Ask many business owners what ‘marketing’ is, and you’ll likely get a different answer from everyone. Some will say organising events, arranging the catering, and my personal favourite ‘prettying-up presentations’!
What is good marketing and how does it add value? Traditionally we were taught The 5 Ps (look it up on a web search) but let’s park the theory for now. A lot of misperceptions remain about marketing: some unfounded, some justified. Some marketers (marketeers?) complicate their work with jargon and buzz words but strip all of that away and good marketing should, in theory at least, be simple.
Good marketing is not about fancy adverts and creative concepts, or having access to big data or big budgets – it is about understanding who your customers are; what the factors are that influence their purchasing decision; how to reach them (what are the best ways – press, TV, radio, social media, sponsorship, events etc… all of the above?).
This customer journey may be long, as it is in legal services (i.e. not an impulse decision), or it may be short. What is important is that wherever possible you identify reasons for them to buy from you or to become a client, and that you build some brand loyalty through emotional attachment. In short – know your customer! There is a phrase – ‘The Attention Economy’: attention spans are getting shorter, social media has conditioned us to be succinct and so many things clamour for our attention… so dare to be different and let your own personality or the personality of the business shine through to grab people.
We’ve won awards for our marketing – lots of them – but none of that matters. What matters is that people respond to our brand, which is very much about being professional but down to earth and friendly: after all, what other law firm has a bear as a mascot who has his own profile on the People pages?
For us, when it comes to marketing legal services, expertise should be a given – what matters is that we are good people to deal with; people you want by your side… oh, and of course, we have a bear in our TV ad!
Contact Wilson Browne Solicitors on 0800 088 6004 or visit our website.
