Managers and principals are great at practicing law but when it comes to advertising and marketing their law practice they tend to lose sight and succumb to competitive creative, advertising tactics and expenditures. In this short read, I discuss where many law firms stand with their marketing endeavors, measurable tactics and solutions to an advertising spend that can get out of hand. If you are the principal of a law firm or the managing partner of a firm, the duties of marketing and advertising the firm may be one of your areas of responsibility.
Here is a bit truth, you went to law school to practice law, not marketing and advertising. What is the first thing law firm partners or principals do? They hire an ad agency. When many of these firms hire an agency, they don’t share with the agency what success looks like for the firm. Is your firm looking for more cases? Better quality cases? Define exactly what you want to achieve from a marketing campaign so the agency can fully understand your goals.
Most larger law firms hire a specialty law firm that specializes in advertising for law firms. Hiring a specialty advertising agency has pros and cons.
A specialty agency would know legal terms and how to get a campaign underway.
Many specialty ad agencies provide a cookie-cutter approach. This is where the one size fits all approach comes into play. Ad campaigns begin to look the same as they do from the firm’s other clients. One reason the firms may provide a cookie-cutter approach is that they feel if it worked for firm A it can work for firm B.
Now the creative, the creative is one of the most important parts of any advertising campaign. The goal is to gain the attention of the viewer or listener so you can present your benefit on why you are the best law firm for their case. This is your time to differentiate yourself from others within your field. What makes your firm different? Hone in on this difference and emphasize why it makes you better. Pay attention to other legal advertisements and ones that catch your eye. Many blend into all the noise and do not differentiate themselves.
More money is not always the answer. Dumping your entire marketing budget into traditional and digital media without knowing what you are getting in return, is not beneficial and will end up with your firm losing money. Study data and analytics to see what you are getting in return.
Pay attention to the creative, strategy and budget going towards your advertising and marketing so you understand the results from every campaign.