Marketing trends in law firms to acquire clients this judicial year

Diana Jennen: “The priorities of some of the leading law firms are no longer so much about investing in physical workspaces, but rather about building a closer relationship with clients through flexible and more personalised solutions than ever before”.

What will be the trends in legal marketing this judicial year?  In a sector as competitive as the legal sector, where national firms coexist with international firms, the expertise of lawyers does not necessarily speak for itself when it comes to attracting clients, according to Cinco Días in an article in which our Director of Communication and Business, Diana Jennen, participates.

“The priorities of some of the leading firms are no longer so much about investing in physical workspaces, but rather about building a closer relationship with clients through flexible and more personalised solutions than ever before,” says Jennen.

There are differences depending on the size and type of customer. Small and medium-sized firms, which are closer to the problems of those who come through the firm, focus “on giving visibility to their brand and generating leverage”. In addition, large firms “have a strong focus on client-based solutions”, she explains.

In this regard, she says that firmas that are able to communicate effectively with their clients will achieve more successful outcomes, receive fewer complaints and, undoubtedly, increase their client retention figures.

In addition, firms will increasingly engage in much more automated marketing. In a recent study, McKinsey estimated that 23% of a lawyer’s work can be handled by automated technology and marketing activities in law firms are no exception.

This, according to the media, is a leap from previous years as partners and legal directors are also expected to provide reliability, commitment or empathy, as clients value professional engagements for aspects that are not just linked to the services provided.

“Optimal Big Data management in a law firm undoubtedly makes a difference”

Gericó Associates’ Director of Communication and Business highlights that Legalmarktech will become the evolution of madtech applied to the legal sector. It is already taking on greater weight, especially in the most sophisticated firms.

Optimal management of Big Data in a law firm undoubtedly makes a difference. Especially when needs are detected in certain industries and, subsequently, work is done on the “bundling” or provision of a specific service, which solves a market need and very specific products are launched to homogeneous groups of potential or current clients.

Marketing and business development managers will need to work hand in hand with IT teams to ensure that they do not make any missteps in terms of data security.

Despite its traditional resistance to technology, the legal sector, which is closer to what we call business law, is taking important steps forward. We should remember that law firms that are already implementing AI actually have intelligence that not only performs tasks, but also learns on the fly by recognising certain patterns of behaviour.

What should the content strategy look like?

The content strategy should be oriented to the marketing strategy. For example, it makes no sense to do podcasts without a prior strategy and this is a typical mistake in many law firms.

Strategies are often very different depending on the firm, and the markets in which they seek to position themselves differ.  The key is to conceptualise optimally and make strategic sense of it, taking advantage of all the communication tools a firm has. In the same way that firms strategically consider the location of their physical offices, they must also take their digital positioning into account.

Not taking into account the generation of content and its optimisation for search engines is to ignore how a business works, which nowadays relies heavily on digital channels.

“Media appearances continue to be one of the most effective actions in brand positioning”

In this ecosystem, lawyers’ media appearances are also key. “When law firms choose to appear in the media, they want to gain visibility, notoriety and, therefore, influence,” says Diana Jennen.

A strong brand positioning comes from this power of influence in the eyes of stakeholders and a reputation built up over time. By working on this top of mind, she explains, what is achieved is to be in the minds of potential clients as soon as they have a legal need to be resolved.

Media appearances continue to be one of the most effective actions in this brand positioning, and, in this way, to achieve and maintain a reputation in the market that facilitates the entry of new business.

If you want to read the full article in Cinco Días, click here.