The true cost of (not) marketing
We understand that most lawyers want to be lawyers, not law firm marketers. Time spent on marketing is costing you, say, $350 to $650 per hour that you could be charging to a client. But not marketing could be costing you more in missed opportunities. Prospective clients you never get.
So rather than seeing marketing as just another cost, try thinking about your marketing spend as a way to get the work you want. With today’s digital communication, it’s easy to focus your marketing and get great value out of your time and money.
Sculpt your marketing to get the work you want
Perhaps you think of marketing as a way to sell more legal services. Law firms that think like this tend to ramp up their marketing when things are quiet. Lawyers also tend to ignore their marketing when they are busy. After all, they don’t really need or want any more business then. However, a better way to think about marketing is to see it as a way to get the work you really want. Ideally, you should have a plan that continues in the background, regardless of your time commitments at any given point in time. You need an ongoing plan to bring in your ‘tomorrow’ work.
In a law firm, marketing needs to be viewed in the same way it is viewed in any other successful professional service firms: as a way to replace your worst client with a better one. If you’re not fixated on growing your business, view your marketing as a way to grow margins, not sales. Whatever your aim, your online marketing effort shouldn’t fluctuate in reaction to how busy you are. Instead, your law firm marketing needs to be like a watering system that comes on daily to feed and encourage new growth.
Why it’s smart to outsource some law firm marketing
However you view marketing, sometimes it’s smart to outsource these services just as you do other aspects of your business. Keeping up with technology can be difficult, luckily online marketing can easily be outsourced, freeing up your time to do more legal work. It also reduces your marketing workload, leaving you with relationship marketing, seminars, lunches and the like. So outsourcing can be a smart option to help manage your marketing costs and maintain a marketing strategy that generates revenue.
Lift Legal specialises in marketing for law firms, having previously built successful law firms of our own we understand the challenges you face in maximising your marketing spend, keeping your website relevant and up to date, managing your online content, producing your e-newsletters and handling your social media marketing. If you need any help we have legally qualified Australian writers on hand to produce your marketing content and experts to manage the process for you. We can even tailor a marketing plan to suit your firm. If you need any help or want to know more please feel free to call or email me.
