Trends in Legal Marketing for 2015 – the Experts Weigh In!

• Author: Lynn Foley
• Date: January 09, 2015

Each year, we at fSquared Marketing reach out to our friends and colleagues around the world who are experts in various areas of legal marketing. We ask them to describe what they are seeing in the market, ask them where our clients should be focusing, and what predictions they have for the coming year.

This year, as always, we received great insights and tips to share. I’ve included some excerpts below so you know what to consider in your marketing and business development plan (and budget!) for the coming year.

CONTENT MARKETING:

Several trends that we have seen emerge and gather pace over the last few years will further consolidate in 2015. In particular, resourcing content production (client alerts, blogs, videos and webinars, etc.) will come under greater scrutiny. Why are we doing this, and what is working?

Mark Lamb, Founder – Lexology

LEGAL DIRECTORIES:

Clients have become more discerning in how they select law firms, and look to directories to provide depth in editorial to talk about specialties. As a result, legal directories have had to respond by becoming more user-friendly, more engaged and by producing more detailed and meaningful content.

Joanna Lane, Editor – Chambers Canada

MEDIA RELATIONS:

In an era where costs are under careful scrutiny by law firms and clients, PR amounts to very low-cost marketing. Law firms who don’t take advantage of this by hiring the right professionals either internally or externally, however, do so at their peril.

Julius Melnitzer, Legal Affairs Journalist – Financial Post

REPUTATION MANAGEMENT:

A strong, personal brand communicates to your target audience the value (expertise, resources, relationships) you’re capable of providing them. When properly managed, your personal brand creates a “pull” for your services, which alleviates the need for you to “push” (read: sell).

Jonathan R. Fitzgarrald, Chief Marketing Officer- Greenberg Glusker

CLIENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM):

In 2015, we’ll see new technology solutions and platforms that integrate with the core CRM to equip business developers to manage opportunities and outcomes to predict business performance. And we’ll see the emergence of tools uniquely designed to guide attorneys in managing professional relationships and helping them understand which members of their network can connect them to new business opportunities.

Krista Fuller, -Lexis-Nexis InterAction

CLIENT DEVELOPMENT:

An effective client entertainment program contains two...