Marketing Tips Archive
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for December 2, 2009
Success at the 10,000-Foot Level
Seriously, play ball or get off the field. Today, marketing strategies, brand awareness campaigns, business development tactics and all dollars spent on client/prospect communications should be used with one goal in mind: reach my audience and get my message heard loud and clear!
Don’t let your budget dictate your marketing campaign - rather, the campaign’s objective and goals need to set the budget. You cannot rely on just an article or quote, your brochure, or small ad buys that will only reach a limited audience. However, if you were to combine all of those marketing elements, you would surely reach a lot more people. But, it’s like fishing with a net full of holes.
What really defines a PR and Marketing Campaign at the 10,000-foot level is the creativity and innovation used at the outset. It’s all about the right combination of creative elements, messages, and strategic focus. Create a message that works well in print, broadcast and signage - and repeat it elsewhere. Repetition is key - get the same message in as many places, as many times as you can. Be sure your message is easy to remember and always have a call to action back to your Web site. Link your efforts back to your goals at all times, and check on your 10,000-foot level success.
Create More Legs by Making Your Integrated Campaign Virtual
We use many different methods to disseminate our messages, but unless those messages are consistent and communicated in an organized and strategic manner, they get lost, fall short, or simply waste money. Aligning your messaging and creating a campaign where all public reputation elements - advertising, PR, promotions, media buys, marketing, etc. - are integrated is just the first step. We know you've heard this, but it's worth repeating: to increase exposure and add legs to your campaign, you must make it virtual.
Look at your marketing materials, your concepts, your designs and strategies. Is there something that can live on YouTube? Does your “product” have a Facebook page? Is your message getting across on Twitter? Does your firm have a positive and search optimized presence on LinkedIn? Ask yourself these questions at the campaign outset to help boost its longevity.
In this day and age, anything you do without a Web-based or virtual component will likely only reach a fraction of your target audience. To increase awareness, a steady drumbeat of activity from all mediums is necessary.
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for November 12, 2009
Stop Delegating to Your Clients - Avoid this “Polite” Closer
By being overly polite and deferential in business correspondence, you may unwittingly give away your ability to reach out to clients and prospects in a natural way. The culprit is the correspondence closer, “Please feel free to contact me….”
What’s worse is that you have actually delegated something to your clients! Namely, having to reach out to you. This was hardly your intention but using this phrase just added something to your client’s To Do List.
It’s actually far more respectful and polite to take something off your client’s plate. Next time, try closing your correspondence with, “I will follow up with you shortly (or name a specific time frame) to answer any questions you may have….” Then call and keep the lines of communication open.
Another Way to Stay Connected - Links and Archiving Help Clients Bask in Your Knowledge
Article writing is one of the single most effective public relations tools you can use to promote your thought leadership on an issue. Once you’ve posted your articles to your LinkedIn page, send an email with a link to clients and contacts. Place the topic of the article in the Subject line so it’s easy to find when they are scrolling through the myriad emails they receive.
Make sure your clients know that the information will be archived on your LinkedIn page. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, and you’re a prolific writer, you can even provide your clients and contacts with a year-end email containing links to all the great pieces you’ve written throughout the year. It’s yet another way of staying top-of-mind with your clients and prospects.
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for November 4, 2009
Do Your Research When Targeting Bloggers and Online “Influencers”
When publicizing a major case win, it’s certainly important to share your news with traditional media outlets, but make sure you don’t overlook bloggers and other online influencers as well. These 2.0 media outlets often cover your industry in greater detail than the traditional media is able to; however, they often aren’t professional journalists and many times are not accustomed to receiving unsolicited press releases.
Thus, it can be extremely important to research the blog, understand what topics the blogger covers, and include a “cover letter” of sorts with your news. And, instead of a press release, you may want to write your news in bullet-point format following the introductory paragraphs. During your research, try to get a feel for the style of the blogger’s coverage to customize your approach. Remember that the same rules apply regarding answering the “so what?” question. The difference lies in the person and the medium you’re targeting.
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for October 29, 2009
Freshen Up Your Perspective on Print Advertising
Gone are the days when a law firm can run a simple ad announcing its services or heralding the arrival of a new attorney and reasonably expect any return on the investment. As in law or any other business, your print advertising must compete for the attention of the reader in a way that immediately conveys the value of your services – and with a message that will stick in their minds well after they turn the page.
Consider a tongue-in-cheek approach against the dark clouds cast by the current economy, or hit your audience hard by actually discussing the elephant in the corner. Tell a story that’s different from other law firms trying to woo the same audience. And when you do create that one-in-a-million message, think about whom you want to see it and what publications they read. They may not be the same ones you have advertised in before.
Take Your Ads in a Digital Direction
Want some additional bang for your advertising buck? Many, if not most, print publications also have online versions, as well as topical blogs, eNewsletters, or email digests – all of which can provide additional opportunities for your ads. And trust us when we say that advertisers would love to tell you about them.
