Marketing the Marketing Department: Shedding Light on Your Firm's Strategic Resource

Legal marketing and business development departments all too often end up as a catch-all for random projects within the firm. Sometimes attorneys (and even other firm departments!) don’t realize everything that the marketing department does day-to-day, nor recognize the value the department adds to the bottom line. MBD departments can benefit greatly from project management, process improvement, and data-driven decision-making in order to track their efforts and demonstrate a return on investment.

Here are some strategies that can help: 

1. Use project management tools. Project management tools can help keep track of timelines, budgets, and tasks. This can be particularly useful in managing larger marketing initiatives, such as launching a new website or running a large-scale campaign. They area also a great safety net in the event someone leaves the department unexpectedly, as well as for gaining quick insights into project statuses.

2. Identify areas for process improvement. Take the time to review existing processes - review data, talk to members of the MBD team, get feedback from others that work with the department, and consider personal points of regular frustration. By analyzing current processes and identifying areas for improvement, departments can become more efficient and effective in their operations. This can involve streamlining workflows, implementing automation tools, or establishing clear communication protocols. 

3. Track and analyze data. Marketing departments should track and analyze relevant data to help make data-driven decisions. This can include website traffic, social media engagement, email marketing metrics, and more. Go even more in depth by working with accounting to determine what specific events, projects or initiatives may have on revenue (see #4 below as well). By using data analytics tools, departments can gain insights into what is working and what can be improved. 

4. Demonstrate return on effort. Legal marketing departments should be able to demonstrate the ROI of their efforts. This can involve tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and using data analysis to show the impact of marketing initiatives on the firm's business outcomes. KPIs may include website traffic, leads generated, client acquisition rates, and more. 

5. Continuously evaluate and optimize. It's important to continuously evaluate and optimize marketing initiatives in order to maximize the ROI. This can involve using A/B testing to optimize email campaigns, testing different ad copy and targeting criteria, or experimenting with different social media platforms. Set a quarterly evaluation reminder on your calendar. Checking in regularly can help right a missteered ship more easily and quickly, and prevents feeling overwhelmed by a year (or two or more) of information to analyze.

By implementing these strategies, legal marketing departments can become more efficient and effective in their operations, make data-driven decisions, and demonstrate a clear return on investment for their efforts.

Reach out to Society 54 today and let us help you show off everything your marketing department can do for the firm (and to implement a no-fuss tracking platform)!