AI is majorly, seriously, (annoyingly?) impacting law firm marketing, and it’s not just about content generation. What’s a lawyer to do?

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In this special LHLM episode, Gyi and Conrad air their chat with Zack Glaser of the Lawyerist Podcast. Artificial intelligence has its sticky fingers in everything nowadays—even the world of law firm marketing. It’s changing the way consumers behave and changing the way ad agencies strategize in your market. So, how do you continue to compete, and where can you leverage AI to make a real difference? Zack, Gyi, and Conrad hash out how to make AI work for you, not against you.  

The News:

Links Mentioned:

Lawyerist Podcast

Suggested LHLM Episodes:

Google Local Service Ads: To Brand or Not to Brand?

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Live from the American Association for Justice conference in Miami, Lunch Hour Legal Marketing is back with another deep dive into law firm marketing strategies that actually move the needle.

Conrad Saam and Gyi Tsakalakis break down the biggest questions they tackled at the event:

🍟 How much should lawyers spend on marketing?

🍟 Brand vs. non-brand marketing—why it matters

🍟 Are you tracking the right metrics, or just vanity numbers?

🍟 Lawyer referrals vs. digital marketing—what’s the real ROI?

🍟 Why law firms MUST use a CRM to stop missing leads

Plus, we expose how some legal marketing agencies try to take credit for leads they didn’t earn. (Yes, we see you.)

If you’re serious about law firm growth, you won’t want to miss this one.

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe for more legal marketing insights!

🎥 Watch the full video here.

Chapters

00:00 - Intro & Welcome from Miami

00:46 - How Much Should Lawyers Spend on Marketing?

01:32 - Investing in Growth: ROI vs. Volume

02:34 - Why 30% is a Key Number in Legal Marketing

03:56 - Brand vs. Non-Brand: What It Means for Your Law Firm

05:09 - How Marketing Agencies Take Credit for Your Leads

07:00 - Why "How Did You Hear About Us?" is Crucial

10:31 - The Biggest Intake Mistakes Law Firms Make

13:15 - If You Don’t Have a CRM, Are You Even Growing?

19:01 - How to Hold Your Marketing Agency Accountable

21:20 - The Truth About "Up and to the Right" Traffic Graphs

21:56 - Wrap-Up & Final Thoughts

Lead thievery! How on earth could your competitor’s ad have YOUR name in it? Brand conquesting is a real thing, and it sucks. Later, is Gyi completely wrong about direct brand search in LSAs? The guys fight it out. 

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Having a competitor’s brand in your ad is some super shady lawyer marketing and violates Google’s trademark policies, but it still happens. What’s the deal? Gyi and Conrad talk about the ins and outs of brand conquesting, how it should be viewed under lawyers’ rules of professional conduct, and whether this kind of dirty campaigning is actually successful for the law firms who engage in it. 

Next, does having direct brand search turned on in Google Local Service Ads negatively impact your visibility? Maybe so, maybe no… it’s complicated! Gyi and Conrad argue their viewpoints and nerd out on a variety of marketing scenarios that could affect those pesky LSA outcomes.

The News:

Links Mentioned:

Google "Diversity Update" Live Stream

Google - Trademarks - Advertising Policies Help

Suggested LHLM Episodes:

Google Local Service Ads: To Brand or Not to Brand?

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Today, we unpack Gyi’s beloved catchphrase to see how “meh” he really feels about the significance of links in local SEO. Later—the strategic guide you need for top-knotch link building in 2025.

A whole lotta folks like to say links don’t really matter anymore, but are they right? In practice, the guys have seen the positive effects of link building for clients for many, many years, and it’s still a piece of the pie today. However, there’s a ton of misinformation out there, so Gyi and Conrad debunk the most common misconceptions to get you on track for optimized, relevant, business-building links. 

And, later, what’s working best for link building in 2025? The guys share some great stories of businesses who engaged their local communities through service, scholarships, sponsorships, and more—all while getting awesome PR and plenty of links. 

Room for dessert? Here's some exclusive bonus content from this week's episode: How to Get Your Website to Rank in ChatGPT Search | SEO Strategy | Lunch Hour Legal Marketing

The News:

 Mentioned:

Google Cites Scholarship Links in a Manual Action Penalty

Suggested LHLM Episodes:

Is Link Building Worth It Anymore? || Top 10 Link Building Tips

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Chapters (Times Approximate)

(0:00) The Consummate One-Upsman

(3:26) The News: Places Scout, the ABA takes on Trump, & GBP Outage

(10:00) Busting Link Building Myths

(24:45) How To Create Backlinks For Your Website In 2025

Gyi and Conrad share the scary legal marketing stories you definitely wouldn’t want to find yourself entangled in. Later, don’t throw the attribution out with the bath water! It’s not impossible to track, and the guys explain how to go about it. 

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Sometimes you have to wallow in the muck of the digital marketing world to learn how to avoid the scum. All law firms should ask themselves this question: Do you know how your ad agency is spending your money? Gyi and Conrad dive into the allegations surrounding some very iffy third-party dealings to help you, dear listener, traverse the perils of the marketing world.

