OP ED: 3 Tips for any Law Firm Looking to Grow Via a Digital Marketing Agency

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  1. WORK WITH AN AGENCY TO DEVELOP AN ANNUAL MARKETING PLAN

Keeping track of where you are with your marketing initiatives is no easy task, that is why it is so important to have an annual plan in place. Start by asking yourself some of the following questions to see if you’re on the right track:

  • Do you have an annual marketing plan? 
  • Is that plan made up of different objectives? What are those objectives? 
  • Are you a larger firm looking to prioritize the health of your website to reap the benefits of SEO in the long term, or maybe you are looking to generate as much traffic on-site as quickly as possible via Online Advertising to get your currently dead phones ringing? Maybe a mixture of the two? 
  • Do you even have the reporting in place to judge the progress of your marketing objectives per your annual plan? 

If you couldn’t come up with easily identifiable answers relatively quickly, you probably need to start the conversation with your agency around an annual marketing plan and some corresponding objectives. That said, the thing about objectives and plans, in general, is that they tend to work a whole lot better when you make them early on and have the infrastructure in place to support them. They also tend to be easier to accomplish when you set out milestones to work towards while looking at specific KPIs on a regular basis to judge the performance of your marketing campaign. Looking at your macro KPIs like MQLs, IQLs, and AQLs (Marketing, Intake, and Attorney Qualified Leads), your ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), and your overall ROI (Return on Investment) can help you to better understand at a micro level such as lead attribution and conversion data so you can put more funding behind the channels that are supplying your firm with the qualified leads, or average time a potential client stays in each stage of your intake process which can you help you find and address bottlenecks. KPIs that I will go over below, can keep you informed on if you are headed toward or away from your goals. When working with an agency, having clear and open communication around your technical infrastructure, reporting, and being sure you are provided with the right KPIs, will only do more to ensure that your agency is helping you achieve your goals rather than steering you off course.

2. SETTING THE RIGHT FOUNDATIONAL TECH STACK

When it comes to building out the infrastructure for your marketing, i.e. your tech stack, perhaps the most important and simultaneously overlooked qualifier by many lawyers is how well their tech integrates with another tech. Similarly as in my last tip, here are some qualifying questions to think about when starting down this road:

  • Do you currently utilize call tracking software?
  • Do you currently utilize intake management software?
  • Does your call tracking software integrate with your intake management software? 
  • Does your intake management software have an open API? 
  • Does it integrate with your Matter Management Software? 
  • Do you have access to a reporting platform to utilize so that you can cohesively analyze the data between these softwares? 

If you are having trouble answering any of these questions or identifying where to even start, my advice is always to first consult with your agency as they should be able to direct and guide you. My second piece of advice if you are currently between agencies is to build backwards. Start thinking like the end-consumer. Start with the first step in the process from where your potential clients would engage with you – your intake process as accommodated by your Intake Management Software. Look for a software that is easy to use, has a good ratio of price to features that you’ve identified as valuable for your firm, and integrates well with the other technology you may already be utilizing. When it comes to integrations, most of these softwares will have an app marketplace, or integration center, that should have some search functionality so that you can see what integrations are currently offered within the software’s ecosystem. BEWARE – Not all integrations are created equal. Some integrations may save hundreds of hours of work by creating and connecting records, or pushing data between softwares automatically updating said records via a two-way sync of their APIs, ultimately saving yourself or your team hours of manual input. Other integrations, however, may do something completely worthless like create a task for you to manually enter that data. If there is one place for due diligence in your entire marketing ecosystem – it’s your tech stack. Making sure to seek out an agency that has experience adapting to a broad swath of different softwares, utilizing them effectively to deliver the reporting you’re looking for, and making recommendations on better softwares for your techstack, can help you get the reporting you need in a faster, more cost-effective manner. 

 

3. UNDERSTANDING WHICH KPIS MATTER AND WHICH DON’T

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are key pieces of data that help you judge the performance of your marketing. As a marketer, sometimes I take these indicators for granted, but as an advocate for my clients, I understand that digging deeper into KPIs with my clients helps clarify which metrics matter and which metrics are fluff, so that they can keep track of where I am in regards to accomplishing their goals. One example of metrics that I would consider fluff is overall website traffic. This one can be tricky, but put simply, I would rather see lead volume increase than an increase in overall website traffic. One of my favorite marketing sayings comes from Facebook in regards to likes, “Likes don’t keep the lights on.” This is true for website traffic in the sense that increased traffic on your website is meaningless if it’s not leading to increased conversions and ultimately paying clients. In regards to where your KPIs should be coming from, ideally, it’s a multitude of different sources. An agency that utilizes multiple industry standards such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google Ads, alongside Call/Text/Form Fill Tracking and your particular Intake Management Software/CRM will be able to provide you with more accurate data. Higher data accuracy in turn leads to better reporting and ultimately data-driven decisions for your firm’s marketing. It’s important to remember that tying softwares together is a meticulous process and one that needs to be done right the first time, or not at all, as having inaccurate data can have immensely negative implications.

