Law Firm Marketing: Outsource It or Do It Yourself?

Law Firm Executives in Meeting.jpg

You went to law school to practice law. You also recognize that marketing is an essential function for your business to grow and thrive, especially when the economy is in a downturn. While some lawyers enjoy performing marketing tasks for their firms, many would rather focus on client work than marketing operations and execution.  

Consider the Facts 

The American Bar Association found in firms of two to nine lawyers…  

  • 39 percent say their marketing content is created by more than one lawyer, 

  • 38 percent say their marketing content is created by outside consultants and 

  • 27 percent report that only one lawyer is responsible for creating the content for the firm’s website.  

Factor in Business Goals and Time 

It takes time to develop and execute a strong content marketing plan that puts your firm on the same playing field as the larger competition. You need to consider your business development goals, what content your target audience would find valuable and where to distribute the content, among other things.  

You also need to factor in how much time you or someone at the firm can devote to executing marketing. Do you have time to handle all the components in-house or should you outsource some or all of it?  

Evaluate Necessary Marketing Tasks 

You may be wondering, what type of marketing tasks law firms should perform consistently? Consider the following: 

  • Create and manage a content calendar  

  • Write original content for blogs on a regular basis (typically at least 1-2 times per month, although some prefer to blog weekly or more)  

  • Write eBooks, guides or FAQs for website  

  • Update firm website copy, photos and team bios  

  • Establish and monitor marketing KPIs to ensure they support business development  

  • Monitor, format and publish content on your website from white-label services if you have subscriptions  

  • Regularly update your pitch book  

  • Share content across social media channels  

  • Monitor social media analytics  

  • Create and distribute email touchpoints, such as newsletters, alerts or invitations to events 

Stay Involved Regardless of Delegation 

Think about the list above and your current team members. Is there someone who has the interest and time to do to all these items and more? If you don’t have someone in-house who is willing and able to take on all your marketing needs, consider outsourcing it to an agency that understands your industry.  

You also have the option to outsource portions of your marketing needs, such as content creation, and leave deployment of it in-house, as an example.  

Let’s say you decide to outsource all of your marketing operations. That doesn’t mean you are completely out of the process. We encourage business owners to be active in the development and maintenance of a content calendar, for instance. As you work with clients, you may spot a common issue that would make a great topic for an eBook or blog post. You can pass that along to the marketing agency you work with, who can add it to the content calendar.  

You can also share upcoming events or sponsorships that should be noted in communications to clients, prospects and referral sources. You also should have final say about what appears on your site or what is sent out via email or social media.  

If you’re feeling a bit stuck in this process of determining what’s best for your firm or have already decided you need to outsource certain marketing tasks, please email us to set up a consultation. 

Katie Gilmore