Why Every Law Firm Needs a Marketing Plan
A marketing strategy is essential for all law firms, no matter what size, to ensure that marketing efforts align with the business objectives of the firm and effectively contribute towards achieving them. The strategy will include goals, tactics and metrics designed to achieve specific objectives such as increased brand visibility, client enquiries and revenue growth. Without a plan, marketing very quickly becomes reactive and inconsistent, and consequently, ineffective.
The strategy process is invaluable in helping define the unique value and expertise of your firm and building a distinct brand that attracts your ideal clients and sets you apart from competitors.
An effective strategy also provides clear direction and focus for the team. It ensures that you allocate resources effectively, have clarity on your core messaging, and who your ideal client is and where to best reach them. Importantly, it outlines what will be measured and how to guarantee a return on your investment as well as bring accountability to the team.
If your marketing strategy hasn’t been reviewed in a while, or you are concerned that your marketing efforts might not be working, here are 7 tell-tale signs that your law firm needs to review its marketing strategy.
What Happens If You Don’t Have a Marketing Strategy
Without a marketing strategy in place, law firms risk inconsistent messaging, wasted budget and resources, and missed opportunities.
If you are not clear on the marketing objectives for your law firm, you risk doing a lot of costly promotion that is not targeting the right people, in the right place, with the right message!
Marketing without a strategy tends to be reactive, inconsistent and untargeted. This leads to poor engagement and fewer enquiries. Results are therefore difficult to measure, and the lack of data further amplifies the scattergun approach.
No matter how talented the team, the lack of direction can also lead to frustration and stifle growth.
Start With Clear Business Goals
The first step in creating a marketing strategy is to define clear and measurable marketing goals. These goals should align with the overall business objectives and with what really matters to the firm. This could be growth, retention, profitability, or visibility in a new location or practice area, for example.
Establishing how the marketing objectives will help meet the broader objectives of the firm gives the strategy meaning, focus and consistency of approach.
Understand Your Ideal Client and Their Journey
Knowing your ideal client is crucial to a successful marketing strategy. Who is your ideal client? What makes them your ideal client? What are their characteristics, age, gender, income, location, interests, or needs?
By identifying your ideal client, law firms can significantly improve the effectiveness of marketing strategies and achieve better results by tailoring messaging and using the most effective channels efficiently to reach them.
You can take this further by developing client personas. Identifying the pain points and motivations of the client and understanding the journey they go through from awareness to enquiry (and beyond) will help to create more effective marketing strategies and better client engagement, ultimately leading to increased enquiries and client satisfaction.
Choose the Right Channels (and Don’t Try to Do Everything)
Once you understand your ideal client, their persona and client journey, you will know the best places to reach them. Don’t waste resources, time and effort on channels that will not be effective. Focus on the channels that they regularly use and trust, and adapt and tailor your content to suit. These can include social media, email marketing, local advertising, events, sponsorships and partnerships.
A focused and consistent approach on 2 or 3 channels will be more effective and have a greater impact than sporadically sharing content across too many.
You also need to consider the budget available and capacity of your team – use it wisely to make the greatest impact and gain optimum results without over-stretching.
Review, Refine and Repeat
A marketer’s work is never done!
What is working and what isn’t? Why do you think that is? How could you improve it?
Having measurable objectives and tactics means that you can continually review and refine the strategy to make it as effective as possible. The best strategies are flexible, and having data to support and inform your decisions is invaluable and helps shape future campaigns and strategies.
Marketing isn’t one-and-done – it’s a rhythm that supports long-term success.
Take the Guesswork Out of Law Firm Marketing
We help law firms across the UK build tailored marketing strategies that actually drive results. Whether you’re starting from scratch or want a second pair of eyes on your current plan, we can help you focus on what matters most. Contact us to find out more.