How a specialty law firm profitably scaled client acquisition with PMax
THE EPIC WIN
Level Agency deployed AI-driven strategies around first-party data and creative campaign architecture to help a legal firm generate high-quality leads, transforming a modest Q1 investment into a 12x higher Q4 spend, while tripling conversion rate performance.
Success criteria
A law firm, competing in a niche where keywords can cost upwards of $30 per click, needed to break into search-driven lead gen without blowing past their CPA targets. They came to Level Agency with a goal: drive more retainer-worthy leads while maintaining ROI.
We leaned into Google’s Performance Max (PMax) platform and steered it with precision data to ensure smart bidding, high-intent traffic, and qualified conversions.
THE CHALLENGE
In a high-cost, competitive legal market, the client faced multiple challenges:
- CPCs regularly topped industry benchmarks, making it difficult to compete with larger firms.
- Previous efforts were attracting unqualified leads that didn’t meet retainer criteria.
- Manual targeting and keyword bidding were inefficient and unsustainable.
- PMax campaigns lacked performance transparency and control.
- High-friction form (25+ fields) needed to be a qualifier, not a deterrent.
OUR APPROACH
Several underlying factors contributed to the success of this initiative:
- Let Google’s algorithm work—with guardrails: We leaned into PMax and automated bidding but didn’t go hands-off. Instead, we guided the algorithm with meaningful, high-quality lead data.
- Fueling Google with first-party data: Through a Salesforce/Zapier integration, we fed Google information about leads who successfully received retainers. This allowed us to train the algorithm to find more of the same.
- Smarter conversions via custom pixels & value-based bidding: We used custom pixels to only fire when a user met key qualification criteria: buying a new car (not used), year 2019 or newer, and located in a specific state. Each event was weighted differently in-platform to prioritize higher-retainer lead types.
- Audience & keyword discovery powered by AI: Using ChatGPT and Perplexity, we uncovered emerging trends in NHTSA complaints and car recalls—enabling us to target high-intent users based on manufacturer and issue.
We executed this plan through:
- Built and optimized PMax campaigns with segmented conversion actions.
- Created custom conversion events based on retainer qualification logic.
- Implemented Max Conversion Value bidding with strategic value assignments.
- Integrated Salesforce retainer data into Google Ads in near-real-time.
THE RESULTS
- Lead volume scaled by over 26x in under a year.
- Conversion efficiency tripled, driven by smarter targeting and form optimization.
- CPA was cut nearly in half, while average CPC rose—signaling better quality traffic.
LESSONS LEARNED
- Don’t fight Google, guide it. First-party data and thoughtful conversion values are key to unlocking PMax’s full potential.
- Friction = Qualification. Our 25+ field form filtered out low-quality leads and focused the budget on users most likely to convert.
- Surface metrics don’t tell the whole story. Clicks are cheap when they lead to high-value conversions. Rising CPCs aren’t bad if the conversion rate climbs.
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