Wisconsin
Lawyer
Vol. 81, No. 6, June
2008
What Keeps You Awake at Night?
What Is the Best Way to Spend My Limited
Marketing Dollars?
I have no marketing expertise,
limited money and even less time, but I know I should bedoing something
to generate new business for my small firm. Should I put my money in
building a Web site, taking out ads in yellow pages or community papers,
joining local community groups, or doing something else entirely?
Sidebars:
Marketing Plans Vary by Firm
There is no "one size fits all" approach to effectively
market legal
services. As a small firm, consider the following practices:
1) Tailor your marketing efforts to support your firm's overall
growth strategy. Firms often neglect to develop a strategic plan and to
implement marketing initiatives to support the plan; instead they become
involved
in marketing opportunities as they arise. A plan will help the firm by
driving
the appropriate marketing and business development activities and
aligning
the employees so that attorneys and staff are striving for the same
goal.
2) Determine how the firm's current matters came in the door.
Most
firms will find the majority of new work comes from existing clients
with whom
the attorneys have strong relationships. So, such firms should use
marketing
initiatives that further enhance relationships with existing clients,
such as
survey programs, visits, entertainment, in-house seminars, and others.
For many
small law firms, referrals are the primary source of new business. An
effective
marketing program would target those referral sources and track the
referrals.
3) Define the firm's target client. Target clients vary from
firm to
firm. For example, when marketing an employment law practice, you might
target
marketing initiatives to the vice president or the director of human
resources.
An intellectual property boutique may target a company's chief patent
counsel. There also are variations based on the demographics of the
target
individual. When targeting owners of high tech companies, try employing
more
technology-oriented, cutting-edge marketing tactics, such as blogs,
podcasts,
and webinars. When marketing estate planning services to a more senior
target
audience, you might use more traditional forms of marketing, such as
newsletters and in-person seminars.
4) Develop an integrated marketing approach; no single marketing
effort will guarantee new work. It is important to keep your firm front
and center
in clients' minds so that your firm is thought of first when a legal
need
arises. One way is to develop an integrated plan allowing for consistent
communication over time. Employing a combination of activities targeting
the same
audience will increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. For
example,
a firm's plan for a year's worth of marketing may include a combination
of
the following initiatives: client plant tours, newsletters, development
of a
targeted Web page, speaking engagements, and trade association
participation.
5) Always follow up. Long-term planning provides a roadmap for
your
firm's future, and often, the fruits of marketing labors are realized
years after
an initiative took place. Track the development of new relationships
that
come about as a result of a marketing program. The benefit of one single
marketing initiative may not be realized monetarily or immediately, but
the contact
may prove critical to the development of business in the future.
- Jennifer Rupkey, Marketing Director, Michael Best &
Friedrich, Milwaukee
Practice Area Should Determine Marketing Strategy
Today, a law firm must have a Web site. While the Web site might not
funnel a career-sustaining amount of work to a firm, its absence can
reflect
negatively on a firm's attorneys. Expect that everyone (prospective
clients,
opposing counsel, or the government) will search for you online. A Web
site is a
good way to make a positive first impression. Fortunately, a Web site
can be
built to fit any budget.
Use of other marketing techniques depends largely on your
practice
area. Does your practice rely more on reputation or on relationships? To
build
your reputation, write articles, give speeches, or teach a class. Even a
print ad
in the phone book or an industry journal, if run long enough, will work
to
build your reputation. If relationships are key to building your
practice, get
involved in organizations and attend events that will put you in contact
with people (or their advisors) who need your services. Leadership
positions
are preferable because they can demonstrate your commitment to a
project. If
time constraints limit your leadership involvement, regular attendance
at an
organization's events can act as a good substitute.
In most situations, an attorney will need a combination of
strategies. Time and money will dictate how much you can do, and so you
should rely more
on those methods with which you are comfortable. In all circumstances,
make
sure you enjoy the marketing that you do.
- Robert B. Teuber, Weiss Berzowski Brady LLP, Milwaukee
Build Your Expertise and Name Recognition to Generate Referrals
Put your limited marketing dollars in the bank for something else,
like groceries or gas. The best way to generate new business is through
referrals from 1) satisfied clients and 2) other professionals.
So, instead of
frittering your time away thinking about Web sites, put in an extra
call to your
clients just to keep them up-to-date, and send a bill that shows you
didn't charge
them for the call. Join a State Bar section and get on the
program committee,
where you will volunteer to give a presentation or write an article on a
topic
you know lots about or would like to learn lots about. When
something happens
in your community that is relevant to the issues in your practice,
contact
the local newspaper and talk to a reporter about the situation, offering
to
give insight. Tell the reporter that if he or she ever has questions on
that
issue, you'd be happy to discuss them. These activities cost only your
time, and in
my experience the ratio of successful referrals for new business is
significantly greater from these sources than from Web sites, newspaper
ads, or yellow
pages.
- Carol J. Wessels, Nelson, Irvings & Waeffler S.C.,
Wauwatosa
Repeat a Coherent Message Over Many Communications Channels
Success depends on having a coherent message repeated over every
possible channel. For example, "Lakelaw represents people in
financial matters
from Milwaukee to Chicago and in the 7 Rivers Region" says a lot.
It tells
people our markets are southeast Wisconsin and the area around La
Crosse. It
tells people we are interstate. It tells people that we deal with
finances, but
not just bankruptcy, which happens to be our core competence.
We built a Web site, www.lakelaw.com, that showcases
our people, areas
of expertise, and practice areas. It has testimonials from satisfied
clients.
It provides resources. However, it is not enough. We also built a
specialty
Web site, www.krmbankruptcy.com. You can
find us on any search engine. We've
also built bridges to other attorneys in areas where we practice and
serve as
resources for them in their practices. They in turn have kindly referred
many
of their clients who can use our help in our areas of expertise.
We believe that public service is very important. For example,
work we
do in foreclosure defense through WHEDA and U.W. Extension pays big
dividends
for us in public relations. While public service is an end in itself,
providing this service helps build our reputation and good name. The
same can be said
for volunteer work my partner Jim McNeilly and I do in consumer
education. So
everything we do and say is designed to reinforce the message that
"Lakelaw
represents people in financial matters from Milwaukee to Chicago and in
the
7 Rivers Region."
Develop your own unique message based on your own unique
attributes,
repeat it everywhere you go, and reflect it in everything you do.
Demonstrate value. Demonstrate why you are distinct from your
competitors. You will
gain your own position in the marketplace and the respect of your peers
as well.
- David P. Leibowitz, Lakelaw/Kenosha, Kenosha
Wisconsin Lawyer