You’re Not the Amazing Marketer You Think You Are

We’re going to make a bold claim: you’re not as good of a marketer as you think you are.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, duh – I don’t think I’m a good marketer at all!” We appreciate your honesty. While others may be thinking, “That’s preposterous – I’m a great marketer.” That may be the case. But are you really as good of a marketer as you think you are?

Probably not.

As Confucius says, “If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.”

The same rule applies to marketing. The world of marketing, especially legal marketing, is ever-changing.

The strategy that drove millions in revenue last year may have bottomed out because of a random change in Google’s algorithm. Or that one Facebook ad that always works may stop working. Or the phones might stop ringing.

Here’s the danger in thinking you’re great at marketing: you lose the desire to keep improving. If you already think you’re the best, why try getting better?

In the legal industry, the ABA tries to promote lifelong learning in the form of CLE courses and other legal-focused educational seminars.

However, you can’t apply this same strategy to marketing. A couple hours a quarter in a conference room won’t show you how to develop an impenetrable marketing strategy that keeps the pipeline full. That isn’t to say that we’re against CLE courses – on the contrary, they’re a wonderful way to keep attorneys on top of their game.

But being a good marketer requires a near-constant effort to absorb and retain new information.

Otherwise, you fall into stagnation. And stagnation does not breed success, nor does it breed successful marketing campaigns.

Today’s legal landscape is far different than the legal landscape of the past. Your consumers are engaged, connected, and most importantly, they’re educating themselves on legal matters. In order to stay ahead of the curve, you have to find new ways to get in front of them, provide value, and establish an emotional connection.

To do that effectively, you must first do two things:

Acknowledge that you’re not as good of a marketer as you think you are
Commit to finding ways to constantly learn, iterate, and improve in order to be the most effective marketer

Fortunately, there are an endless number of channels through which you can improve your marketing abilities.

You don’t even have to step outside of the legal industry – though it wouldn’t hurt if you did.

Here are a few ways in which you can continue to improve your skills as a law firm marketer:

Read more.

Read more books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers. Follow industry journals. Subscribe to daily email newsletters that consolidate leading news and trends into one digestible format. Read your competitors’ content. Read content from authors in other industries.

The more content you consume, the smarter you’ll become.

Here are a few books (on both marketing and business) our team recommends:

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
• Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
• The Game Changing Attorney

Have a “try anything once” mentality – just don’t be dumb about it. The craziest, most off-the-wall ideas you have may be the ones that drive the best results. Trust us, we’ve seen it.

Host a one hour think tank with your team. Ask each person to brainstorm 3-5 new ways to generate leads for your law firm and/or generate consultations or clients. Write down each idea, then narrow it down to the best ones.

Admit what you don’t know.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting you don’t know something. But once you’re clear on what you don’t know, you can take the steps necessary to figure it out and get better.

Attend industry events.

What are your colleagues doing to market their firm? What works in other markets? What strategies, campaigns, and platforms are being leveraged in other practice areas?

The best way to learn from other people is to surround yourself with other people, and the best way to do that is by attending events and seminars in the legal industry.

Conferences, CLE seminars, and other similar events are the perfect opportunity for you to expand your marketing horizons.

Conferences, for example, like the Crisp Game Changers Summit happening this November. Haven’t heard of it yet? You can check it out here.

If you’re in a room full of equally engaged, ambitious attorneys who are all seeking new ways to grow their law firm, you’re bound to learn something new.

So yes, you’re not as good of a marketer as you think you are.

But that’s not a bad thing: just think of how much there is for you to learn!