I love doing these annual posts, as it gives me a chance to go back and reflect on my predictions, both what came to pass and what never materialized.

For 2022, I suggested five important things to consider for your firm’s annual marketing budget:

1. 1. Marketing automation tool(s)
   2. Multimedia marketing tactics
   3. Integrated systems
   4. Branding and marketing messaging
   5. Omnipresent digital presence.

Well now it’s over halfway through the year and I know many of us are afraid of the impending recession, so the idea of spending money on new initiatives might be scary. Inflation’s rocket-powered growth has made many products and some services out of reach for many consumers, and that trickles through to our business lives too.

But the one consistent thing in life is change. Marketing fuels progress for professional service firms. It helps extend brand awareness, reminds clients and prospects that you exist, and exhibits exciting initiatives.

Plainly said: You need marketing.

Just like last year, my advice is not to slash your marketing budget. Rather you must continue to invest wisely. Times are still scary, but it is even more important now that you establish and reinforce your personal and firm brand presence.

However, I am also a realist. Your budget will likely be cut to some degree. In all likelihood, your entire firm’s budget is facing the chop to some degree. So for this year, I’m going to break down a few options to help you evaluate if you’ve got the essentials in place.

Let’s look at it like a decision tree:

#1 Do you have an updated website?

If you answered “Yes,” ask yourself:

• Is it mobile responsive?
• Does it validate your current practices?
• Can visitors easily find what they seek, via site-wide search or content filtering?

If you answered “Yes” to these questions,  you can skip to number two.

If you answered no to any of the above, you need to update your website.

Mobile responsiveness, current practices, and search or filter are just the basics. Your website should be the best possible representation of your firm. It should tell the story of who you are and what you do, and the amazing outcomes you achieve for your clients. I can’t tell you how many clients come to us with jaw-dropping expertise you wouldn’t know existed if you simply looked at their website. (Until LISI worked its magic.)

Think of it this way: I know your business comes from referrals and word of mouth. I never argue with that. But what message does it send someone checking out your website (as literally everyone will do when referred to you) if they see a site that is out of date visually, isn’t up to current user experience standards and is not easy to navigate?

It says that you’re out of touch.

And that you don’t think you need to keep up to date because you’ve got enough work as it is. Which, even if this is true, it might not be true for long. And is probably not the message you want to send.

Before you do anything else on this list, focus on creating a new website.

Resources Required:

• Website design + development agency (most likely, although larger firms might have the resources to do this in-house)
• Website committee or, better yet, a key decision maker who can drive the project to completion efficiently and effectively

Time Required For:

• Researching and selecting a trusted service provider
• Conveying key information and insights to your chosen website partner
• Reviewing, providing feedback, and approving site map, homepage and interior page designs, and pre-launch site
• Writing, aggregating, and/or reviewing new site content

#2 Do you have a C.R.M. (Client Relationship Management) tool?

Yes? Skip to #3.

No? You need a C.R.M.

C.R.M.s help manage client, prospect, and referral source data. Today’s modern C.R.M.s are NOT a digital Rolodex like their older cousins. They are robust tools that can plug into almost any system or software in your firm. Case management? Yep. Document management? Uh-huh. Proposal development? You betcha. Marketing automation? Can do.

C.R.M.s help surface actionable information and facilitate team communication.

Your C.R.M. should be the nexus of all marketing data: client status, client acquisition efforts and status, marketing interactions, and relationships. It’s where an attorney can record new opportunities and research who at the firm might know that person and be able to assist in the proposal process. It’s where business developers (lawyers or business professionals) track business development pipeline progress and target lists, as well as key client accounts.

But why? Because it will help you do a better job of building your book of business. By having the information you need about contacts, companies, and relationships, your time will be focused on where it can have the greatest impact, rather than spinning your wheels trying to find a way in on a new opportunity that might not actually exist.

(That’s just one reason, but this article isn’t about C.R.M.s).

Resources Required:

• Marketing technologist or IT resource who can help select the right tool for your team
• Project manager
• Marketing automation tool

Time Required For:

• Researching the options available in the tools you already have or new resources
• Creating automated emails from existing content and/or templates for new content as it is generated (About 30 mins/email)
• Designing automated email templates (About 30 mins/email)
• Setting up workflows (Depends on the complexity of the workflow, but could be as quick as 5 minutes once you have all the right pieces in place)

#3 Do you have a marketing automation tool?

