Don't Be Afraid to Try Something New

As lawyers, we are notoriously old-school. We are slow to change. Even those who consider themselves on the cutting edge of technology are usually just midway on the blade somewhere. Being slow to change serves us well. Our clients rely on us for some of the most important things in their lives – major purchase agreements, such as homes, wills, pursuing damages for a catastrophic injury, defending claims…the list goes on. Due to the confidential nature of our client relationships, we are even more guarded about our communications, ensuring that confidentiality is not breached.

But when it comes to marketing, there is no reason to remain in the dark ages. If your idea of marketing is deciding whether to change up your letterhead, someone is probably eating your lunch. Tried and true methods of the past may not be working anymore or at minimum not working as well. People change. What may have been convincing before simply isn’t anymore. Your competition changes, too. It may be time to try something new or try something that you have been doing in a new way.

Now a word of caution...

While it is important to try new things, diving headfirst into an expensive state-of-the-art marketing tool may not be the best use of your resources either. Baby steps. Try it out. Do it well. See how it goes. You can find great examples of not heeding this cautionary tale on TikTok. While TikTok video snippets look like they’re thrown together and casual, most of the good ones are produced within an inch of their life. They are rehearsed. There is professional lighting and tedious editing. Great music and graphics. But the lawyers who naively plunged into the fray without investing in this preparation often embarrass themselves. Bad marketing is worse than no marketing. All marketing should be done well.

Of course, all marketing efforts should complement each other.

Investing in a bang-up digital advertising campaign that drives people to your out-of-date website will not be very effective. If that same stellar digital advertising campaign drives people to call a number that isn’t answered or is answered by someone who does not know anything about the practice area or niche that you are selling? That is money wasted.

You are looking for the most bang for your marketing buck. What is going to hit your target audience? What is going to motivate them to take action – call, text, email, or reach out online to you? What is going to convince them? What is going to close the deal? Not all marketing tools fit all needs. But sometimes trying something new is just what is needed.