It’s no secret that marketing is a critical component of any successful business. (Can I get an “AMEN”!?) And the most successful marketing leaders are empowered to make great things happen at their firms.
Some law firms cultivate a marketing leader over time, grooming that person to take on the head role. Others go out to the market to find a fresh perspective.
And sometimes…law firms explore a third option: bringing in an outsourced Chief Marketing Officer (C.M.O.).
What is an outsourced CMO?
An outsourced C.M.O. is a marketing consultant or agency that provides strategic marketing services to businesses on a contract basis. The outsourced C.M.O. handles all aspects of the company’s marketing strategy and execution, from start to finish.
There are several reasons why a law firm might choose to outsource its head of marketing function. Here are three of the most common reasons:
- To save money – An outsourced C.M.O. can be more cost-effective than hiring a full-time C.M.O., especially for small and mid-sized firms.
- To get access to legal marketing experience – When you outsource your marketing strategy, you get access to a seasoned marketing professional who has, ideally, worked at multiple firms and understands the challenges law firms and lawyers are facing in today’s saturated market.
- To free up time for other priorities – If your firm is short-staffed or if you simply don’t have the time to focus on marketing strategy, outsourcing can be a good solution.
All of those are good reasons to hire an accomplished marketing leader, but strategy is just the tip of the iceberg. Who is going to do all the work they identify that needs to be done?
Enter: an outsourced marketing team.
What is an outsourced marketing team?
An outsourced marketing team, led by a strategic main point of contact (i.e. the internal or external first-chair marketing leader) can provide your firm with the human capital it needs to get the job done. They can help with everything from content creation and website design to lead generation and event planning. If you want to create great strategy AND execute upon it, an outsourced marketing team is a better solution than an outsourced C.M.O.
“What can an outsourced team help me with specifically?” you might be asking.
Well…everything, really! But the most effective teams start with a strategy, develop a success roadmap, and get to work implementing key operations, technologies, processes, and marketing tactics to effectively achieve the firm’s marketing goals.
Start with a marketing strategy.
The first step is to develop a marketing strategy that is tailored to the law firm’s unique strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), and which identifies several measurable goals. These could be anything from increasing brand awareness to generating more leads to improving website traffic.
After the goals are set, the team puts together a plan of action. This plan will detail how the law firm intends to achieve its goals and should include specific steps and timelines.
Conduct a marketing operations audit.
A marketing operations audit is a comprehensive review of the law firm’s marketing infrastructure. It will take a close look at all aspects of the operation, from lead generation to budgeting to website traffic.
This audit will help to identify any areas that need improvement and highlight tools and resources the firm may require to aid in its success, such as a customer relationship management (C.R.M.) tool or a marketing automation platform.
The right tools will help to make your marketing efforts more efficient and will ultimately lead to better results.
Develop a success roadmap.
Now that there is a clear marketing strategy in place, an outsourced team will figure out how to execute it. The best way to do this is to develop a success roadmap.
A success roadmap is a plan that details the steps that need to be taken in order to achieve the desired results. It will include both short-term and long-term actions, as well as specific milestones that need to be met along the way.
Get to work on implementing key operations, technologies, processes, and marketing tactics.
Now that there is a strategy and a plan in place, it’s time for the team to start implementing some key marketing tactics. This could involve anything from creating or revamping the law firm’s website to developing a content marketing strategy to launching a social media campaign.
The most important thing at this stage is that the team has the resources and skills to take action and get started on executing the plan. The sooner they can start, the sooner you’ll see results.
Analyze and refine the marketing strategy.
Once the initial marketing tactics have been implemented, it’s important to take a step back and assess how things are going. This is where data analytics comes in, and your outsourced team will help you sift through the noise to understand what matters.
Data will identify which parts of the strategy are working and which parts need to be refined. Your outsourced legal marketing team will keep an eye on the numbers and make changes to the strategy as needed.
When it comes to marketing, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best way to find what works for your law firm is to experiment and try new things. Be sure to track the results of your efforts so that you can see what’s working and what’s not. And don’t be afraid to make changes along the way.
Ready to get started?
An outsourced marketing team can provide you with the skills and experience you need to effectively market your law firm.
When choosing an outsourced team, it’s important to partner with a company that has experience working with law firms. This will ensure that they understand the unique challenges and opportunities that come with marketing a sophisticated professional service.
