Failing to plan is planning to fail. This proverb is often attributed to either Benjamin Franklin, Alan Lakein, Churchill, or some other famous historical figure. Although the exact owner may never be identified, the proverb is incredibly true. This wisdom can be applied to almost any area of life, including marketing for a law firm.
When lawyers decide to go to law school very few made that decision because they were really excited about doing marketing for their law firm. Lawyers want to be lawyers so they can litigate and mediate.
In the good old days all a lawyer had to do for marketing is have a halfway decent website, pay for the biggest Yellow Pages ad they could afford, and do a TV or radio spot if they were really big time. A lawyer can have their own law firm website design.
Much to the chagrin of lawyers across the country, this old bag of tricks doesn’t cut it anymore. Thanks to the rise of the internet, phone books are nothing but glorified paperweights and potential clients have incredibly high expectations for every website they visit. Clients want to be dazzled and informed all at the same time.
So what does all this mean? The main take away is that attorneys are no longer exempt from wearing the marketing hat. Every firm, no matter the size, needs to have a game plan for marketing.
This plan doesn’t need to have elaborate flow charts and eloquent mission statements, it just needs to exist. Every plan will be different because every firm has different needs, but all firms should at least consider the following:
- Defining the target audience
- Branding
- Investing in a high quality website
- SEO
- Media mix
- Social media
- Email marketing
Obviously, there are endless options for marketing, and this list isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a good start. Taking the time to develop a marketing plan probably isn’t the reason lawyers become lawyers, but it’s a necessary step if lawyers want to be successful lawyers.