All this to say, an experienced digital agency partnership paired with the right tech stack should provide you with impactful KPIs. Here are just some of the specific KPIs I would recommend any firm have readily available:

  • MQLs | Marketing Qualified Leads – The number of leads from all your different marketing channels. This can help you better understand how many individuals took actionable steps toward becoming a client be it a call, form fill, or a chat.
  • IQLs | Intake Qualified Leads – The number of leads that were qualified as potential clients in your intake management software via your intake process. This can help you better understand your ideal client, and hone your intake process to weed out unqualified leads at a more efficient rate.
  • AQLs | Attorney Qualified Leads – The number of leads that were qualified by an attorney as a result of a consultation where the attorney confirmed the lead as having a qualified matter that the firm would like to take. This is the lowest part of the lead qualification funnel and can help you better identify your conversion rates and the number of MQLs you need to achieve your target number of matters.
  • CAC | Customer Acquisition Cost – The monetary cost associated with acquiring a new client. Understanding for example what it costs to get an individual who is looking for a personal injury attorney to click your ad and submit a contact form on your site, eventually becoming a new client, can help you with budgetary decisions.
  • ROAS | Return on Ad Spend – A ratio that shows how much you made for every dollar you spent on digital advertising. This can help you better understand the success of your ad campaigns.
  • ROI | Return on Investment – The overall amount of money you made from your matters that came from your marketing campaigns in comparison to the money you spent on marketing. Understanding your overall ROI on your marketing dollars can help you diagnose the health of your budget in relation to your overall sales growth, to keep the two in a healthy balance.
  • CVR | Conversion Rate – This is usually a percentage associated with leads that took a valued action on your site. Knowing your CVR for certain aspects of your marketing campaigns can help you to A/B Test, and make micro-improvements that can lead to more leads turning into clients over the long run.
CONCLUSION

An agency that implements a strategic annual plan that aligns with your goals, efficiently utilizes your current tech stack and advises you on better software solutions for your needs, and offers reporting on the most poignant KPIs to keep your plan on track and help you achieve your overarching goals is the ideal partner. Working with an agency that strives for the ideal partnership can only lead to better results than one that does not, so it’s important to apply these tips where applicable in your search for the right agency to grow with.

 

Luhrsen Goldberg | Not Abiding By Majority Rule

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Not Abiding By Majority Rule

The Women with Mockingbird

The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. – Atticus Finch

Not Abiding By Majority Rule is an interview series with some of the female business owners, partners, and leaders that Mockingbird has the fortune of working with every day. Women are nearing 40% of attorneys at U.S. firms today, which – credit where it’s due – is a large jump from a decade prior. But there is still a steep decline when it comes to women who have a significant financial stake in firms. Female attorneys account for only 23.3% among equity partners. 23%!! To be clear…

…if you have 4 equity partners in a room, less than one of those people is female.

So, we’re going to talk about the less than 1 in 4.

Because they are awesome.

Because they had to be.

Today’s interview is with Luhrsen Goldberg, a women-owned personal injury law firm out of Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Named partners Julie Luhrsen and Christina Goldberg have established a reputation as skilled, tenacious and trustworthy advocates for their clients, and are redefining the practice of personal injury. They are a boutique law firm with a mission to restore justice by getting their clients the maximum compensation for their injuries. And it’s made the Sarasota competition pay attention to these two women. Let’s just say they may or may not have received a cease and desist asking them to stop advertising.

What made you want to become an attorney? When did you know?

JL: Unlike my law partner (who knew at age 8 that she wanted to be a lawyer), becoming a lawyer was a decidedly gradual process for me. I toyed with the idea as an undergrad … after graduation, I dangled my foot in the water by working as a litigation paralegal for a quintessentially big, downtown defense firm…a couple of years of that work and I was persuaded and convinced that I wanted to become a lawyer…and the rest, as they say, is history.

