Advertising 2010

Last year's MLF 50 opined that while indicators to the contrary, many firms are utilizing the full capabilities of their mar/com departments to better position their firms for success (not just the biz dev teams). So, in these times, it's important to remember that advertising is still a vital tool that firms may use to position and express their brand and message. What better time than now to look ahead to what firms should be considering to use to better position themselves for the coming year and the ultimate rebound?

The Benefits of Advertising

Clearly, the most desired benefit of advertising is to earn name recognition and recall. However, top-of-mind name recognition remains extremely elusive and difficult to obtain for most law firms ' even for those that do avertise. In talking to a number of law firm marketing professionals, most agree that their firm's Web sites have squarely assumed the position of their primary contact to the outside world. As a result, the Web site has now become their most important tool for expressing their brand and conveying their messaging to the visitors to their site. However, if you use online ads to drive more visitors to your site (which will be discussed later) and use traditional advertising venues to boost your firm's name awareness, you should build greater familiarity than your competitors. In this downturn when many firms have pulled back, this provides you with a terrific opportunity to win the better half of the positioning battle. Most studies conducted on this issue have reached the conclusion that familiarity will ultimately lead to favorability. The greater the awareness and understanding of your firm, the greater opportunity you will have for recognition and recall. Which is why one of the main goals of today's advertising efforts has changed from simple name recognition to a direct call to action that will drive traffic to your firm's Web site.

All firms have competitors. And, if you don't use any and all tools to educate current and potential buyers, they may never know what your firm has to offer, and may end up taking their business elsewhere.

Controlling the Message

Advertising allows you to control the message that you want to deliver to your selected audiences. And we all know the old adage that unless you take control of market perception, market perception will control you. Now, in an environment where anyone can become a reporter via blogs or “tweets,” there is even a greater need to manage your messaging and how it is delivered and adverting and social media outlets helps you to contribute to that conversation.

Choosing the Appropriate Outlets

With fewer competitors advertising, there is a greater importance to understand which communication outlets and media venues are most appropriate for your firm to achieve its goals and reach the audiences that are most critical to your firm's business. The editorial environment in which you advertise is as important as the message. The core purpose of advertising has not changed ' the ability to differentiate your firm from your competition ' today, the environment in which your message appears is as critical to differentiate your firm as the message being communicated.

Building Pride

Advertising has also traditionally been one of the best tools a firm has in its arsenal to build pride within the firm and convey its messaging and brand throughout the firm in ways that other mediums simply can't. For many firms with multiple offices and locations, advertising can many times convey the firm's market position and have greater reach than other communication tools. I recently heard one attorney say, “There's nothing quite like coming home after a business trip and seeing my firm's diorama in the airport. It puts a little spring in my step as I walk by seeing that ad for my firm that everyone else is also looking at. It makes me think, yeah, that's who work for ' that's who I am and what I do.”

Advancements in Advertising

So what else has changed and how should you prepare for the future? In discussions with marketing professionals at firms of all sizes, certain trends and best practices begin to emerge. In addition to simply understanding the power and importance of advertising, it's valuable to examine the trends that law firms and other professional service firms are considering to be important to their advertising efforts and what we may be seeing put into play in the not-so-distant future.

Media Integration

Firms continue to be committed to the elusive result of their advertising efforts to build name recognition and awareness. This is particularly true in new markets where a firm is opening a new office or promoting the establishment of a new practice. However, the new tactic that many firms have started to employ is a greater integration of firms' advertising efforts with their Web and social media efforts. For example, when a firm is launching a new practice group, it may advertise in a more narrowly targeted publication or vertical trade publication that would be more efficient in reaching the specific audience they are trying send their message to as opposed to a publication with a larger audience.

They may also develop a related look and feel, including logo, for their ad series with a slightly different voice than that of the firm's existing ads that seamlessly ties into a new landing page on the firm's Web site, complete with a blog on the subject, RSS feed and Twitter “chiclet” (those small icons that you now commonly see appearing on many firms' Web sites that allows the reader to instantly post a link to the site or blog via the social media outlet or the reader's choice). This integrated effort is opening a new door onto firms' established Web sites. So let's break this down and look at some of the components individually.

Traditional Print Outlets

Law firms clearly continue to maintain a level of comfort with traditional print media outlets. The difference is that everyone has heard by now that larger media outlets are taking a big hit financially. As a consequence, they are more willing to extend “deals” in national and even international editions of well-recognized magazines and publications to smaller advertisers.

Vertical trade and industry publications and their companion Web sites have also grown in importance for many firms. Those that invest with vertical trade publications and, particularly trade association publications, find that their investments in ad pages or banner ads may lead to additional opportunities like the ability to sponsor their local or national trade show(s) or give them editorial or speaking opportunities. While this is not directly “pay to play,” it's closer to an opportunity called “pay to participate.” These sponsorship arrangements demonstrate your support of important trade associations and the industries they represent by your firm and its practices. This just might allow you the chance to earn real one-on-one face time at their meetings or events as well. In an industry where the business model is all about the importance and longevity of your relationships, what better return on your advertising investment could you ask for?

Dioramas Et Al

As noted earlier, many firms are becoming more comfortable with different advertising outlets including outdoor media, like dioramas in airports and captivate advertising in elevators. As firms become larger and larger, most Mar/Com professionals are expecting to have increased advertising budgets with the eventual rebound. Combine this with the seemingly never-ending need for more client entertainment it should come as no surprise that some law firms may be doing more high-level sponsorships of major golf tournaments with multiple banners at the venue and greater “air time” of their name on television. Large accounting and consulting firms are already there ' it should not take long for law firms to follow. At the most extreme, you might even see direct sponsorship deals with individual athletes where a golfer has an AmLaw 100 firm's logo on his or her hat or shirt. Of course the last thing any law firm would risk is to have one of their sponsored athletes' poor behavior reflecting poorly on the firm, so vetting is important.

Social Media

Finally, it's no secret that most law firms have already committed to the world of social media. In the coming year, expect to see even more firms willing investing in social media by setting up a firm site on Facebook, LinkedIn, and practice-specific blogs. This is interesting, because it shows that for the immediate future firms are more than willing to invest in social media programs that has a lower cost threshold than traditional advertising. In addition, some firms will be giving a grater share of their ad budgets to Google AdWords. This is the program that Google has created where you create ads and choose keywords, which are words or phrases related to your business When people do a search on Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to the search results that, once they click on the ad, will direct the browser to your home page or a specific landing page you have set up that is associated with the keyword you have purchased through Google. Now you're advertising to potential clients that are already interested in you.

Bad News and Good News

The bad news is that few firms have much experience in this area. The good news is that there are more and more consultants and experts (even at Google) that have extensive experience in this area. Because if your plans are not well executed at will most likely lead to disappointing results. With the ever-growing importance of your firm's Web site as a brand extension of the firm, it cannot be overstated that the better integration and coordination of these types of online efforts ' the better your firm will be positioned in comparison to your competitors. Your current advertising must be well coordinated with your AdWord plan, your traditional ad plan and your social media plan, or you run the risk sending conflicting messages to your target audiences.

Conclusion

Advertising has always been an extension and expression of your brand and your key messaging. Embrace the multitude of new platforms and outlets available for your advertising efforts ' but always keep in mind the principal use for advertising, and you should be well positioned for the coming rebound.

Jeffrey Morgan is a Principal at Moir' Marketing Partners and has more than 20 years of experience developing advertising and media strategies for professional service firms worldwide. Jeffrey is based in Southern California and can be reached at [email protected].