The Push Is Over, Shift to a Pull Strategy

For years, a typical law firm strategy was to broadly spend on events and dinners; run general awareness ad campaigns; and launch other approaches telling prospects how good you are. This “push” strategy has long since worn out its welcome. With the bombardment each of us receives daily from every form of media, we're desensitized to this approach. We all push back by just ignoring the message and letting it all wash over us or by clicking out. Control has shifted to the hands of the users, who decide what they want to pull. This is a fundamental change in the way the game is played, and if you embrace it, client development opportunities abound.

The New Playing Field

Technology and the explosion of social media have not only changed the game, they have permanently altered the playing field. First, the field has leveled and now the small law firm and the multinational giant have the same capacity to reach their audience. Second, the people and companies that are most likely to want your services are self-selecting ' they are doing the searching and pulling the information they choose.

Since the game is no longer about pushing, but being pulled instead, the goal of getting your message out, distinguishing yourself, and attracting clients calls for a shift from a push to a pull strategy. Making the shift means being accessible and giving prospects something that they are not getting elsewhere in the same way.

Know Before You Go

So, just how can you know what to do, how to do it, and when? You don't ' until you know why. You start by thinking about what you are trying to do ' grow the firm, enter a new market, introduce a service, or increase profits across the board. Next, consider what there is about you that is appealing to your audience and shows that you can help them. Once you know what you are trying to do and why your market should care, you can form your messages.

Here are steps to lay the foundation of an effective pull strategy.

Revisit Your Website

No matter how someone hears about you, everyone checks out your website. And if they are checking out your website, they are already at a certain stage of readiness to learn more about you. See that your website truly reflects who you are, and that it's consistent with what you are saying elsewhere about your firm, partners, specializations, and what you can do for clients.

Make sure that what you are saying is what you are delivering. Keep the site fresh with new material and original thinking so visitors get a good idea of how you can benefit them (not to mention boosting your search rankings). Remove outdated information lingering on your homepage that might give the impression that you haven't done anything lately. Differentiate yourself and further enhance your accessibility by adding links to articles you've written, videos you've appeared in, comments by you and about you, anything that shows you walk the walk and don't just talk the talk.

There are a number of tactical ways to increase your accessibility so that when a prospect is searching, you are there among the first resources they encounter. Employ search engine optimization techniques such as embedding specific keywords that lead your visitors right to the item that they are looking for. Pay-per-clicks can be useful because they do get you to the top of a search page, but can be a double-edged sword. Visitors may be wary that they are not going to get at all what they're looking for or have had too many experiences where a search for Abe Lincoln speeches led to a site selling Abe Lincoln coins.

Use Social Media Sensibly

Facebook, Twitter, other social media ' it's the way the world connects today. Hardly a day goes by when you don't receive a Webinar invitation on LinkedIn strategies, speak with someone who has just started a blog, or get an e-mail advising on some aspect of social media. In this charged atmosphere, some may feel compelled to jump in head first. But, if the result is merely self-promotional propaganda, you are just another slice of spam.

To reach your audience, first consider what knowledge and expertise you can share in ways that provide guidance or will help a potential client. Then, think about how they are getting information today, and be there. If you are looking at blogging, can you deliver something useful to your desired audience on a regular basis? For Facebook, do you have content that will entice them to become fans and stay that way? On Twitter, make sure your tweets connect your followers to something they care about. Keeping up with social media takes a chunk of time and effort, so you need to evaluate the opportunity cost to write those blogs, monitor Facebook, and reduce your messages to 140 characters for Twitter.

Your Audience Is the Driver

Share meaningful information as regularly as you can and in multiple ways. How regularly depends on what you have to say, the length of the item, and how often your audience is looking for information. Your multi-pronged approach to reach your audience can be directly through e-mails, tweets, and blogs and indirectly through links, posting comments, and other venues.

Don't overlook media outside of this electronic world, e.g., hard-copy newsletters, invitations and so forth ' which may be a better choice for certain audiences like elder law clients.

Conclusion

This is a rare time indeed. There's a whole new playing field offering untapped potential for developing client opportunities, and it is wide open to approaches that are within your power to create. Offer something solid that can help clients, apply a little common sense, and add a dash of creativity. It's a recipe that can make the pull strategy pull for you.

Thalia Zetlin, principal and Chief Marketing Officer of Berdon LLP in New York, heads the firm's marketing group and leads the Law Firm Marketing Services team. She can be reached at 212-699-6708 or [email protected].

