Ready in minutes
AI builds your ad from a single prompt
June 03, 2026
Westridge Counsel is a regional estate and tax planning firm based in a mid-Atlantic suburb. Six attorneys and two paralegals across two offices. Fifteen years of operating history. A loyal base of long-tenured clients with strong renewal rates. And, in late 2025, a growth problem that had become impossible to ignore.
The firm's new-client pipeline had stalled. The partners had built the practice on referrals and the kind of community presence (local bar association involvement, occasional speaking, charity sponsorships) that builds a quiet pipeline of warm introductions over years. The model still worked, but the pace had slowed below what the firm needed to support the next two attorney hires the partners had planned for 2026.
In November 2025, the managing partner agreed to test connected TV (CTV) advertising. Six months later, the firm had data they couldn't have generated through any other channel. This is what happened.
Westridge's existing marketing mix at the start of the test:
Google Ads (search): $1,400/month
LinkedIn ads: $800/month (focused on estate planning content)
Content marketing: a weekly blog and biweekly newsletter, time investment
Speaking and sponsorships: roughly $400/month equivalent value
Total ad spend: $2,200/month
The firm's typical new-client metrics:
Average inquiry-to-consultation conversion rate: 38%
Average consultation-to-retained-client conversion rate: 52%
Average new-client value year one: $4,200
Average client tenure: 7.4 years
Average client lifetime value: roughly $31,000
Inquiry volume averaged 14-18 per month for the prior 12 months. Net new retained clients averaged 2-4 per month, against a firm need closer to 6-8 to support planned growth.
The partners' working hypothesis: trust at the household level was the missing piece. Estate planning decisions are made jointly by partners; the firm's content marketing reached the executive spouse but rarely the other half of the household. Television's lean-back attention quality, watched together by both partners during evening hours, was the missing channel.
The success metric they agreed on: 25-40 incremental qualified inquiries over a 6-month CTV test window, with at least 8-12 retained client conversions from that pool.
The 6-month CTV campaign ran from December 1, 2025 through May 31, 2026. Total campaign budget: $2,200/month, or roughly $13,200 across the test window. The firm doubled their total monthly ad spend during the test rather than reallocating from existing channels.
Three creative variations were produced through Adwave's AI tools:
"Plan for the people you love" estate planning spot. 30-second emotional-anchor spot featuring the managing partner on camera discussing why estate planning matters. Soft CTA: "Schedule your free 30-minute consultation."
"You've worked hard for this" wealth-and-tax spot. Aspirational framing for the firm's tax planning services. Specific to business owners and high-net-worth households. Soft CTA: "Talk with a Westridge attorney about your plan."
"Family business succession" specialty spot. Specific to family-business succession planning, the firm's strongest specialty niche. Targeted toward family-business owners aged 50+. Soft CTA: "Schedule a confidential consultation."
Geographic targeting was set to a 25-mile radius around the firm's main office plus a 12-mile radius around the secondary office, with overlapping coverage in central commuter ZIPs. Demographic weighting was set toward households earning $150K+ annually, which matched the firm's typical client profile.
For attribution, the firm ran three tracking layers:
A vanity URL (westridgecounsel.com/welcome) mentioned in spots, with a free estate planning checklist as the conversion event
A "How did you first hear about us?" question added to the firm's intake forms
A pre/post baseline comparison of total inquiries against the prior 12-month average
The first three months produced data that the partners initially found underwhelming.
The direct-attributed cost per inquiry was meaningfully above the firm's other channels (Google was running closer to $130 per inquiry; LinkedIn closer to $185). The temptation to pull the campaign was real.
What the partners couldn't see in the direct attribution: the firm's total inquiry volume was rising. Months 1-3 totals showed:
Total inquiries during the period: 67
Inquiries during equivalent prior-year months: 46
Net additional inquiries during the period: 21
The 21 net additional inquiries cost roughly $314 each when measured against TV spend, dramatically better than the $471 direct attribution suggested. The cross-channel lift to Google and LinkedIn was doing real work that direct attribution missed.
