2020 has seen an overall drop in ad spend for Legal Services advertising in 2020, but five of the 17 media channels in BIA’s forecast (from August 2020) will actually see growth in ad spend in 2020. Looking ahead to 2021, Legal Services ad spend will grow 10.6% from 2020.

BIA is forecasting that ad spend in Legal Services in 2021 will increase to nearly $4.6 billion, up 10.6% from 2020 and up 1.0% (CAGR) from $4.5 billion in 2019. All but one of the 17 media channels in BIA’s forecast will see growth in ad spend in 2021. That one media channel would be print YP, which has been on the decline for years.

In terms of percentage growth, TV OTT is forecast to see the largest percentage growth in ad spend between 2020 and 2021 at 28.2%. Among traditional media, TV OTA and Out of Home are expected to see the highest growth, at 12.0% and 24.6% respectively. The high growth projected for Out of Home is a reflection of how hard that media channel was hit in 2020.

If you look at the overall dollar increase in spend between 2020 and 2021, Mobile will see the biggest increase – up $116 million over 2020, followed by TV OTA at nearly $84 million.

Digital will continue to increase its share of the Legal Services wallet, growing from 33.9% for digital channels in 2019 to 40.0% in 2021. Traditional media continues to be go-to choice for Legal Services businesses, but is slowly losing share to digital, albeit at a slower rate than most other verticals.

Accessing the Report

BIA ADVantage subscribers can login to access the Legal Services vertical report and run reports for their local markets. Contact sales@bia.com for more information.

The Legal Services Vertical report is available for purchase in BIA’s online shop here, along with reports on other verticals.