Brisbane Legal
Law firms are like any other company out there, they need customers. But
without a heritage of marketing due to previous restrictions, it's an industry
still coming to grips with the most effective and appropriate ways to attract
clients.
A lack of experience or even reticence about marketing shouldn't stop law firms embracing marketing as a powerful way of shaping the future of their company.
When you plan a marketing strategy, you are effectively setting out the future direction of your firm. From the type of customers you want to attract to the type of work you want to do. Thinking about marketing means you're thinking about your business strategy. Do you want to attract one-off workers compensation cases, or do you prefer the potential life time value of a client you met when she was purchasing her first investment property? Perhaps you're interested in working on criminal cases, rather than in corporate law, or maybe you like to mix it up. No matter who your target market is, you can reach them with smart marketing.
Marketing is not only useful for attracting new clients, it can also help you retain them and even attract new high flying staff. Nobody wants to work for a nobody, firms with well respected brands attract a higher calibre of colleagues.
So how do you go about achieving a well respected brand? You first need to define your company's key positioning. You basically need to answer the question: "How does our firm wish to be perceived in the marketplace?". How are we going to be different from our competitors?
For instance, in Banking, all banks provide the same service but their profile in the market is very different. Westpac is known as the environmentally conscious bank, and supports women in the workplace. St George is the friendly bank. Bendigo Bank is trying to corner the Green market.
Does your firm want to be known as approachable or formidable, a great all rounder or a single-minded master? It all comes down to who you want as your target market. You then need to take the time to understand that target market and then speak into their listening.
It is only when you know your positioning and target market that you move to the next step of deciding which medium to communicate through. If you're targeting women, the sports pages of the daily newspaper won't give you value. If you're trying to reach managing directors, you might prefer to invest in PR or sponsor an interesting event in conjunction with direct mail. If it's first home buyers you're interested in, real estate websites might be useful.
One of the biggest challenges for law firms is to gain people's trust. Be open, available, friendly, truthful and use plain English in your marketing. Steer clear of any projects that will be perceived negatively by your target market and tarnish your reputation.
Advertising might not even be right for your firm, but there are many other subtle marketing opportunities you can explore to ensure your firm is front of mind with your target audience.
Written by Jane Toohey, Marketing Angels. Marketing Angels, are a marketing consultancy company 'delivering marketing that works' for small to medium enterprises. They have offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For more information visit www.marketingangels.com.au
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One example of a Qld firm enjoying marketing success is Trilby Misso, they've done extremely well through their marketing strategies and several takeovers of small suburban firms.
Their positioning is "The right people to have on your side. Because we care". Trilby Misso really changed the PI environment in Qld by firming up the concept of legal fees being paid through a winning case. They position themselves to the public as "your local lawyer" by having suburban shop fronts and specialising in PI, workplace accidents and estate law rather than a much wider gambit of legal services. The thing here is, they defined their market and stick to communicating in the right way to that market.
A lack of experience or even reticence about marketing shouldn't stop law firms embracing marketing as a powerful way of shaping the future of their company.
When you plan a marketing strategy, you are effectively setting out the future direction of your firm. From the type of customers you want to attract to the type of work you want to do. Thinking about marketing means you're thinking about your business strategy. Do you want to attract one-off workers compensation cases, or do you prefer the potential life time value of a client you met when she was purchasing her first investment property? Perhaps you're interested in working on criminal cases, rather than in corporate law, or maybe you like to mix it up. No matter who your target market is, you can reach them with smart marketing.
Marketing is not only useful for attracting new clients, it can also help you retain them and even attract new high flying staff. Nobody wants to work for a nobody, firms with well respected brands attract a higher calibre of colleagues.
So how do you go about achieving a well respected brand? You first need to define your company's key positioning. You basically need to answer the question: "How does our firm wish to be perceived in the marketplace?". How are we going to be different from our competitors?
For instance, in Banking, all banks provide the same service but their profile in the market is very different. Westpac is known as the environmentally conscious bank, and supports women in the workplace. St George is the friendly bank. Bendigo Bank is trying to corner the Green market.
Does your firm want to be known as approachable or formidable, a great all rounder or a single-minded master? It all comes down to who you want as your target market. You then need to take the time to understand that target market and then speak into their listening.
It is only when you know your positioning and target market that you move to the next step of deciding which medium to communicate through. If you're targeting women, the sports pages of the daily newspaper won't give you value. If you're trying to reach managing directors, you might prefer to invest in PR or sponsor an interesting event in conjunction with direct mail. If it's first home buyers you're interested in, real estate websites might be useful.
One of the biggest challenges for law firms is to gain people's trust. Be open, available, friendly, truthful and use plain English in your marketing. Steer clear of any projects that will be perceived negatively by your target market and tarnish your reputation.
Advertising might not even be right for your firm, but there are many other subtle marketing opportunities you can explore to ensure your firm is front of mind with your target audience.
Written by Jane Toohey, Marketing Angels. Marketing Angels, are a marketing consultancy company 'delivering marketing that works' for small to medium enterprises. They have offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For more information visit www.marketingangels.com.au
PRINTED AS SIDEBAR
One example of a Qld firm enjoying marketing success is Trilby Misso, they've done extremely well through their marketing strategies and several takeovers of small suburban firms.
Their positioning is "The right people to have on your side. Because we care". Trilby Misso really changed the PI environment in Qld by firming up the concept of legal fees being paid through a winning case. They position themselves to the public as "your local lawyer" by having suburban shop fronts and specialising in PI, workplace accidents and estate law rather than a much wider gambit of legal services. The thing here is, they defined their market and stick to communicating in the right way to that market.