Symes Bains Broomer (SBB) is a reputable law firm with offices located in Scunthorpe and Goole. They are an esteemed member of LawNet and offer a wide range of legal services to individuals and businesses across Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Locally, their business dates back as far as the 1790s. They have a fantastic team of over 50 staff members who have expertise in a range of fields, from junior to senior levels.
The Brief
Before coming to Consortium, SBB had a support staff member who juggled various marketing activities in her limited spare time. These responsibilities encompassed a range of crucial tasks, including managing the company’s social media presence, optimising their online visibility through SEO efforts, and even exploring potential sponsorship opportunities. However, the inherent challenges of a fast-paced and demanding legal environment frequently resulted in these marketing efforts being sidelined and receiving less attention than they required. All four partners within the firm expressed a shared desire to enhance their digital presence. However, without the resources of a dedicated marketing team, they had been unable to move this ambition forward.
Consequently, SBB faced challenges in formulating a cohesive marketing strategy that aligned all their efforts and tactics to their goals and objectives. They had struggled to carve out dedicated time for a collective assessment of which marketing activities would propel the firm forward. This lack of strategy made it difficult for them to maintain a consistent creative focus and effectively steer their marketing initiatives toward the appropriate target audience.
At the time they reached out to Consortium, SBB had just inaugurated a freshly renovated office in Goole. Despite already providing services to a small yet dedicated clientele in the region, they had established a definitive goal from the outset of our collaboration: to significantly enhance the reach and prominence of their Goole office.
Another significant objective of the firm was to increase the level of exposure and amount of business their conveyancing and family law departments received.
SBB provides a diverse range of services to both businesses and individuals. While numerous approaches could be taken to achieve this goal, SBB lacked prior marketing expertise to pinpoint the most effective strategies for success. Expanding the conveyancing and family law departments was a crucial milestone for SBB, as it represented a pivotal opportunity to serve a wider clientele and solidify their presence in North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire
The Approach
Right from the outset, we acknowledged the demanding nature of SBB’s operations, and we recognised the vital importance of seamlessly integrating into their team. At Consortium, we take pride in nurturing positive client relationships, and establishing a high level of trust with SBB was pivotal. This trust served as the foundation for more efficient and streamlined marketing processes. As we are based on the South Coast, and SBB are based in Scunthorpe, communication truly was key. We set up monthly meetings to ensure that all marketing progress was smoothly progressing and even managed to visit their offices in Scunthorpe and Goole twice. Having face-to-face meetings was greatly beneficial to all involved as it hugely improved our dynamic positive working relationship which in turn boosted the efficiency of the marketing activity.
Our ultimate goal was to simplify and de-stress SBB’s experience, allowing them to direct their full attention towards serving their clients and advancing their firm internally. Meanwhile, we took on the responsibility of digitally expanding their business, effectively handling the intricacies of online growth. We take pride in having allowed their team to focus on their work with peace of mind knowing that their firm’s marketing is being strategically managed.
We began our working relationship with a presentation where we went through a detailed marketing strategy which would tackle all SBB’s goals, as well as how to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. With this came an action plan where we went in depth with the exact marketing activities that we would be carrying out with a timeline.
Prior to our collaboration, their social media accounts suffered from irregular posting, resulting in low engagement levels from both their audience and staff. Recognising the need for a strategic turnaround, we understood that the initial step to address this challenge was to establish a consistent posting schedule across all their social media platforms. We addressed this with new social media graphics, a new formal yet friendly tone of voice and set days and times when the posts would be published. We would consistently post 3 times a week on their accounts, and in the first 6 months of posting, their key messages would be heavily tailored around their family and residential departments. As their online presence began to grow, this gained valuable exposure to the two areas of the firm that needed the most attention. Similarly to this, Consortium also set up, created and designed monthly emails that were sent to staff and external contacts that required little input from SBB. In all communications, we ensured to drive focus towards the two focus departments alongside the new Goole office.
We wanted to ensure that the team were capable of building on this success, so Lara Squires delivered two training sessions for the whole team in order to upskill the staff on LinkedIn, and networking. Managing Partner Rodger Price had recognised that “ I don’t think we network well/at all as individuals”. We know how powerful networking can be and following this training, many members of the team have been out networking with the local community. The firm is now a member of two networking groups in their local area which a partner regularly attends.
