As the end of the year approaches, law firm leaders nationwide are crafting their strategies for profit and growth in the year ahead. And to truly drive that growth, a robust marketing plan must be part of the conversation. This post dives into the importance of a marketing plan, and how to create a plan that will bring results to your law firm in 2023.
Crafting a Law Firm Marketing Plan
A marketing plan maps out your law firm’s annual marketing strategy, including an overall goal, stated milestones, and the steps that will be taken to reach them. Creating it does not have to be difficult. Just follow these simple tips:
Marketing Goals – What are the measurable goals for your marketing campaign?
It is extremely helpful to establish an overall mission for your firm’s marketing plan. This statement establishes a desired endpoint that should guide each part of the remaining plan components.
Brand Messages – How do you want prospects to view your firm and its overall message?
A big part of successful marketing is showcasing what sets your firm apart from others. Your branding should demonstrate the skill and successes of practice members, while also providing a glimpse into your firm’s culture. By incorporating that brand into your firm’s website, tag lines, advertisements, and social media posts, you help shape the impression that your marketing material will make on prospects even prior to any initial contact with the firm.
Marketing Tools – What marketing tools and strategies will your firm use to reach its desired leads and meet marketing goals?
Law firms have a variety of tools, avenues, and resources to choose from when crafting a marketing strategy. From websites and blogs to social media posts and community engagement, your marketing plan should include a variety of mediums to maximize audience reach. For instance, how will your firm nurture leads and ensure that they are not lost in the process before conversion? Will you use an email campaign, and if so, what type of content will you send? These are the types of questions that guide this section of your legal marketing plan.
In addition to the mediums of marketing, you should also consider which tools and technologies will be used to handle the processes and further the plan’s goals. The typical law office is a very busy environment. Streamlined marketing processes save time and promote greater efficiency so that firm members can spend their energy on tasks that drive profit. Technology like client relations management (CRM) helps firms handle their marketing tasks in a productive way.
Leads Research – Who is your ideal client and where are they most likely to look for legal services?
Identifying your ideal law firm client helps you craft marketing content that best speaks to their specific needs. For example, the ideal client for an estate planning practice may be a midlife professional with a family. Identifying this information helps you craft your firm’s marketing content towards these individuals. It also helps you analyze the best platforms for reaching these individuals.
Market Analysis – What are similarly situated law firms in your geographical area doing to market their practices and how are they performing?
The point of marketing is to gain the trust of potential leads. But doing so requires some consideration of what your competition is doing and how well they are doing it. If there is a highly successful firm in your area, look at their current marketing to consider whether any of their strategies can be customized to your firm and included in your marketing plan.
You should also identify the marketing weaknesses of your competition to ensure that you are not making similar errors with your firm’s marketing. Treat those weaknesses as opportunities to fill in the gaps that exist in the potential client’s law firm search experience.
Budget – How much money will your firm spend on marketing overall and how much will be spent on each of the strategies?
Like every good and successful plan, your law firm marketing plan needs a budget. Look at the overall financial picture of your firm and determine how much money you want to allocate towards marketing in the coming year. This should include an overall monetary amount, as well as a breakdown of how that budget will be allocated for the specific tasks of the plan. Try to ensure that your established marketing budget is substantial enough to support your firm’s marketing goals but also conservative enough to promote a substantial return on investment.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – What metrics can you consider throughout the year to help determine whether your firm is on track to meet marketing goals?
KPIs are specific, measurable goals that you can consider at different stages of the year to determine whether your marketing plan is working and what changes need to be made. Common marketing KPIs include:
- New leads
- Conversion rates
- Website click throughs
- Contact form submission rates
- Cost per lead
The Right Technology is Key to a Successful Law Firm Marketing Plan
A firm’s choice of technology can either make or break a marketing plan because the processes are critical to success, and if they are disorganized, the entire plan can fall apart. Law Ruler’s law firm CRM provides law firms with numerous tools for managing their marketing plans. The automated follow up feature allows firms to set up automated email or text follow-ups so that engagement with leads occurs before they move to the next law firm on their list. Another useful feature is the data analytics tool, which provides firms with the information they need to properly assess the effectiveness of their marketing plan and make necessary adjustments. Marketing plans should be reviewed on a regular basis and Law Ruler gives firms the data they need to do so effectively.
Schedule a demo and learn why Law Ruler is the #1 client intake, CRM, and marketing automation software for thousands of law firms.
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