Law firm marketing and business development are trendy topics but not all advice offered carries equal weight. All too often, media outlets drop terms to earn your clicks without investing any real research into their recommendations. The following list is different. Every one of the tips outlined is backed by data and decades of experience. If you truly want to level up your law firm’s business development and marketing game, read on.
1. Build a Brand
While this may seem so obvious that it need not appear on this list, the number of firms doing this wrong means it deserves mention. Branding is not business cards and a costly logo. It is identifying your unique selling proposition (USP) and building your firm’s image in its service (across all platforms).
2. Think Mobile-First
If there were ever a shortcut to business development for lawyers, this is it. Why? Because if you don’t yet have an accelerated mobile page (AMP) website and mobile-first marketing strategy, you’re behind in a big way. Make this simple change and you immediately distinguish yourself from firms who are teetering on the edge of internet oblivion. After all, not only do half of users say that a poorly-performing mobile website reflects negatively on a business, Google’s own algorithm favors AMP pages.
3. Know Your ROI Numbers
Here’s a promise: if you don’t know your return on investment (ROI) numbers, you’re wasting money. Without accurate data on the direct results of each law firm business development initiative you undertake, you can’t know what’s working and what isn’t. Not only does this mean dollars lost, but it also means you’re nowhere near the competitive cutting edge.
4. Go Client-Focused
One popular (and lethal) misconception is that marketing is all about getting attention. On the contrary, the most successful campaigns often center giving attention or showcasing that you understand and have strategies to resolve complex client problems. Nurturing a client-centered approach not only brings people through the door, but it keeps them coming back. After all, there are few feelings more powerful than that of being understood.
5. Differentiate Law Firm Marketing and Business Development
Marketing and business development are not the same things. The former is your firm’s public face; the latter is the supporting infrastructure. Neither can work without the other but this doesn’t mean a marketing specialist can build a robust business development strategy or vice versa. Each requires a different skillset, and it is worth bringing both specialists to your team.
Distilling this list down to five top tips has been a fraught exercise. The importance of credibility and authority could have just as well been on there. So too could the value of an effective SEO campaign. Video marketing may have also made the cut and yet getting into all of this would require a book, not a blog post.
For more on law firm business development and for insight into the many important elements not addressed here, do not hesitate to book a call with me today.
