Jennifer recently wrote an article for Virginia Lawyer's Weekly on marketing myths we've seen in our work with professional services firms.  Although it says "Lawyer" in the title, these myths are applicable to most businesses.  Therefore, we hope you find it useful. 

As marketing professionals, we tend to encounter a number of the same challenges within each firm.  While we acknowledge that each law firm and lawyer is unique, ultimately marketers are dispensing very similar advice and tactics.  We understand lawyers didn’t go to law school to sell or to market.  However, law firms are businesses and should be treated as such.  That being said, we’d like to debunk some of our favorite marketing myths. 

Myth 1:  Advertising is the only marketing you need.

As defined by the American Marketing Association, “Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”  Therefore, by definition, advertising is PART of marketing -  and should be used in support of an overall marketing plan.  As for an advertising strategy, generally speaking, a one-off ad is as useful as driving the down the street with a fist full of cash hanging out the window. 

Myth #2.  Doing good work is the only marketing you need.

While this myth is not 100% false, we’ll admit that all the marketing in the world won’t help you keep your clients unless you give them good work product.  Bad news travels faster than good news.  Obviously, you need to do good work and it takes more time to build a good reputation than a bad one.  Quality networking and becoming involved in leadership positions in organizations can help demonstrate your good work and spread the word, along with becoming a good resource to your colleagues, clients, family and friends. 

Myth #3.  You must have a brochure to take to a prospective client meeting.

Many attorneys use a brochure as a crutch.  What you need more than brochures for client meetings is preparation.  Research, questions and (most importantly) listening skills are what make or break a potential client meeting.  Before you meet, take the time to learn about the client’s background or business.  For companies, review their websites, know who their customers or clients are, identify industry issues they are facing, review news they have been included in or that affects them, and ask others within your firm and/or network if they know this prospect and what they know about them. 

Lawyers are trained to be good at asking questions.  Use these skills to your advantage, but don’t forget the importance of listening to the answers.  You may learn that they don’t need your help, you aren’t the right fit for them, or vice versa. 

Myth #4.  Associates and staff don’t need to know the firm’s vision.  They just need to get the work done.

Not only is this a myth, it’s one of the greatest falsehoods firms face today.  One of the greatest frustrations most firms face is “getting everyone on board”.  One of the greatest mysteries is why firms’ don’t communicate why everyone should be on board, and what for.  Communication is the key to absolutely any relationship.  It shouldn’t be any different in business. 

If you use adjectives like “collegial”, "autonomous" or “independent” to describe your firm culture, many times we find them to be code words for “poor communication”.  Communication prevents the firm from having autonomous attorneys who are basically sharing space or practice groups that are boutique firms within a firm.  Those are dangerous scenarios if a firm has a vision of being around for a while.

Myth #5.  A logo is the same thing as a brand.  You can create a firm brand without doing a strategic marketing plan.

This myth is both true AND false.  “A brand often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color schemes, symbols, sound which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and even personality” (definition provided by Wikipedia).  

It’s the last part of this definition that needs most attention.  Ideally, the initial phases of developing a strategic marketing plan include time to investigate, identify and determine the firm’s values and how it wants to be perceived in the market.  An internal SWOT  (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) meeting with attorneys and staff can aide in identifying the firm’s own view of itself.  To further enhance the investigation and to analyze if the firm’s view of itself is accurate, talk to firm clients and referral sources.  Ask them to describe their view and impression of the firm, what they know the firm’s reputation to be, along with identifying its strengths and weaknesses.  This is incredibly valuable information not only for developing the firm’s brand but also for developing the marketing and business development plan.    

Myth #6.  You can write a strategic marketing plan based solely on what you think the firm should be doing. 

