Law firms in a great number of Florida markets, and I'm sure throughout the country, have become some of the fastest growing and largest spending advertisers. Often times this plethora of spending is led by one or two aggressive advertising personal injury law firms. In my experience in Florida, those top law firms do a good job and maybe as a result, it has spawned dozens of less strategic and less effective imitators. In seeing their messaging, it's hard for me to believe that they've given any thought to the unique and powerful story of their law firm. Instead, they spend their money committing one of the five acts that I believe is marketing malpractice:
- Poor quality production. Frequently lawyers get sucked into the ego trap that if they just sit in front of a camera and talk, that somehow it will magically motivate consumers that they want to do business with them.
- No strategic plan. It is of utmost importance that attorneys go through a process of understanding what their unique relationship proposition is and why consumers should call them. A great majority of law firms advertise "I'm great for this reason. I know this secret. Basically, me, me, me."
- Describe a circumstance. Many law firms believe that effective targeting can be achieved by simply describing the circumstance the consumer might be in in order to avail themselves of the law firm's service. How many hundreds of billboards litter the highway saying "INJURED?"
- Name recognition alone won’t make potential customers call. Just because they recognize your face and might even know your name does not mean that when they're involved in an injury related situation that they would contact you or your law firm. Establishing your brand differentiation is the only way to meaningfully break through the clutter.
- Focus solely on sign-ups. Many law firms focus their advertising on what they believe are the powerful reasons why someone should sign up with their law firm rather than focusing on why a consumer should call. Many people think those two things are the same, but they're wrong. There are a variety of different emotions at play with why a consumer might call and they are not all related to qualifications. People who have been injured are looking to make a real human connection, which is different than just evaluating qualifications.
You can avoid the majority of these pitfalls by undertaking a focused story-telling process which will discern the unique powerful aspects of the law firm, its lawyers, their passion, their commitment, and yes, their ability. Getting the call and converting the call are two quite different activities. To avoid marketing malpractice, law firms need to raise the level of strategy, messaging, and creativity, not just spend more money.
