The Public Opinion Court-Public Relations Law Firm
Clients hire attorneys and not law firms. Therefore, the human face of the law firm makes all the difference when it comes to attracting new business and retaining existing clients. Increasingly, law firms understand that effective media relations are an indispensable part of marketing and public relations. Getting messages from clients and companies in the news in an ethical and appropriate way can improve your image and increase the effectiveness of your other marketing efforts.
Involving a public relations professional is a wise move when disseminating outside news, as it gives the company the opportunity to tell its side of the story, as well as the opportunity to turn the story around to make the company appear more favorable. A public relations professional can serve as a conduit between the journalist and the attorney.
A public relations professional must know the right person in the media to contact, fully develop the speech before contacting the reporter or editor, be clear and detailed with a speech, be prepared to launch more than one angle of a story And always following up with the reporter makes sure you have all the necessary information.
When implementing a law firm marketing plan, the first step is to define your business. What type of company are you? What kind of work do you do? What are your “key” practice areas? What practice area do you want to expand?
The second step is to define your target audience. Who are your potential customers? How do you get to them? Where they are located? What do they read? What trade associations do they belong to? And most importantly, why do they need you? It’s important to really understand why your target audience needs your company’s services.
Then determined according to budget. How much of your budget will be spent on advertising? Once you’ve determined a budget, you can start tracking to determine which practice areas provide the most gross revenue and the best profit margin. Increased marketing affects the profit margin.
Some ways to measure ROI include having the receptionist track new phone calls, appearing references on a new customer information sheet, documenting responses to items, or logging into a guestbook on your website.