2017 Legal Marketing Trends: Are They Resonating With You?

• Author: Lynn Foley
• Date: June 28, 2017

The state of legal marketing is in constant flux. New strategies emerge, opportunities arise, and tech continues to disrupt even the most established business practices. You can’t make changes if you don’t see them coming, which is why every year we bring together leading marketing strategists and technologists to discuss their thoughts on the most important marketing trends. Back in January, our experts predicted that we would be in for a disruptive year. They weren’t wrong, but with half of the year already behind us, I wonder which of these predicted trends you feel has come to pass and which trends have taken unexpected turns in your market?

Top trends and prediction for 2017 included marketing automation, structured data for SEO, focused hiring of industry experts within marketing, opportunities related to sponsored content, adoption of CRM systems, changes within directories and increased focus on marketing & BD within the professional development curriculum.

A short excerpt from some of the contributors can be found below or you can read the full 2017 Legal Marketing Trends.

Marketing Automation in Law Firms

“With constantly improving technology, the legal sector has the potential to optimize its marketing activities through the tools of automation. Freeing up resources of time and money will lead to a happier, more productive team. It will also allow marketers to quantify their impact on the firm by demonstrating that they are an essential piece of the business opportunity life cycle.”

Matt Parfitt— President, Vuture U.S. VutureGroup

Legal marketing, business development and communications hiring

“In 2016, we saw the beginning of a new trend for law firms where they are starting to consider updating their go-to market strategy from being a one stop shop for all practice areas, to having an intentional focus on select industries.”

Jennifer Scalzi— President J. Johnson Executive Search, Inc

Law Firm Media Relations

“In today’s fast-paced world, smart legal professionals understand the benefit of being recognized as subject matter experts and influencers in our trusted publications. In that context, savvy lawyers in both private practice and in-house are making themselves readily available to the journalists who write for our magazines and websites. Sources who speak to us aid us in getting timely content to market fast but it also helps those lawyers and firms in achieving much desired profile.”

Karen Lorimer— Director/Group Publisher of Thomson...