When putting together your law firm’s marketing plan as part of your business development and strategic planning efforts, don’t fall into the trap of simply doing what you did last year. Sure, that may be enough to keep the lights on for another year. But, don’t you want to achieve more for your firm?
If You’re Seeking Law Firm Growth, Answer These 10 Questions
Here are 10 questions to answer when creating your law firm’s marketing plan:
- How do clients currently find the firm (e.g. referrals, website and advertising)?
- Does your website look impressive or like it hasn’t updated it in five years?
- Would the firm benefit from expanding the content on your website to include blog posts, video and/or audio?
- Are you spending the right amount of dollars on attorney rankings and online directories?
- Are you comfortable and confident in the state of your current social media presence?
- How much individual networking should your lawyers be participating in, and is it enough?
- Do you encourage and reward cross-selling among lawyers in your firm?
- Do you encourage and reward participation in outside activities (e.g. community organizations, bar associations, etc.)?
- Are the charitable donations you make in the firm’s name going to the right organizations, and do they provide a marketing benefit?
- Are you delivering CLE and other presentations to the right audiences?
Your Options Are Endless, But Not Equal
Always remember the challenge with any marketing and business development activity is to get the biggest bang for both your buck and your time. It is true that, at a certain level, all conventional efforts to market a law firm’s practice “work.” But the goal within your firm’s strategic plan should be to have them “work” as efficiently and effectively as possible.