Archive for the ‘Law Firm Marketing’ Category

2 Steps to Maximize Case Generation

Everyone who advertises knows that the key challenge is getting your branded message to the right audience.  For example, if yours is a personal injury firm, you want to target the demographic that books the most miles driving.  Further, you want to focus on those most likely to select an attorney based on what they see on TV. Makes sense, right?

The vast range of network and cable television channels makes pinpointing television ads to the right demographic far more possible than in the past.  “To be effective, no longer do TV ads have to run during major events like the Super Bowl, because they can be placed and timed to address a smaller set of more targeted viewers.”  says RecruitmentADvisor, an expert in today’s digital media.

That does not mean to forgo online advertising.  Just the opposite. “Combine the broad reach of television with the targeted reach of websites, and the result is usually more effective marketing,” explains RecruitmentADvisor.

Q Media Research has been studying the tandem impact of television and online ads for several years.  Among other things, they have found:

  • “Using TV and online together results in 47% more positivity about a brand than using either in isolation.”
  • “The likelihood of buying or using a product increases by more than 50% when TV and online are used together.”
  • 48% of the sample group watched broadcast TV while online, most days.”
  • “Two-thirds of this group have watched TV via online providers, primarily as a way to catch-up with broadcast TV and mainly from TV broadcasters’ websites.”
  • “Both TV and the internet are used for entertainment (TV, 80%; online 56%) and both have a significant influence on driving purchase (75% and 52%).”

Market Masters–Legal understands the tandem balance of targeted TV and online advertising for legal professionals.  Because of the enhanced visual element of large flat screens and such, they also understand the power of bringing popular, trusted television and film celebrities to the screen – many from beloved television series – by integrating them into the attorney’s marketing strategy.  Robert Vaughn, William Shatner, Judge Joe Brown, and Harry Hamlin (among others) are only several of the many popular, influential spokesmen and spokeswomen that we make available to our clients.

Americans love television, and they love learning about professionals located in their community whom they can trust and get to know.  We harness that trust for our clients via compelling, professional advertising campaigns that both build your brand as a professional attorney or firm and produce demonstrable results.

Spend your time on your clients, while we keep your phone ringing and email inbox dinging.  We invite you to give us the opportunity to prove our effectiveness – and the unbeatable power of television advertising – with a low cost trial period.  It’s a small risk, well worth taking.

 

Rhymes with App?

Are mobile apps for law firms worthwhile?  You know, ones that people have on their phones so that in case they are in an accident they can have some basic “do’s and don’ts” and can get to you right away.  I have been asked that question several times recently.  The notion that the general public will seek out and add an app that they do not currently need and may never need is counter to what the app market is all about.  People love apps that they use all the time, not one that just sits there.  So, from the standpoint of voluminous downloads leading to direct business, well, the word I have in mind rhymes with “app”.
BUT, that is not the end of the story.  Thanks to a recent email communication I was Cc’d on, I can see how it can be of benefit.  I changed the names (you will see that they are very creative), but the exchange went something like this:
Lawyer 1: Check out our latest innovation.  An app for iPhones and Androids.
Lawyer 2: Yeah.  Get back to me in a few months and let me know if anyone actually uses it.
Lawyer 1:  You are missing the point. I don’t expect to get ANY business from App.  The point is that it makes us look like leaders in law firm technology.  And, it is a “factor” in further differentiating our law firm from almost any other business, let alone law firm, in our market.  And, to the younger clients, it makes us look “cool and hip.” If we generate even only one case, I will have exceeded my expectations by infinity, but that is most definitely not the reason that we went ahead with this.
From his perspective, Lawyer 1 cannot lose.  I think he has a point.  Let me add one more.  Offering a free app to your new and existing clients makes a lot of sense.  They have a relationship with the firm and the value of having it on their phones for future use can be explained to them.  I suspect most would get it.
If you have an app, let me know how it is going for you.  Click Here

A Sketchy Lawsuit?

You know those toning shoes with the curved bottoms that are supposed to help your physique? Well, maybe that is not all they do. Skechers Shape-ups are the subject of a recent lawsuit according to ABC News. There are certainly quite a few people using these shoes. Heck, I have a pair. We will have to keep an eye on this to see if it becomes a mass tort opportunity that has any “legs” (sorry).

The QuickStrike™ program at Market Masters-Legal gives our licensees a real edge when it comes to advertising for mass tort cases on TV.

Faces Of Fear?

At the health club I belong to there are banks of TV’s suspended from the ceiling for viewing while sweating away on every different type of cardio machine known to man. I often use my lunch break to exercise and it is not uncommon to see TV ads for lawyers appear on one or more of the screens at any given time. Nothing remarkable about that. This past week, though, something caught my attention and got me thinking. It was an ad, cleverly disguised as a public service announcement, with a clear negative message targeting your profession.

The “ad” shows an indoor basketball court with a bunch of kids shooting baskets and a young woman on camera narrating. She talks about how she used to work with children in a facility just like this until it was sued and forced to close. While she is talking, the youngsters disappear from the screen one by one. Her message, “stop frivolous lawsuits”. Of course, no details of the case were presented, only a plea to visit www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org .

Who is backing this? A very credible sounding organization known as The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform (which has its own website www.instituteforlegalreform.com ) .  Who is really backing it? No way of knowing for certain, but it is not hard to speculate. That is less important than the fact that this concerted and organized effort is out there feeding the fears of the uninformed in an effort to manipulate their support to not do business with you. What can you do about it? Keep your strong positive empowering TV commercials on and pervasive. Discuss with your local, state and national Bar associations, especially the American Association of Justice to develop strategies to counter these messages. Don’t wait. This is not going away anytime soon.

KISS or MISS?