Yes? Are you sure…? Does it truly automate your marketing or is it a fancy way to send an email?

Whether yes or no, you might want to read this one.

First and foremost, you need to invest in marketing automation tools. Marketing automation is the process of making repetitive tasks more efficient with tools like email marketing platforms, social schedulers, etc.

Imagine: a visitor registers for a trusts and estates virtual CLE you are running. Once they register, they get an email thanking them for their registration, and they are entered into a workflow so that they also receive subsequent, tailored emails on trusts and estates and other related topics every three to four weeks. Enrollment in this workflow is triggered simply by signing up for the event. No further manual action required.

“Marketing automation will help you create processes that are scalable. The more manual a process is and the more it depends on one person, the harder it’ll be to scale when the team grows,” according to this HubSpot article.

Resources Required:

• Graphic designer
• Marketing technologist
• Project manager
• Marketing automation tool

Time Required For:

• Researching the options available in the tools you have or new resources
• Creating automated emails from existing content and/or templates for new content as it is generated (About 30 mins/email)
• Designing automated email templates (About 30 mins/email)
• Setting up workflows (Depends on the complexity of the workflow, but could be as quick as 5 minutes once you have all the right pieces in place)

#4 Do you have a process for consistently producing and distributing content?

Yes? Nice! But I’ll bet you a pretty penny your process could be even better, so I suggest you read on.

No? Definitely read on!

As professional services providers, we have a tried and true method of developing business: by leveraging relationships to uncover new opportunities. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it 100 times again: I agree that your business comes from your relationships.

BUT . . .

How do you stay in front of your relationship contacts? How do you make their jobs easier and keep them informed of important updates in the law and regulations? One major way is to write thought leadership content and share it on your website, in social media, and via email.

If you don’t have a process for consistently creating content, you’re behind the ball.

At LISI, we’re big fans of Passle, an easy-to-use tool that puts the power to create content into the hands of the subject matter experts in your firm. Attorneys can create insights in a fraction of the time it is likely taking them now (if they do it at all), by bringing together the tools they need to conveniently write and publish content directly to the firm’s website. (With an approval workflow if needed, don’t worry!)

Whatever you’re doing, make sure content creation is part of your plan in 2023.

Resources Required:

• Willing content creators

Time Required For:

• Writing, which can be streamlined with a tool like Passle
• Workflow review, proofing, approval, and posting, which can also be streamlined with a tool like Passle

#5 Do you have a way to create marketing videos?

Yes? Good work!

No? Well, you know the drill by now…

Call me Captain Obvious, but videos and podcasts are an increasingly valuable and important marketing method in your toolbox. Video content is on the rise because it’s easy to consume, and believe it or not, can be just as easy to produce.

Sleek, highly produced videos are awesome but don’t think you have to have a studio and a multi-cam setup in order to create video content. There’s a time and a place for that, but there’s also plenty of room for quick, easy-to-produce videos and content that a person can create all on their own.

What does take time is the planning and distribution of this content. Invest in resources — either internal or external — that can help you put together content that can be used in multiple ways, multiple times.

Resources Required:

• Lighting for each contributor like this ring light from Amazon or this other good option for on-the-go (I have both)
• A decent microphone for each contributor. This lavaliere mic works with a standard audio jack, or has an iPhone lightning port adapter. Another good option is this Shure microphone. (Again, I have both.)
• Video and/or audio editing software OR an outsourced editor. You’d be surprised what you can do in Canva with video, but this is a truly worthwhile external investment
• A place to host videos (YouTube works great) and/or podcasts (Libsyn, BuzzSprout, and Soundcloud are all good options depending on what you want to achieve)
• Royalty-free music (I recently subscribed to Artlist and I’m very happy with the options available. They also pre-test music for YouTube copyright passability.)
• Graphic designer for intro/outro if your outsourced editor is unable to provide
• Video caption creator

Time Required For:

• Recording videos: Start with one-hour blocks and try to get enough content for three to four one-minute videos (1 hour/recording)
• Designing video intro/outro (Varies)
• Researching content and writing scripts (Varies)
• Reviewing captions and editing transcript (Depends on length of content)
• Posting transcript to website (15 minutes)
• Related email, social, and other promotion (Varies)

You might not be able to do everything on my 2023 list, but I promise these are the essentials you can’t ignore. Don’t get left behind because you failed to invest wisely in your marketing now while you can.