A smart law firm marketer knows that a carefully developed marketing campaign can not only put your business in front of the right customers, but it can generate a long-lasting buzz that leaves people talking for weeks and months to come. Conversely, a poorly-executed campaign can quickly turn into a major time and resource suck, costing your firm thousands of dollars in easy-to-avoid mistakes. For the savvy law firm marketer who's looking to take their campaigns to the next level, keep on reading for the top 6 marketing mistakes that are draining your budget, fast:

Paying for Followers or Email Addresses

People who choose to like and follow your social media accounts organically are naturally going to be more highly qualified leads and are far more likely to convert when compared to followers that you pay for. The same goes for those who opt-in to your email list: they want to hear what you have to say and, as a result, are going to stick around and act on the promotions you send.

On the other hand, paid lists and followers won't do much at all for your marketing efforts (except, of course, lower your click-through rates and send you number of un-followers through the roof). Perhaps the one exception to this would be promoting your firm's Facebook Page or Twitter account using their respective native advertising platforms. Nevertheless, don't waste your time or marketing budget buying your audience: not only will the sales not be there, but you'll lose your digital credibility as well.

Ignoring Feedback and Reviews

Feedback and online reviews are your bread and butter when it comes to digital marketing -- especially for businesses like law firms, in which the services are highly personal and involve face-to-face interactions with clients. If your law firm isn't listed on B2C review sites, you're missing out on a valuable opportunity. Even worse: if you're not paying attention to what clients are saying on those channels, you are absolutely costing your business money.

If you haven't already, claim your profiles on websites like Yelp (or whatever the equivalent product is for your industry), and set up email notifications for new reviews. More importantly, you should take the time to actually respond to any negative comments or reviews that you get, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, or a designated review site. Showing that you care about your clients' experiences and that you own up to your business mistakes can do nothing but highlight your firm in a positive way.

Not Including Contact Information on Social Media

Nothing's worse than drawing followers to your social media pages, only to lose them due to a lack of opportunity to convert! For example, if your Facebook fans click on the "About" section of your profile, they should be easily be able to find your firm website, phone number, and an email address so that they can reach out to you with minimal effort. Not having these critical details in an easily accessible location can cost you valuable sales opportunities with individuals who are highly interested in learning more about the services you offer. Not to mention that potential clients are more apt to go with the company that does make their contact info easily available, as opposed to taking the extra clicks and Google searches to find your office's phone number.

Not Paying Attention to Your Competitors or Industry Changes

Not sure what competing companies are blogging or tweeting about? Stop turning a blind eye to the marketing strategies of other businesses in your niche. Of course, it's never acceptable to copy the content or strategy of another firm (because you'll never be innovating; you'll just be marketing one step behind your competition), but it does pay to understand what successful businesses are doing and why they're making their marketing decisions. Similarly, if you notice that something isn't really working for your competitor, it's probably best to avoid implementing that specific tactic in your own marketing strategy.

One of the best ways to generate top-notch, industry-specific content is to (1) find what's working for others, (2) figure out how you can make a better version of that content, and (3) turn it into a lead generation strategy. For example, if you notice a competitor is garnering a lot of attention over their new eBook, perhaps you could attempt to create an eBook of your own, distributing it through a gated content channel that allows interested readers to offer you their email address in exchange for your content. No matter how you choose to go about implementing borrowed strategies, it's important that you always add your own flavor in your firm's marketing.

Not knowing your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Don't have a customer acquisition cost measurement model in place? You are missing out on valuable, decision-making data. Through a combination of tools like Google Analytics and Excel sheets, it can be relatively simple to determine your firm's CAC and, in turn, make informed media buys. (Hint: The easiest way to do this is to divide the # of dollars spent on client acquisition by the # of new clients you received during a given time period.)

Even better: if you have your marketing analytics tools set up to measure customer acquisition cost per channel, it becomes pretty easy to take the guesswork out of your marketing strategy. Facebook generated $0 of revenue last quarter? Maybe it's time to look into another channel. AdWords is driving $10,000 of revenue per quarter? You should probably look into ways to continue that growth. Without a solid understanding of your CAC, it's easy to waste money by investing your marketing dollars into channels that aren't producing clients.

Not Measuring Results

You're still not measuring your marketing results and ROI? Why?! For the absolute beginner, marketing analytics can sound scary, but with a bit of careful planning, it's fairly simple to analyze your marketing efforts. If you're not taking the time to figure out what's working for your firm, chances are that you're wasting your money on a whole lot of marketing fluff that isn't working.

The most simple way to start is by determining the overall goal of your campaign and work backwards from there, developing tactics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for each goal. The bottom line: whether you're using a sophisticated system like HubSpot or a simple Excel sheet in tandem with Google Analytics, measuring your marketing tactics is an important part of being a smart marketer.

Do you have any other glaring mistakes that marketers should be wary of? Leave your experiences and suggestions in the comments below!

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love our marketing guide! Click here to download our law firm marketing guide, filled with 21 beautiful, easy-to-read pages of compelling data, step-by-step instructions, and exclusive industry best practices that will help you scale your firm's marketing strategy in a flash.