Print advertising, while important, is one-dimensional, much like a billboard. It just sits there, waiting for the reader to take the next step. Digital advertising, by comparison, draws the reader by one simple click into another environment that you control, whether it is a firm’s Web site, practice group page, your bio, email, or even a specially developed “gateway” URL that allows you to measure the response from digital and print ads. And the more targeted the electronic publication – such as a blog about environmental issues, or an eMagazine addressing the financial crisis – the more effective you become in reaching your target audience.
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for October 21, 2009
Submission Requirements of Certain Rankings Require Careful Consideration
So is this latest survey worth your time and that of your clients? To determine that, review a listing of all the firm’s rankings that require client references and prioritize them in order of greatest importance to your firm. For those rankings at the top, it makes sense to approach a client again. As you make your way further down the firm’s rankings hierarchy, you may decide to just submit work highlights or arrange attorney interviews. There is no doubt that approaching clients for yet another favor is a difficult decision, but in some cases - when there is national recognition at stake - it might be the right one.
An Accolades Page is All the Rage
While LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the growing list of social networking sites provide valuable real estate to showcase attorney and firm recognition, it’s easy to overlook the value of your own firm’s Web site. Savvy law firm marketers can harness the power of those hard-earned rankings by doing more than updating the site’s attorney bios - a trend we are seeing is the compelling, eye-catching “accolades page.”
An accolades page is like the firm’s highlight reel, providing at-a-glance information on recent successes. This information resonates with clients, potential clients, referral sources and new hires, making it clear that the firm’s high caliber client work has achieved broad recognition. The accolades page also gives unique visitors a glimpse into the firm’s work environment, diversity make-up and practice area strengths. In short, it is another low-cost opportunity to market the firm and build the brand.
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for October 14, 2009
Ease the Pain of Post-Merger Bio Revisions
You'll need these bios quickly in order to position the reputation of your newly merged firm. Start by developing a biography template. It's not as easy as it sounds. You'll need consensus from leadership on format, tone, style, length, and parameters for content. You'll need all of the bios to deliver the firm's message and philosophy. The template, once approved, should then be used to create several model bios, which you can share with all of the attorneys, along with specific instructions for them to follow so they can revise their own bios. Remember to set a deadline...lawyers get busy with billable work and networking, and bio revisions can easily fall to the bottom of a priority list.
Remember the Online Component:Post-Merger Social Networking Profiles
Like bios that are used for RFPs and the firm's own Web site, social networking profiles are an important component to business development. To be most effective, the profiles from your firm should be consistent. Similar to the bio revision project, lawyers need to be shown what their LinkedIn profile should look like, how much information to include, which links to post, and which photographs to upload. Give as much guidance in the form of a template, and like the bio revision project, create several model profiles for the attorneys to follow. Of course, as with all other law firm content projects, remember to give a deadline for all revisions to be completed, and then have someone in the Marketing Department check the profiles for consistency and clarity.
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for October 7, 2009
Shine a Spotlight on Your Associates’ Client Development Successes
While the focus of most law firm marketing is naturally on your partners, remember to highlight your future partners for their business development achievements. How? When an associate delivers a presentation, publishes an article, or lands a new client, tell the entire firm. Public recognition from colleagues and opinion leaders can be just as important as monetary compensation to a budding attorney's sense of worth and value. Plus, those kinds of pats on the back will not only encourage other attorneys to increase their marketing efforts, but will also send a signal to the rest of the firm about the importance of business development and the culture of success you’re building.
Recognizing Associate Accomplishments on LinkedIn
Public recognition from on high can do wonders for motivating staff, and Web 2.0 offers additional avenues for accolades. Along with public praise within the firm, encourage your associates to update their social network profiles as a way to showcase their growing expertise. For example, when an associate publishes an article, even as a co-author with a partner, she should update her LinkedIn profile with the title, publication, and article link if possible. JDSupra is another network that allows lawyers to upload published articles that other readers can then share via email, Twitter, Facebook, and a host of other social media vehicles. These links serve to enhance the associate's online visibility, and an enhanced online reputation translates into multiple listings among Google and Yahoo! search engine results, as well as higher rankings for those hits - which prospective clients will notice. In the end, encouraging an associate to engage in a bit of self-promotion will benefit the firm overall.
For more information, contact Monica Smith at smithm@jaffeassociates.com, or 407-644-1337.
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for October 1, 2009
Promote Your In-person Presentation in Advance with LinkedIn
When planning for an in-person presentation, don’t wait until you’ve flown across the country for your event to start networking. Many organizations create LinkedIn Groups well before an event begins, enabling participants to begin conversations and start getting to know each other. As a speaker, use this opportunity to find attendees who are interested in your particular presentation topic and begin engaging them in conversation. Doing so will help you to promote your presentation and improve the turn-out and may also lead to pre-scheduling some meetings while you are at the event, giving you a leg up on your networking efforts.
Use the Web to Promote Your Upcoming Speaking Engagements
Jaffe PR's' Marketing Tips for September 24, 2009
Have Something Important to Say? Host a Press Briefing
Jaffe PR's Marketing Tips for September 17, 2009
Get Extra Mileage Out of Attorney Nominations
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