing Impact OSFamily law firmImplementThe work2 of 4 done- Live answering after 6 pm and on weekendsIntake lead · Week 1Intake leadWeek 1Done
- Move $3,000 a month from Meta to LSAAgency · Week 1AgencyWeek 1Done
- Cut Google Ads terms that never signAgency · Week 3AgencyWeek 3In progress
- Referral ask at every closed matterCase managers · Week 6Case managersWeek 6Next
Monday check-in Every open task gets a status. A late one gets a new date and a reason.
- 04
Every week, with a review every 90 days
Iterate
Each week we read consults booked, show rate, retainers signed and fees collected by source. We cut whatever fills the calendar without retaining.
The loop runs until the firm reaches its goal.
What you getA 90-day review of consults, show rate and retainers against your starting point, with the next decision.
Marketing Impact OSFamily law firmIterate90 days laterBefore → after- Cost per signed retainer$1,690$1,243−26%
- Signed retainers5366+25%
- Ad spend$89,560$82,060−8%
Cost per signed retainer by monthZachary's reviewSigned retainers went from 53 to 66 on $7,500 less spend. Cost per signed retainer fell from $1,690 to $1,243. Next: put $2,000 a month into SEO pages for your top two matter types. SEO costs $1,200 per signed retainer.
The numbers we run your family law practice on.
- Retainers signed by source
- Consult show rate
- Consult-to-retainer rate
- Cost per retained family client
- Fees collected per matter
- Nurture-to-consult rate
The right level of help for where you are.
Family law firms with a full calendar and uneven retainers usually start with the Marketing Impact Roadmap. Firms with several attorneys and real ad spend move to the Fractional CMO Retainer. Smaller practices that want to run it themselves pair the Roadmap with the Marketing Impact Academy.
Compare all fractional CMO servicesFrequently asked questions.
What is the best family law marketing strategy?
Target the matters you want and stay present through a long decision. Build pages for divorce, custody and support in your counties, earn reviews that mention calm guidance, screen consults before they book, and follow up discreetly with people who aren't ready yet.
Should family law firms offer free consultations?
It depends on your market and the cases you want. Free consults raise volume and attract advice seekers. A pre-screen before booking, a paid consult credited to the retainer, or a short free call before a paid strategy session can each lift quality. We test which one fits your firm.
How do you market to people who aren't ready to file?
Patiently and privately. We offer useful guides and checklists in exchange for an email, with safe-contact preferences recorded. Then we send short, helpful notes over the weeks or months they need. When they're ready, your firm is the one they already trust.
Do you work within bar advertising rules?
Yes. Family law ads can't make deceptive claims or promise custody or settlement outcomes. We draft inside those limits, add the disclaimers your state requires, and send every public piece to the responsible attorney for approval.
How much should a family law firm spend on marketing?
Work it back from your own numbers, not a fixed percentage. Say an average matter brings $8,000 in fees and 1 in 4 consults retains. Each consult is worth about $2,000 to you, so you can pay far more per consult than a firm that retains 1 in 10.
Where to next.
Start with your free Marketing Impact score.
It takes a few minutes. You get a score from 1 to 5 on each of the seven dimensions of your marketing and see where to start. If you’d rather talk first, book a free 30-minute call.