CAG: I’ve always been a planner – always. It looks a bit different now than it did when I was a child but…as a kid, if there was a plan, I set goals, milestones, deadlines, and I stuck to the plan no matter what. As I’ve aged I’ve managed to learn to shift with the tides and welcome fate as it comes, but I’m grateful for my “stick-to-it-iveness” as a child, when I got an idea in my head that I wanted to speak up, help, and WIN…and what better way to do that than to be a lawyer?

Women account for almost half the workforce, but that percentage declines steeply between associate and managing partners – Any idea as to why that may be? What advice or tips did you receive that you attribute to your success? What advice or tips would you give the female associates out there now?

JL: I think my own personal experience speaks directly to why this happens. After my first child was born, circumstances allowed me to stay home for awhile. That hiatus turned into nearly “seven years of maternity leave,” as I jokingly refer to the period from my first child’s birth to my second child’s starting kindergarten. While I wouldn’t trade that time with my kids for anything, it did put me behind professionally. More women struggle with how to successfully juggle both (i.e. the demands of family and home with the competing demands and responsibilities that come with ascending the legal ladder) while also dealing with the background of implicit societal biases about the roles of men and women. Thankfully, conditions are evolving and with it a shrinking of the gap. In the meantime, female associates should collaboratively partner in life and at work with those with compatible outlooks…….

CAG: I think this has a lot to do with growing families. Aside from the obvious physical pregnancy, women tend to bear the brunt of the parenting role. As the dynamic of relationships change, I think we will start to see a shift in this. Me, for example – I PLANNED to be pregnant early – I passed the bar exam, the very next day I was in court at my first hearing at 8.5 months pregnant (a MISERABLE experience at the time but one I am so grateful for now), and 2 weeks later I was giving birth. I planned this so that I would have my son near the end of the year, take the rest off, then start the new year, and my new career, RUNNING. I made this choice because I know who I am. I knew being a stay-at-home mom wasn’t for me, I’ve always had bigger goals and I wanted to be mom extraordinaire. So I made it happen.

What are some circumstances or challenges you did not expect about being a female in this space?

JL: While I understand that the very qualities that are prized in men are often handicaps for women, it nevertheless still surprises me that some people – both in the general public and in the legal arena, have such visceral reactions to us.

CAG: Can’t say I’ve been surprised by anything, truthfully. But I also don’t use it as a reason for bitterness – I use it as a spring board to propel myself, my firm, my career, forward. It is a skill not to care what people think…and I’m proud that in this predominantly male-led field, my law partner and I have made names for ourselves…by being nothing but the honest and ethical women we are.

What do you love most about being a female in the industry?

JL: I’ve been in practice for a long time now and so part of what’s so great is watching the continued evolution and progress we’ve made.

CAG: I love being part of the change. I love being underestimated. I love being able to use misconceptions against my opponents. An encounter with me will leave a male counterpart rethinking his preconceived notions about what a female attorney is.

How did you persevere through the tougher times?

JL: I’m a firm believer in together we’re better and made it through some of the tougher times thanks to the help and support of friends, colleagues and co-workers.

CAG: My faith is strong…always. And I never isolate myself – indeed, together we’re better.

How important is a mentor? Did you have one? Does everyone need one?

JL: Mentors are invaluable and I’ve been fortunate to work with/for/alongside some really good ones. As for whether everyone needs one, see above (and be wary of anyone who thinks they don’t).

CAG: SO VITALLY IMPORTANT! I have many mentors to this day. I don’t pretend to know it all – it would be supremely irresponsible of me to do so. How better to learn than to surround yourself with those more learned??

What is the best approach to negotiating salary?

JL: Be prepared – do your homework and put your advocacy skills to good end.

CAG: Know your worth. End of story. If you don’t value yourself, you cannot expect others to value you. Notice I said KNOW your worth – not FAKE your worth. Be secure in your work ethic, drive, and vision, and KNOW what you bring to the table. This allows you to stay in a position of faith and power. There is no room for needy in a negotiation.

What do you want to achieve next?

JL: Continue to strategically grow our firm while ensuring that we don’t compromise our values and the kind of service we pride ourselves on providing that distinguishes us from others. While we enjoy that we stand apart for being a woman-owned firm, I look forward to the day when that’s not actually a noteworthy distinction!

CAG: Growth – I want to provide more services for our clients, I want to employ more people, provide for more families. I’d like to finally start allowing myself to play hard – I work hard so finding that balance is becoming more and more necessary!

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