Content Marketing Dominates Effective Law Marketing Tactics

In a recent conversation with a law firm, they observed that the publishing output from their 100+ attorneys was pathetic. About 30 articles had been published over the course of 2011. That would be roughly one article for every 3+ attorneys.  At the same time, they also showed us appealing new marketing collateral they had produced to promote an industry focus. No content and a new brochure. Was this firm, I wondered, putting its emphasis on the right tactics?

Law marketing consultant Altman Weil has been conducting their Chief Legal Officer Survey annually since 2000 and most recently in October 2011.  The survey provides great insight into corporate law departments. What caught my eye was their investigation of the effectiveness of law firm marketing.  The specific question asked was, “Please rate the following law firm marketing efforts based on how effective they are in getting a new law firm on your radar screen. “

Two actionable facts stood out from the responses to this survey:

1)   Unsurprisingly, the most effective law marketing is highly personal and includes:

• Spending time to understand the prospect’s/client’s business
• Being recommended or referred

2)   Good content ranks among most effective tactics and included:

• Free seminars, webinars, CLE
• Written material demonstrating legal expertise

Brochures, like the one my friends at their law firm showed me, and even website content trailed distantly behind these top two tactics.

Nothing will ever surpass the marketing value of a personal referral from a trusted source or a steady handshake accompanied by eyeball2eyeball conversation about a client’s business. But clearly, generating great useful content that demonstrates competence trumps any effort to merely claim it.

View the Altman Weil survey here >>