The partners agreed to continue the campaign through the full 6-month plan based on the pre/post baseline read, even though direct attribution alone would have suggested otherwise.
In month 4, the team made three adjustments:
1. Concentrated geography. Geographic delivery data showed the secondary-office 12-mile radius was producing fewer high-quality inquiries than the main-office area. The team narrowed the secondary-office radius to 8 miles, concentrating impressions where conversion data was strongest.
2. Paused the weakest creative. The "You've worked hard for this" spot had the lowest direct conversion signal. The team paused it, leaving the estate planning and family business spots in rotation.
3. Added LinkedIn retargeting layer. Visitors to the welcome page who didn't complete the checklist download were retargeted on LinkedIn with a complementary "Plan for the people you love" creative. Modest additional spend ($300/month) significantly improved conversion among visitors who'd been reached by CTV first.
The second half of the campaign compounded the gains.
Total inquiries across the full 6-month campaign window:
Total campaign-window inquiries: 142
Total prior-year equivalent inquiries: 93
Net incremental inquiries: 49
The 49 net incremental inquiries represented a 53% lift in firm-wide new business activity over baseline. Cost per incremental inquiry: $277 (combining CTV and LinkedIn retargeting spend). Direct attribution captured 42 of those inquiries (86%, which is higher than typical for CTV but reflects the well-engineered cross-channel funnel the firm built).
The firm's standard inquiry-to-consultation conversion rate is 38%. The TV-attributed inquiry pool converted at 41% (slightly above the firm's average, attributed to the trust-priming effect of TV exposure).
The standard consultation-to-retained-client conversion rate is 52%. The TV-attributed pool converted at 56% (similarly above baseline).
Doing the math on the 49 net incremental inquiries:
Consultations: 20 (49 × 41%)
Retained clients: 11 (20 × 56%)
At the firm's average new-client year-one value of $4,200, those 11 incremental retained clients produced approximately $46,200 in first-year revenue. Against $14,100 in total campaign spend (CTV + LinkedIn retargeting), the first-year ROAS was approximately 3.3x.
The lifetime ROAS is dramatically higher. At the firm's average client lifetime value of $31,000, the 11 retained clients represent approximately $341,000 in projected lifetime revenue. The lifetime ROAS works out to approximately 24x on the campaign spend.
A few patterns from Westridge's campaign that generalize to similar professional services firms:
Direct attribution will dramatically undercount. The firm's direct attribution suggested a $471 cost per inquiry; pre/post baseline measurement revealed a $277 cost. Without baseline measurement, the firm would have pulled the campaign at month 3 and missed the second-half compounding.
Cross-channel coordination compounds returns. The LinkedIn retargeting layer captured TV-curious prospects who hadn't yet acted. Investing in cross-channel coordination produced meaningfully better unit economics than either CTV or LinkedIn alone.
The 6-month time horizon matters for professional services. Estate planning, tax planning, and similar high-trust services have long consideration cycles. A 90-day test would have missed half the campaign's eventual lift. Firms in similar long-cycle categories should plan for 6-month measurement windows.
Conversion quality rises, not just quantity. TV-attributed inquiries converted to consultations and retained clients at slightly higher rates than baseline. The trust-priming effect of TV produced not just more inquiries but higher-quality inquiries.
Compliance friction is manageable. Estate and tax planning firms often have compliance concerns about advertising. The firm's compliance review process approved all three CTV creatives without significant changes. Adwave's AI creative tools produce spots that fit within standard professional services compliance frameworks for most jurisdictions.
Three things didn't go as planned, worth sharing:
Months 1-2 made the partners nervous. Direct attribution alone would have suggested the campaign was failing. The patience to wait for the cross-channel lift data was the most important non-creative decision the firm made.