In addition to this, we also helped SBB host their own ‘retox’ networking event at their new Goole office which was a success and gave the new office great exposure. We handled creating the invites, inviting guests and following up in order to make this process as easy as possible for SBB.
As time went on, and the online presence began to grow, this allowed us to divert marketing efforts into other important areas such as sponsorship, charity efforts and events. For example, SBB has sponsored many events such as the inaugural Scunthorpe Pride, Agriculture shows and local sports events. Organising and managing this can often be rather time-consuming, so we took ownership of liaising with different companies and venues in order to take this hefty job off SBB’s plate.
The Outcome
The marketing that we have provided Symes Bains Broomer with has taken huge strides towards achieving their original goals. They have a much improved online presence, with regular social media posts and their LinkedIn following has increased by more than 40%. The firm now has a much more tailored direct marketing strategy with tactics they will be able to take forward with or without Consortium. Their Goole office now has a larger client base as well as the two focus departments generating much more business for the firm.
Furthermore, Symes Bains Broomer has now implemented a consistent email communication strategy that extends to their employees, clients, prospects, and an external database. Before partnering with us, they sporadically sent emails, lacking a structured approach that maximises effectiveness, once again, due to their lack of time. We were on hand to assist SBB in uploading a large external list to their database. The legal sector has an average open rate of a mere 22%. Through our joint efforts, we’ve achieved remarkable results, with SBB’s external communication open rates to an impressive range of 40-64%. Additionally, we’ve created numerous engaging campaigns for both their clients and staff, receiving positive feedback. Such marketing initiatives demand significant time and effort, a precious resource that a rapidly expanding law firm often finds scarce when it comes to crafting strategic and innovative campaigns.
Consortium successfully provided Symes Bain Broomer with a strategic plan to steer their business confidently into the future with a clear sense of purpose.
Our extensive efforts to improve their online presence also resulted in an improvement in their website statistics. For example, within just 9 months of working together, we managed to increase the time users were spending on their website by 10.67%. This was due to engaging social media posts and relevant blogs which we had been uploading. Also within this period, the website traffic from their social media profiles had increased by a massive 222.92%. This truly highlights how important consistent, engaging social media content can be.
Another remarkable achievement we attained together was our success in major awards ceremonies. Creating an awards submission is incredibly time-consuming and requires hours of focus. Naturally, SBB did not have hours, so we were on hand to assist with these, staying in regular communication with them to ensure that the process was smooth and efficient. Early in 2023, SBB was shortlisted in 3 categories at the Goole and Howdenshire Business Excellence Awards. Following this, we worked collaboratively with SBB to submit an award-winning entry into the first-ever Modern Law Private Client Awards. One of their paralegals was nominated in the ‘Best Paralegal’ category and emerged as the winner on an eventful night.
Fiona Jackson and Will Gordon of Consortium more than marketing had this to say:
“We were thrilled to collaborate with an exceptional law firm and a wonderful group of individuals. From the very start, we forged a strong working relationship and were treated as part of their team. Delivering marketing services to SBB with the aim of fostering team cohesion, expanding their digital presence, and ultimately driving business growth is a source of pride for our team. We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the process.”
Carli Neal, Office Manager at Symes Bains Broomer had this to say:
“Thank you to the Consortium team and their exceptional support in marketing our firm, Symes Bains Broomer. From day one, their expertise and dedication have truly transformed our marketing strategies. Their innovative ideas and creative campaigns have significantly boosted our online presence and brand visibility.
Consortium’s team goes above and beyond, tailoring strategies to suit our unique needs. Their proactive communication and responsiveness are outstanding, making every collaboration seamless and enjoyable. Thanks to Consortium, our brand recognition and reputation has soared. We wholeheartedly recommend Consortium to any business seeking top-tier marketing solutions. Their professionalism and results speak volumes about their commitment to client success.”
We can help you too
If you are looking to boost your firm’s marketing and build your brand, please do get in touch. Email Lara or call 01903 530787.