How do you know which marketing efforts are truly working?
If you’re like most personal injury law firms, you’re investing across multiple channels such as TV, Google Ads, billboards, radio, SEO. But if your reporting is fragmented, you might be making major decisions based on incomplete or misleading data.
In a recent episode of the Trial Lawyer View by Synergy podcast, I sat down with Kirk Nielson of Tap In Digital to talk about what separates marketing that performs from marketing that just costs. The big takeaway?
You can’t optimize what you can’t see.
🧩 Why Fragmented Data Costs You Cases
Too often, law firms give full credit to the last marketing touch, usually a Google search, while ignoring the real drivers behind the search, like a billboard or radio ad that built awareness in the first place. That creates a dangerous blind spot.
Kirk calls this the “over-attribution to digital, under-attribution to traditional.”
By centralizing all your marketing data in one place, including offline spend, lead tracking, and ad platform metrics, you get a full picture of how each channel works together. It’s not about gut feelings or tradition anymore. It’s about informed, data-driven decisions that grow your practice.
📈 What Media Mix Modeling Tells You That Your CRM Doesn’t
Tap In Digital uses a tool called media mix modeling. It’s not new, it’s been used by billion-dollar brands for years, but it’s now critical for personal injury firms that advertise both online and off.
This approach looks at how each channel (TV, Google, social media, radio, billboards) correlates with actual case volume over time. It goes beyond attribution models that only track last-click data.
Let’s say your firm is spending $1 million per month. Using historic data and correlation analysis, the model can recommend where to allocate each dollar to get the best return—not just more clicks, but more cases.
📻 A Real-World Result: Radio Revisited
One firm that worked with Tap in had recently pulled back on radio, thinking it wasn’t working. But once their data was centralized and analyzed, they saw that radio had historically driven strong results. Tap in helped them run a test: turn radio back on in one market and compare.
The result? A measurable lift in cases. With data to back it up, radio went back into the mix, with confidence.
📊 More Than Marketing: What Happens When You Centralize Your Data
The first thing Kirk hears from firms after onboarding?
“I’ve never seen all my marketing data in one place before.”
Beyond attribution and optimization, just having a centralized, accessible dashboard saves time, eliminates errors, and allows you to make real-time decisions. It’s a shift from reacting to results to actively managing outcomes.
And with Tap in’s flexibility—integrating everything from spreadsheets to clearance logs, it doesn’t require a tech overhaul on your end. It just requires a mindset shift.
🚀 What’s Next for Growth-Minded Trial Lawyers
If you’re serious about increasing case volume without blindly increasing your spend, this is where to start:
- Audit your data. Is it centralized, or spread across platforms and vendors?
- Stop relying solely on last-click attribution. Look at full-funnel influence.
- Use historical trends, not just instincts, to guide your budget.
- Test and validate assumptions. What’s working today may not be what worked a year ago.
Marketing isn’t just creative, it’s math. And the firms that embrace data will be the ones that dominate their markets.
🎯 Why This Matters to the Peak Practice Community
If want to accelerate your firm’s marketing, Nielson’s episode is a must-listen. His advice matters because it gives personal injury law firms a clear path to smarter growth through data-driven marketing. Instead of guessing which channels are driving results, firms can use centralized data and media mix modeling to uncover what’s actually influencing case volume, including traditionally undervalued tactics like radio and billboards. His insights help trial lawyers shift from reactive to strategic marketing, making every dollar work harder. For a community focused on scaling with clarity and efficiency, Kirk’s approach aligns directly with Peak Practice’s mission to accelerate law firm performance through informed decision-making.
🔗 Ready to Think Differently About Your Practice?
If you’re a trial lawyer who’s hungry to scale and grow your firm, this episode is for you.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation on Trial Lawyer View here: https://triallawyerview.com/podcast/kirk-nielson/
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🔗 Want more insights like this?
If you’re a personal injury lawyer ready to scale, streamline, and step into your role as CEO, let’s talk. Join the Peak Practice Community, and learn how synergy. can help you eliminate settlement bottlenecks, resolve complex liens, and maximize recoveries. Learn more here: https://partnerwithsynergy.com/peak-practice/
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