In February, the Baltimore Local chapter of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) held a lunch and learn to view a “Data Visualization Workshop” webinar, presented by LMA all-stars, David Ackert, President of Ackert, Inc. and Kevin Iredell, at the time Director of Business Development at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan (now CMO at Lowenstein Sandler).
In Baltimore, we preferred the camaraderie of dining together over sitting at our lonely desks watching the screen (while no doubt being distracted by emails and a variety of fires needing immediate extinguishing).
...it was time for setting goals and measuring progress. But where to begin?
This was a particularly timely event for me since I am the first in-house marketer at my firm and had just completed six months of “getting the house in order.” Then it was time for setting goals and measuring progress. But where to begin?
My main takeaways from the presentation were 1) the difference between metrics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators); and 2) that these measurements must align with what is important to your firm.
As is alluded to in the name, KPIs are an analysis of your metrics over time. They give you insights, not just data.
Here are a few examples the presenters shared:
Metric: website conversions
KPI: conversion rates over a period of time as compared to that time period in previous years
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Metric: number of visitors to your trade booth
KPI: comparison of booth visitors this year vs. last, or compared to your competitor across the aisle
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Metric: RFPs sent
KPI: RFP win/loss rate
But marketing doesn’t operate in a vacuum. We must align our measurements with our firm’s goals.
...metrics and KPIs must align with what is important to your firm
Does the firm want to expand a certain practice area? Acquire another firm? Grow revenue from a particular industry? What is important to the firm and why? Now, we can look at what metrics to measure and subsequently create our KPIs.
Once you have your KPIs, what do you do with them?
Which are worth sharing with management, and how often? Your response and analysis are critical in drawing that elusive line between marketing and business development/ROI.
We need to know why we are spending our marketing dollars and how it makes us successful (or not). Tie your metrics to firm performance. Knowledge is power! KPIs help us to move from being perceived as support staff to acting as strategic advisors.
And what about that proverbial “seat at the table?” We may not be on the firm’s executive or management committee, but by presenting strategic business metrics – and your analysis of the KPIs - you’ll become a go-to source for practice chairs and others looking for advice on cutting wasteful spending; presenting the initiatives that generate the greatest ROI; enabling new revenue by identifying leads and cross-selling opportunities; and demonstrating that marketing is a revenue enabler rather than overhead.
In addition to the many metrics and KPI ideas I took back with me, we were also warned not to get complacent with our measurements, especially when your firm is doing well. Even if there doesn’t seem to be any pressure to demonstrate that we are making smart decisions with marketing dollars, we should always be coming from a position of knowledge.
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Alice Simons is Marketing Communications Manager at Hudson Cook, LLP. The statements in this article represent those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hudson Cook, LLP, its partners or clients.
