I have worked in law offices and corporate legal departments for more than twenty years. I have a very good grasp of litigation, and some knowledge of wills and estates, patent law, real estate, contracts, and transactional law.
I also know that until recently, lawyers were not allowed to market themselves or their services, so they are now trying to play "catch up" in this extremely competitive world.They are busily trying to represent clients, and have some quality family time whenever possible, and they usually don't have time to educate themselves about marketing.
It amazes me that marketing folks think they can market attorneys the same way they do everything else.
Here are six reasons why marketing for attorneys is different.
Law firms sell services and discretion, and that's a different ballgame than most companies. For instance, attorneys don't have "sales" - file one lawsuit at full price, get the next one free? Attorneys also can't run product demonstrations, frequency programs, or "try it before you buy it" programs.
Attorneys don't typically speak SEO but they don't want websites that choke on it. There is a large company that calls itself expert at marketing for attorneys, but in reality they are utterly clueless. (I am not going to name this company publicly, but email me and I will reveal their name.) This company designed a website for a friend of mine that is so filled with SEO-speak that the copy on many of the pages is nonsensical. SEO [Search Engine Optimization] is important, obviously. You want your firm to pop up quickly on a Google or Bing search. However, in the same paragraph describing the attorney as "personal injury expert attorney," "back injury attorney," and "Smith County's best personal injury back expert knee replacement expert attorney" gets ridiculous.
Attorneys don't like to be told they are stupid. This same huge company spent 30 minutes on the phone with an attorney friend of mine explaining basic marketing terms in a condescending tone like she was utterly clueless. They insulted her intelligence even to the point of trying to get her to commit to buying their services before actually quoting her a price on those services.
Attorneys trust other attorneys, paralegals, and legal secretaries far more than someone with only a marketing degree. I have answered ads for law firm marketing professionals who think that a kid right out of college with a marketing degree will know more about how to market a law firm than me, which is irritating. Someone with law firm work experience AND marketing experience is far more apt to gain an attorney's attention and respect.
Most attorneys do not LIKE to think about, talk about, or actually do marketing, and it's not something they like to spend time doing. I've only met 2 attorneys in the past 25 years who enjoy marketing. Most attorneys view it as a necessary evil, but it takes a backseat to real cases that need attention. If something needs to be filed in court to avoid a motion for contempt that will ALWAYS get done first, before a blog or writing a website page. AND THAT'S AS IT SHOULD BE.
So don't bother an attorney when he or she is really busy practicing law. Be patient.
Attorneys specialize in an area of law and they don't want to hear about others, when it comes to their own marketing. What would be the point? One company sent a friend of mine a bunch of blog ideas but they had nothing to do with the area of law in which he practiced. Why would a personal injury attorney blog about a big settlement in a civil rights case?? That illustrates so plainly where marketing folks are inept when it comes to marketing to attorneys.
So if you are an attorney, think about what you need and want from a marketing person. You want someone who really understands the type of law that you practice, and how that impacts your time. You want someone who understands how attorneys view themselves and why it's important for their website to reflect that. You want someone who can discuss your practice with you in an intelligent way, someone who speaks "legalese" and can translate it into regular talk.
I can do all that - a lot less expensively than the big companies that try to get law firm marketing business and have no clue how it's done.
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