Creating a Marketing Plan That WORKS for Your Law Practice
There are so many parts and pieces when it comes to marketing a law practice, that it can get a little overwhelming. Instead of taking a helter-skelter, see-what-works approach to marketing the practice, it’s a good idea to come up with a consistent plan to follow. A law practice marketing plan doesn’t have to be set in stone, as you’ll want to monitor it and make occasional adjustments based on results; but it is a practical way to organize your approach and stay on track.
Just as with any other part of marketing, the marketing plan can be done in many different ways. For those who need a place to get started, though, here is a great way to do so:
Legal Marketing Plan Step 1: Strategize
If you have no idea where you want to go, all the maps in the world aren’t going to help you get there. The first step in creating a legal marketing plan is to figure out what it is that you are trying to accomplish. Are your goals monetary? Are you looking to serve a certain number of clients? Perhaps you want to branch out into a new area of law. It’s possible that you want all three!
Before deciding how you’re going to make your business successful, you have to define what success means to you. By doing this, you can develop reasonable steps to take in pursuit of those goals.
Legal Marketing Plan Step 2: Develop Goals and Objectives
The goal is what you want. The best goals are quantifiable and have a deadline.
- Increase billable hours by 15% in the third quarter
- Sign XXX Company to a retainer by the end of the year
- Conduct four new consultations a week
Each of these goals can be measured in order to see if they’ve been met or not. Again, you can’t reach your destination if you don’t know what it is!
Objectives are the steps you take to reach the goal. So, for the goal to develop four new contacts a week, you might implement the following objectives:
- Pass out ten business cards a week
- Check in with referral contacts once a month
- Lead four workshops a year
These objectives are action steps that you intend to take in order to make the goals real.
Legal Marketing Plan Step 3: Set a Budget
Once rent, payroll, association fees, etc. have been paid for the month, it can feel like there’s just nothing left to be spent on marketing your law practice. Instead of looking at it as an expense, however, it’s a good idea to think of your marketing budget as an investment. How much per year are you willing to invest in making your goals happen? Spending a few hundred dollars for marketing collateral should lead to considerably more income as you reach that 15% billable hour increase goal!
Decide what you can/are willing to put toward marketing and make it a monthly part of the business’ budget. Using those numbers and your best judgment, you can then tackle individual objectives on the way to meeting your goals.
Would you like to talk about how we can help you save time on your marketing and help you turn ideas into action? Simply schedule a time on my calendar for a no-strings virtual cup of coffee.