Marketing A Law Firm: Setting The Bar High
May 3, 2016
Publications
Before the information explosion ignited by the Internet, marketing a law firm was the “Field of Dreams” of advertising: build your reputation and they will come.
Being an outstanding lawyer – and maybe hanging your shingle in a high-traffic area — was virtually all you needed to attract business. An ad in the Yellow Pages amplified your visibility. But for the most part, your reputation spoke for itself.
Not today. In this hyper-connected, 24-7 world, steeped in ever-changing visual stimulation, no business can become comfortable in the notion that “everyone knows us.”
More than 30 percent of today’s population was born into a world where the Internet was a constant companion. The “noise” of the digital universe can be deafening, so companies must find a way to not just join the symphony, but rise above it.
For law firms, it is a far cry from the pre-1970 days, when the American Bar Association considered lawyer advertising to be “unprofessional” and casting a “negative light” on a highly respected profession. My predecessors in the 1960s and 1970s rarely ever had to think about legal marketing. But an Arizona court decision opened the door to legal advertising in 1977, at first spawning a wave of hard-sell TV ads and introducing esoteric words like “mesothelioma” into our everyday lexicon.
Fast forward to today, where McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC recently overhauled our website. For a firm like ours, which competes in many markets throughout the country, a website is a pivotal marketing vehicle.
The need to “show’’ and not just “tell”
But a law firm or any company that thinks they can just post random content and be done is making a big mistake.
Successful websites must be a destination that provides useful and important information. Firms must “show” not just “tell” why their attorneys are the best ones for your case. Just listing specialty areas in stagnant bulleted form, with clip art of the scales of justice, is not enough. Rising above the digital clutter means a steady flow of original material that includes publications, podcasts, useful advice and links to other practical articles.
Keep in mind that no matter what your business, one of the first things a potential customer or client will do after hearing your name will be looking for your website to find out more. Think of your website as the 21st century version of your “elevator pitch’’ – a convincing case why you are deserving of their trust.
Even a firm’s web address needs careful consideration. In our case, we realized that many people outside central Pennsylvania may not know that McNees is a law firm – and that our “www.mwn.com’’ address didn’t help.
With this in mind, we now have a new address — www.mcneeslaw.com. We realized that with offices in Columbus, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and throughout Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Lancaster, Scranton and State College) that an instant mental connection to the law was vital.
Marketing in a 24/7 world
In our highly interconnected world, marketing cannot be an afterthought or an occasional experience. At McNees, we recently brought on a C-level officer who focuses on crafting our around-the-clock digital presence and reputation in the community.
Our lawyers think daily about not just how to market the firm to external audiences but even internally to other attorneys within the firm.
Some experts suggest spending as much as 2.5 percent of gross revenues on marketing. I’ve seen first-hand the benefits of smart marketing that informs.
One international engineering firm found McNees by doing an extensive Internet search in its quest to find a multi-disciplinary law firm to address a multitude of issues associated with a major power plan retrofit and upgrade. The firm discovered that McNees lawyers have not only the legal expertise, but the local relationships they needed to complete the project. Both firms emerged as winners, thanks to our online presence.
In the new millennium, you must speak for yourself to a worldwide audience, using all means of traditional and new media available to you—from print, TV, and radio advertising and news content to a corporate website, LinkedIn, Facebook page, YouTube channel, internet blogs, and Twitter.
Because in the highly competitive and hyper-connected atmosphere that is today’s marketplace, if you are not looking ahead, acting digitally, and thinking globally, you are falling behind.
David M. Kleppinger is Chairman of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC and is a member of the firm’s Energy and Environmental Group. He can be reached at 717-237-5214 or dkleppinger@mcneeslaw.com
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McNees is a full-service law firm based in central Pennsylvania with more than 130 attorneys representing corporations, associations, institutions and individuals. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Harrisburg, Lancaster, State College and Scranton, PA; Columbus, OH; and Washington, D.C. McNees is also a member of the ALFA International Global Legal Network. www.mcneeslaw.com | @McNeeslaw | LinkedIn