For years, a typical law firm strategy was to broadly spend on events and dinners; run general awareness ad campaigns; and launch other approaches telling prospects how good you are. This “push” strategy has long since worn out its welcome. With the bombardment each of us receives daily from every form of media, we're desensitized to this approach. We all push back by just ignoring the message and letting it all wash over us or by clicking out. Control has shifted to the hands of the users, who decide what they want to pull. This is a fundamental change in the way the game is played, and if you embrace it, client development opportunities abound.

The New Playing Field

Technology and the explosion of social media have not only changed the game, they have permanently altered the playing field. First, the field has leveled and now the small law firm and the multinational giant have the same capacity to reach their audience. Second, the people and companies that are most likely to want your services are self-selecting ' they are doing the searching and pulling the information they choose.

Since the game is no longer about pushing, but being pulled instead, the goal of getting your message out, distinguishing yourself, and attracting clients calls for a shift from a push to a pull strategy. Making the shift means being accessible and giving prospects something that they are not getting elsewhere in the same way.

Know Before You Go

So, just how can you know what to do, how to do it, and when? You don't ' until you know why. You start by thinking about what you are trying to do ' grow the firm, enter a new market, introduce a service, or increase profits across the board. Next, consider what there is about you that is appealing to your audience and shows that you can help them. Once you know what you are trying to do and why your market should care, you can form your messages.

Here are steps to lay the foundation of an effective pull strategy.

Revisit Your Website

No matter how someone hears about you, everyone checks out your website. And if they are checking out your website, they are already at a certain stage of readiness to learn more about you. See that your website truly reflects who you are, and that it's consistent with what you are saying elsewhere about your firm, partners, specializations, and what you can do for clients.

Make sure that what you are saying is what you are delivering. Keep the site fresh with new material and original thinking so visitors get a good idea of how you can benefit them (not to mention boosting your search rankings). Remove outdated information lingering on your homepage that might give the impression that you haven't done anything lately. Differentiate yourself and further enhance your accessibility by adding links to articles you've written, videos you've appeared in, comments by you and about you, anything that shows you walk the walk and don't just talk the talk.

There are a number of tactical ways to increase your accessibility so that when a prospect is searching, you are there among the first resources they encounter. Employ search engine optimization techniques such as embedding specific keywords that lead your visitors right to the item that they are looking for. Pay-per-clicks can be useful because they do get you to the top of a search page, but can be a double-edged sword. Visitors may be wary that they are not going to get at all what they're looking for or have had too many experiences where a search for Abe Lincoln speeches led to a site selling Abe Lincoln coins.

Use Social Media Sensibly

Facebook, Twitter, other social media ' it's the way the world connects today. Hardly a day goes by when you don't receive a Webinar invitation on LinkedIn strategies, speak with someone who has just started a blog, or get an e-mail advising on some aspect of social media. In this charged atmosphere, some may feel compelled to jump in head first. But, if the result is merely self-promotional propaganda, you are just another slice of spam.

To reach your audience, first consider what knowledge and expertise you can share in ways that provide guidance or will help a potential client. Then, think about how they are getting information today, and be there. If you are looking at blogging, can you deliver something useful to your desired audience on a regular basis? For Facebook, do you have content that will entice them to become fans and stay that way? On Twitter, make sure your tweets connect your followers to something they care about. Keeping up with social media takes a chunk of time and effort, so you need to evaluate the opportunity cost to write those blogs, monitor Facebook, and reduce your messages to 140 characters for Twitter.

Your Audience Is the Driver

Share meaningful information as regularly as you can and in multiple ways. How regularly depends on what you have to say, the length of the item, and how often your audience is looking for information. Your multi-pronged approach to reach your audience can be directly through e-mails, tweets, and blogs and indirectly through links, posting comments, and other venues.

Don't overlook media outside of this electronic world, e.g., hard-copy newsletters, invitations and so forth ' which may be a better choice for certain audiences like elder law clients.

Conclusion

This is a rare time indeed. There's a whole new playing field offering untapped potential for developing client opportunities, and it is wide open to approaches that are within your power to create. Offer something solid that can help clients, apply a little common sense, and add a dash of creativity. It's a recipe that can make the pull strategy pull for you.

Thalia Zetlin, principal and Chief Marketing Officer of Berdon LLP in New York, heads the firm's marketing group and leads the Law Firm Marketing Services team. She can be reached at 212-699-6708 or [email protected].