Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
This past September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released vehicular crash statistics for first half 2023. There were just under 20,000 estimated vehicular fatalities from January to June of this year. It is a shocking number, and sadly, it is just 3% lower when compared to 2022.
Vehicular accidents are one of the top types of personal injury cases. It is also the greatest portion of revenue for attorneys. (A 2023 ilawyermarketing study found that 92% of survey respondents would hire a personal injury lawyer to recover costs from an auto accident.) Other types are medical malpractice, marine injuries, airline injuries, as well as others, per IBISWorld. As of 2022, there are over 50,000 personal injury lawyers and attorneys in the U.S.
There is strong competition to capture potential cases for PI lawyers. Consumers make their decisions quickly, and according to the same ilawyermarketing study, the majority of people would only speak to three firms.
While there are many professional services that are used by consumers on a monthly or even weekly basis such as financial planning or landscaping, legal services use is not commonplace among most. Most consumers seek legal counsel because they have to – not because they want to. Use of personal injury (PI) attorneys is even less common. According to MRI-Simmons data, 13% of broadcast radio listeners have personally used any attorney service.
Law marketing has become one of the fastest growing advertising categories. A 2022 report from the American Tort Reform Association found that over $1.4 billion dollars was spent on legal advertising through November 2021. That advertising spend is across radio, local TV and outdoor. Personal injury attorneys and firms will need to find unique and personal ways to differentiate themselves when reaching potential clients.
While consumers must determine who is a best fit for their personal case based on specifics such as experience or area of expertise, as humans we are prone to also decide based on emotion. One of those emotions is clearly a sense of trust. As humans, the need to trust is important and even moreso in the event of a personal injury claim. Using a medium that is trusted by adults who have used legal services is helpful.
Based on MRI-Simmons, of those adults 18 or older who have personally used a lawyer, they are 9% more likely than the U.S. population to trust radio the most. They are also 14% more likely to say that radio is a good source of learning. With over 50% of these individuals stating that advertising helps keep them up to date about products or services that they need, as a trusted medium, broadcast radio should be on any personal injury legal firm’s advertising plan. Case closed.