The "You've worked hard for this" creative underperformed. The team had expected it to drive tax planning inquiries; in practice, it drove the weakest conversion signal. Pausing it and concentrating budget on the other two creatives produced better results.
The secondary office didn't perform as well as the main office. Geographic data revealed lower conversion in the secondary-office radius. The team narrowed targeting, which improved the campaign's per-inquiry economics but limited brand-building work for the second location. A larger budget may have allowed the firm to maintain both office areas at meaningful frequency; at $2,200/month, concentration was the right trade-off.
The firm has continued the campaign at $2,200/month CTV plus $300/month LinkedIn retargeting as a permanent line item. Plans for the next 12 months:
Maintain core campaign at current spend
Add a fourth creative variation focused on the firm's healthcare-power-of-attorney specialty (a growing area of demand)
Expand the secondary office's geographic targeting once the planned attorney hire is in place and the office can absorb additional volume
Test cable inventory in addition to CTV as a reach-extension layer for older clientele
The partners' summary, when asked what they wished they'd known going in: "We almost cut the campaign at month 3 because the cost-per-inquiry from direct attribution looked bad. The baseline measurement is what made the case to continue, and the second half produced 70% of the campaign's total value."
Is CTV worth it for small or solo professional services practices?
Yes, increasingly, with caveats. Subscription-tier CTV platforms have brought the channel into the $1,500-$2,500/month range, which fits many small practices. The key requirements are operating maturity (3+ years), a working website, established intake processes, and patience for 6-month measurement cycles. Solo practitioners can run CTV but should be prepared for longer ramp times than larger practices.
How does CTV compliance work for attorneys and financial advisors?
CTV creative is subject to the same advertising compliance rules as other forms of professional advertising in your jurisdiction. For attorneys, state bar rules govern advertising claims, testimonials, and disclaimers. For RIAs and broker-dealers, the SEC Marketing Rule and FINRA Rule 2210 apply. Most well-built CTV creative fits within these frameworks; compliance review should happen before launch, not as a workflow afterthought.
Should a professional services firm coordinate CTV with content marketing and speaking?
Yes. The Westridge case illustrates how CTV, content, and LinkedIn retargeting compound. A firm's content marketing builds the topical authority that converts CTV-driven curiosity; LinkedIn retargeting catches CTV-curious prospects who haven't yet acted. The combined coordination outperforms any single channel.
What's the most important creative decision for a professional services CTV campaign?
Featuring real attorneys, advisors, or partners on camera rather than generic professional imagery. Professional services are built on relationships and trust; TV creative that feels relational outperforms creative that feels corporate. Show the actual humans whose work the viewer is being asked to trust.
How quickly should a firm expect ROI on CTV?
For most professional services categories with long sales cycles, expect 3-6 months before clean ROI emerges. Direct attribution will undercount; pre/post baseline measurement reveals the full picture. First-year ROAS in the 3-5x range is typical for well-built campaigns; lifetime ROAS often runs 15-30x given the long client tenure professional services typically enjoy.
Can a firm run this kind of campaign without an agency?
Yes. Westridge self-served through Adwave for the CTV portion. The firm's marketing manager handled LinkedIn retargeting in-house. The combined cost without agency fees was meaningfully lower than the equivalent agency-managed program would have been, and the in-house team built measurement muscle that compounds over time.
Professional services firms growing fastest in 2026 don't run a single channel. They run a coordinated mix where content marketing builds expertise, LinkedIn drives professional networking, Google catches active research, referral networks deliver warm introductions, and CTV builds the household-level trust that lifts everything else.
If your firm has been operating for 3+ years, has working intake processes, and has $2,000+ in monthly ad spend you can sustain for a 6-month test, CTV deserves serious consideration as the next channel to add to your mix.
Ready to test what CTV can do for your firm's growth? Create your first ad with Adwave in about two minutes, target your service area, and start building your own pre-campaign baseline this week.