And later, it seems that some LHLM words to the wise have been misconstrued! Don’t hear what we’re not saying—attribution is an essential marketing element, and your agency should absolutely be monitoring your advertising channels with careful attention. But, there’s more to it than just a simple pie graph. Gyi and Conrad share how to get the fullest picture possible for tracking attribution.

The Quasi-News:

Suggested LHLM Episodes:

Marketing Attribution: Follow the Data or Trust Your Gut? 

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Chapters (Times Approximate)

(0:00) RISE OF THE MACHINES

(3:00) News: Partnerships Gone Bad and LHLM on the Move! 

(9:24) How to Spot a Shaddy Marketing Agency

(22:05) That’s Not What We Said! 

If your game plan is offline advertising, but your website sucks—you’re fumbling your growth strategy. And, later, Conrad shares his origin story!

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There is often a significant imbalance between law firms’ offline and online marketing investments, but things simply won’t work as well if you don’t synergize both aspects. Gyi and Conrad talk through their recommendations for diversified online and offline expenditures that can maximize your firm’s potential for growth. 

Later, how did Conrad become Conrad? The child of Australian immigrant parents, Conrad shares his life’s journey from Vegemite sandwich-toting lad to MBA grad to SEO pioneer to Mockingbird Marketing owner—and everything in between!

The News:

We are brilliant crystal ball pontificators! Cases in point: 

Suggested LHLM Episodes:

Conrad’s Crystal Ball IV | Lawyer Marketing Predictions for 2025 

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Gaze into the depths with Gyi and Conrad, so you, too, can be prepared for the legal marketing days to come. This one’s all about the future, folks! 

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Well, and the past. First, an in-depth retrospective on whether Gyi and Conrad’s 2024 predictions showed true seer potential (or phony-baloney tendencies). Then, the guys turn a preternatural eye to what lies ahead. What mystically foretold trends will dominate the legal and marketing landscapes of 2025? From super-spammer AI avatars to, of course, another Michigan win—Gyi and Conrad can see it all. 

The News:

Suggested LHLM Episodes:

Conrad’s Crystal Ball: The Re-Re-Return — Sponsored by CallRail 

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Chapters (Times Approximate)

(0:00) Hail to the Victors

(2:05) Google, Lying Lawyers, ChatGPT, and Meta all in the News!

(13:47) 2024 Predictions in Review

(24:45) 2025 Lawyer Marketing Prognostications

You’ve got a talented legal team at your firm, but should they also be involved in your marketing schemes? Later, we recently realized that some of you want a bit more backstory on the guys, so, Gyi reveals how his mysterious past made him into the marketer he is today.

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Should your lawyers stick to lawyering? Sometimes, an associate is super interested, tactical, and talented at marketing, but sometimes… they’re not. So, how do you avoid potential misuse of resources and make the most of your relationship with marketing partners? Gyi and Conrad talk through how to build trust, optimize your assets, and learn to be on the same team with your marketer.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it's Gyi Tsakalakis! Who is Gyi, anyway? Every super hero has an origin story, and so does every marketer. 

The News:

Suggested LHLM Episodes:

Playing With the Social Media Algorithm || Drafting Your Marketing Dream Team: Round 2

Dial M for Mystery Shopper 

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Chapters (Times Approximate)

(0:00) Naughty Elf on the Shelf? 

(2:57) ALL the Legal Marketing News

(10:36) Should Associates Play a Role in Your Law Firm’s Marketing Strategy?

(26:53) What makes a Gyi?

Intrigue! Drama! Suspense! Our victim, Paul Robinson Law, gets put through the wringer again with an after-hours secret shopper call plotted by Gyi and Conrad. 

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Before you get too delighted at the thought of hearing about the missteps of a fellow firm, remember—if you haven’t taken the time to fully engage with training and testing your in-house or third-party reception, your client intake might be dead in the water. So, did Paul’s firm successfully escalate the undercover shopper’s legal need? Gyi and Conrad analyze the experience and break down its good and bad elements to showcase how proper intake training, scripting, coaching, and emotional connection can foster a superior customer experience that will win you more clients.

The News:

Also, the dirty, underhanded, belly of the internet turned on Gyi and Conrad in the form of Google Business Profile suspensions on the SAME day. Coincidence? They think not. But, that’s it for today—let’s hash all that out in the next episode. 

Other Episodes in the Paul Robinson Trilogy:

Lawyer Website Roasted 

Ring, Ring! What to Expect When You Call Up a Marketing Agency  

Connect:

The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter!

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

Chapters - Times Approximate 

(0:00) Planting our Flag / GBP Suspensions

(6:59) Legal Marketing News

(17:53) Mystery Shopper Call

The stockings are hung, the cocoa is steaming, and the time has come to talk about gifts! In this festive bonus episode, Conrad and Gyi are giving Santa Claus a run for his money with their epic gift guide. Find the best gadgets, books and gear for the lawyers who have everything and clients who you want to wow. Sleigh your holiday gifting game with Gyi and Conrad’s shoppable Amazon list here: https://amzn.to/4gndoJf