Keep It Simple Stupid” or “Make It Super Sophisticated”?

My latest travels took me to visit with our licensees in Columbia, SC.  Frankly, it was long overdue, but I was welcomed warmly and enjoyed their true southern hospitality.  One of the most important things they wanted to accomplish was for me to see, first hand, the primary potential client base from which they need to draw in order to be successful.   So, they loaded me into their car and took me to Pig On The Ridge, an annual barbecue competition that draws from all around.  It gave me an opportunity to see, meet and speak with many good people that comprise what they consider to be their target demographic.  The point of this (beyond enjoying barbecue and my first taste of boiled peanuts) was that we all can get caught up in trying to look and be as sophisticated as possible in what we say and do as law firms.  It is natural to want to be impressive.  However, our licensees in Columbia correctly recognize the critical importance of communicating to their clientele on their level in a manner that they will best receive it.

The late American journalist, H.L. Mencken once said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”  I suppose that his intention is open to debate.  But one interpretation can certainly be that keeping it simple and direct, while still being impactful, is never a bad strategy.  In fact, it is the best strategy.  Nothing puts you in a better position to do that than the TV commercials produced by Market Masters-Legal …Period.  How is that for simple and direct?

Hidden Fans of Your TV Ads?

Insurance Adjusters.

I just received a great email from one of our licensees.

“Yesterday I ran into an adjuster from an old client of ours, (name of company).  It was (name) and (name) may remember him.  He told me our TV ads were the best of any of the law firms.”

You know what?  This actually happens all the time.  Adjusters tell our licensees that they really like the TV commercials that we produce for them, and that they think they are the best ones they have seen.

No argument here.

Does This Advertising Strategy Still Work?

I just read an interesting recent article in Advertising Age that discussed the question of whether using celebrities in marketing was still viable in the “Era of Social Media”.  The overall conclusion was – yes.

“We receive more than 3,000 commercial images a day; our subconscious absorbs more than 150 images and roughly 30 reach our conscious mind………..if you use a (celebrity) strategy, you dramatically accelerate the potential for your brand to reach the conscious mind of the consumer.”

“….(it) has the power to instigate and inspire, enlighten and enrage, entertain and edify the consumer. Its inherent benefits are that it can be leveraged across multiple channel experiences (and potentially services), cuts through advertising clutter, creates a brand narrative and allows for channel-specific optimization. Ultimately, (it) is always worth investing in if you have the right person.”

Market Masters-Legal provides law firms with the opportunity to utilize the considerable spokesperson talents of William Shatner and Robert Vaughn in custom-filmed, market-exclusive multi-media campaigns.  Although far from the only elements of our creative that enable our licensees to regularly dominate their markets, they are critical components to their success.

A Dangerous Assumption For Any Law Firm?

“Everyone knows us.”

I shouldn’t be surprised when I hear this from an attorney at a well established firm that advertises heavily.  Yet, I almost always am.  Recently, I was told this by two of our licensees.  One was thinking that a 30% reduction in their advertising would not be a problem, and the other was saying that they could reallocate a portion of their budget to speculative strategies.  A few weeks after the cutback, the first attorney called me to express concern about dropping call numbers.  I reminded him about the reduction and he acknowledged that it was the likely cause of the downturn.

I have been told that the typical city/market experiences as much as a 20% annual turnover of population.  That 20% each year will not know you based on longevity or past marketing.  Even more important is the question as to what happens when a firm lessens its marketing position?  Inevitably, a competitor or competitors fill the vacuum that is created.  It can give them life where previously they were much less relevant.

Everyone does not know you, even if a lot do.  Stay strong and aggressive in your marketing using superior creative and proven strategies.  It will keep you on top.

How To Predict Numbers of Auto Cases?

Auto accident data is difficult to come by in a timely fashion.  Often what is available is a year old or more.  While it would be great to know how many cases one is currently getting out of the total potential “pie”, thus far this is information that eludes us.

One report, however, can provide an idea of how your market stacks up when it comes to overall driver safety.  Allstate recently released its “America’s Best Drivers Report™”.  The report uses Allstate’s claim data to rank the country’s 200 biggest cities based on frequency of car collisions to identify which cities have the safest drivers.

What is the safest city?  Fort Collins, CO.  Which city is more likely to have accidents than any other?  Washington, DC.  How does your city stack up?  Click to view the full 2010 report.

As with any data, results can be suggestive but are not necessarily conclusive.  The overall business of any individual law firm is the result of many factors, not the least of which is effective marketing.  Robust market conditions or soft, it is always best to be the one getting the first call.

The Info Everyone Wants to Know?

In my very first blog post I described what I believe to be a common marketing mistake that law firms make.  That is asking the question “How did you hear about us?” when someone first contacts the firm.  I heard from a number of people who agreed, disagreed and/or wanted to know how to acquire this useful information.

To clarify my point, I did not say that one should never ask this question, but only that it should not be among the first ones that are asked.  So, when can you do it?  One licensee sent me this comment:

“I ask this specific question at the end of the first telephone contact with the client – after Intake has finished the intake and has passed the call through to me for further assessment and making an appointment- and also in my initial meeting with the client when I am signing them up.  Not the FIRST question…………And what usually ensues is a bit of a conversation with the new client about the many ways in which he/she has heard about our law firm.  Very often, one way they have heard about us is from another person.  Of course, they almost always say they are familiar with the TV ads……I find that the clients like being asked that question b/c it shows that I care about what the “thought process” was by which they ended up calling us.”

Excellent.

Establish rapport, cover their problems, make them feel like you will be taking care of them, and then ask the question in an “organic” way.  The information you receive in this fashion will be more accurate and valuable than hitting them with it up front.