Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009
Law Practice Management Tip
Marketing against ROI
ROI is "Return on Investment". It is a measure of how successful
your investment is in any given venture. In the context of attorney
marketing, you want to be able to measure how well a particular
investment (marketing strategy) is. Is that yellow page ad
generating business? Is that new Web site bringing new clients?
That's easy to measure by simply asking your clients where they
first found your information.
Every summer, my firm invests in marketing through participation
in area elder fairs and also cultural fairs. I routinely go out to
engage the public, to meet with them at these events and speak with
passersby and answer their legal questions, for free. I have not
yet gotten a single client that has told me they've hired me from
seeing me at those events. But yet I keep doing it year after year.
Am I a fool? Perhaps. Am I wasting my money? No.
Malcolm Gladwell has a classic discussion of why Coca Cola
dominates market shares over Pepsi. It is not because Coca Cola
tastes better because when given the "Pepsi Challenge," most people
actually prefer the taste of Pepsi over Coca Cola. The reason why
Coke dominates is because of its brand. Its brand is so pervasive
that you would be hard pressed to find anyone on earth that won't
recognize the name.
All things being equal, when a new client sees your ad and they
see your competitor's ad, you want them to pick you. People choose
products that they know, whether it's a conscious or subconscious
choice. The more they've seen something, the more likely they'll
pick it. So, why do I continue to do those fairs during the summer?
Because though they don't know it, people recognize me and when
they see an ad of mine down the road, they pick me not because my
ad is so much better or because I am more qualified, but because
they recognize me as a brand.
Go out and engage your client base. Make your name and your
presence pervasive.
This tip is courtesy of Gabriel Cheong,
attorney at law, owner of Infinity Law Group.
Published December 17, 2009
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