If you want to run a successful law firm, then you need to know how to position it so that people narrate the tale of your business the way you want them to. Position your business right, and you’ll be able to drive new business, however do it wrong and you’ll find your firm’s reputation in danger.
If you just started your firm, then it’s quite possible that you don’t have the resources to hire an external PR agency or hire someone internally that’s dedicated to marketing your business. But that’s okay… in this day and age of the internet, with proper targeting, you’ll be able to execute a successful marketing campaign.
Know yourself. It’s important when coming up with a campaign to come up with sound bites and concise, value driven messages. To tell a good story and come up with the right messages, you need to figure out what exactly it is that you want that messsage to be. If you can’t come up with your firm’s value, then you can’t expect others to.
Every comic book hero has an origin story, so what’s yours?
Time to put on that thinking cap and figure out what your value proposition is. What is it that makes your business unique? Figuring out your businesses unique selling point will allow you to focus on the aspects of your business that makes the biggest difference and what separates you from the rest which in turn will allow you to start crafting a strong message about your law firm.
Know your audience. Now that you’ve figured out who you are as a business, it’s time to figure out what type of clients you want and then breaking that demographic down so you know how to properly target them.
A few things that you should consider when determining your audience:
- age
- gender
- occupation
- socio-economic status
- geography
- family structure (single, couple, married, children, retired)
Figuring out who your audience is will allow you to deliver a more poignant message should your audience be very specific, or if you find that you have a very broad audience, then you’ll want to come up with a more comprehensive message.
Coming up with a plan and implement. Just like anything else in life, if you want to be ensure success, then you need to come up with a plan. You need to figure out what media outlets are right for your business. Make sure to include print and digital publications, as well as blogs, news sites, niche legal sites, radio and podcasts as well as any other sources that may be relevant.
Once you’ve come up with your list, it’s time to start building relationships. Use BuzzStream to help you with the process of building and managing relationships with influencers. Get on social media to actually communicate with reporters and those who you want to write about your story.
No one is coming to you unless you’re a huge firm, in which case you wouldn’t be reading this.
Customize your pitch. Most people, and especially reporters and influential blog writers, don’t want to be a part of an email blast. Journalists get hundreds of pitches on a daily basis, so if you want them to cover your business and story, make sure that you customize the pitch so that it’s relevant to their coverage area and audience.
Take a little extra time to look at their previous articles and figure out a good angle for your story to fit in. Spend some more time to craft an email that fits with the journalist that you’re emailing. They can tell when they’re getting a unique pitch versus one that’s cookie cutter and will most likely reply back to you if you’ve taken the unique approach.
Don’t use press releases. I see so many people using PRWeb and BusinessWire to distribute a press release, only to be disappointed when after spending a few hundred dollars, they don’t get any leads.
Press releases for the most part are a waste of time for the majority of you. They typically have a lot of marketing jargon, quotes from C-level executives, praise from analysts and a bunch of other fluff… all of this comes at a high expense and typically will land in the digital trash bins of the journalists you’re trying to reach.
Use that money to have someone come up with a few basic email templates which you can then customize yourself when you outreach to journalists.
Or you can use that money to join Profnet from PRNewsWire – the services allows you to find and respond to reporter requests for sources. You can also look at using free service HARO (Help A Reporter Out) which sends an email three times a day showing requests from reporters who are looking for sources for their stories.
With these tips you’ll be on your way to getting yourself some media attention without having to spend the big bucks to hire a PR agency. Do you have any questions or looking for additional advice? Leave a comment below and I’ll make sure to answer as best as I can!