This myth might be the easy way out, but it’s totally false.  As described in myth-buster #5, there is an investigative phase in developing a brand and also a marketing plan.  To develop a plan without analyzing the firm’s data is like sailing the open seas without a compass.  How do you know you are steering the ship in the right direction?  Critical pieces of data to be analyzed are realization and profitability.  Do you know what practice in your firm is the most profitable?  Do you know what practice has the most potential?  And how do those fit with current market trends, client needs and firm marketing budget? 

Myth #7:  Your firm’s differentiating factor is that you have good lawyers who do good work.

Unfortunately, this does not fall under the definition of “different”.  There are plenty of attorneys (and businesses in general) who do very good work for their clients.  Using “good work” as a differentiator is ineffective – at least until law firms start marketing themselves as being the “bad work” firm.    A differentiator can be a special niche practice or client service guarantee, i.e., responsiveness.  Laner Muchin guarantees to return all phone calls in two hours.  Now that’s different.

Myth #8:  If you do a client survey, you’ll have to do something with the information they give you.  Therefore, it’s better not to do one.

Talking to your clients is your greatest opportunity to better service, market and build business.  One of the top complaints from clients is that they don’t hear from their lawyers unless it’s billable.  There is so much to be gained from taking time to visit your client’s place of business (at no charge) to learn more about the operations and challenges.  As for client surveys, they work best as in-person interviews or, as second choice, over the phone.  And, yes, you have to do something with what you learn.  Every business has an area of improvement and it’s good to know what it is.  If the expectation of the client is unreasonable, you let them know you heard their request and explain why the firm cannot meet it.  At least they know you listened to them.  Honesty and communication:  that’s all anyone really wants anyway. 

Myth #9:  Electronic marketing tools are over-done and not effective.

Many lawyers think that no one has time to read e-newsletters anymore.  They’re half-right.  “No one” reads e-newsletters that aren’t targeted and directly interesting to those people receiving them.  E-mail marketing is still one of the most cost-effective and highly-targeted forms of marketing available.  EmailLabs.com has countless statistics on the effectiveness of strategic email-marketing and how the trend continues to grow.  One the great benefits of using email-marketing is the ability to analyze the return on investment.  You can review reports on what your readers are opening and what they aren’t.  Like any marketing campaign, if e-newsletters are not written properly, formatted properly, and most of all, targeted to their audience, they can be over-done and ineffective.  But it’s not a necessary failure. 

Additionally, blogs are becoming more prevalent as a means to enhance a firm’s or lawyer’s reputation as an “expert”.  Blogs make websites more relevant to visitors and search engines.   There are currently 1,286 legal-related blogs posted on www.blawg.com with 73% of them active.  RSS feeders help ensure their blogs are read.  Blogs are an excellent tool for differentiating and positioning.  In other words, another avenue for supporting your firm’s marketing and business development.  It’s also worth learning more about podcasting, which is emerging as another tool used to support a firm’s brand.  Technology levels the playing field, allowing small law firms to compete with large firms for brand recognition and clients. Just ask Thomas Friedman, author of “The World is Flat.” 

Myth #10:  You don’t need a marketing strategy to effectively use a PR professional.

Just as advertising is not marketing, neither is public relations.  PR is an aspect of marketing and can be incredibly valuable in getting the firm’s brand and expertise recognized.  With a well-defined marketing strategy and business development goals, you can incorporate PR as a tool to get the message out.  To do a PR campaign without a marketing plan is putting the cart before the horse. 

With many of these marketing strategies, it is easier to just dive in and start advertising, writing a blog, e-mail marketing, newsletter, website, PR, networking and so forth.  However, the effectiveness and return on investments (time and money) of these tactics are valuable when strategy is developed, implemented and tracked.

Lawyers and marketing professionals can learn more about effective marketing strategies and tactics by visiting www.legalmarketing.org and attending programs of the Legal Marketing Association Virginias Chapter (www.rhrlma.org).

Jennifer Yeager is Immediate Past-President of the Legal Marketing Association Virginias Chapter and Principal of Right Angle Consulting, LLC.  She can be reached at jennifer@rightangleconsulting.com.