Knowledge Of Legal Rules
Knowledge Of Legal Rules
Knowledge Of Legal Rules have difficulty seeing the difference. They are so ingrained at watching commercials that have no inherent value except to put a company’s name into the ether that when they decide they want to create video, they say “I want what they have.” The only problem is that what they’ve been watching is branding an image or a company.
Here’s what I mean. When you watch a commercial for McDonalds, the commercial doesn’t say, come down to our restaurant at 52 Main Street and get a happy meal. Rather, it talks about the company in general. When Nike runs an ad for a new sneaker, they don’t say “Pick up your new sneakers at our megastore in Times Square in Manhattan. They just want you to know about Knowledge Of Legal Rules new sneaker.
When Apple comes out with their shiny new object every few months, they don’t tell you in the commercial that you can get yours today in their Manhasset store on Northern Boulevard. So what’s the difference?
The Difference Between Branding & Lawyer Marketing
Branding is simply putting a general message into the airwaves (or cable) without having any way to track the results of the ad. Nike has no way to track how many of their customers buy their new sneakers because of the commercial. Same with McDonalds and even Apple. These companies intentionally create messages to get ‘brand awareness’ out there, to be seen and recognized.
Yet every Knowledge Of Legal Rules professional will tell you that advertising without having a way to track your return on your investment is a very poor choice and ultimately a waste of money. That is true. However, these big companies have enough money to advertise that In House Counsel don’t seem to mind that they can’t track the results of each ad.
Lawyers however should not be branding. Lawyers should be laser focused on marketing. The difference? Marketing allows you to track each and every message you send out via any media; TV, radio, display ad, billboard, online, etc. For those of you who follow marketing guru Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer, you know that they both tell you that you must track your ROI (return on investment) in order to know what works and what doesn’t. Otherwise, you’re simply wasting your time and money.
I don’t know any lawyer or law firm who is willing to waste either of those two resources.
Marketing creates an educational message and has a call to action where you tell your viewer (or reader) what to do next. Branding never does that.
What type of media is ‘best’ to market your message? As much as I love using video, you know there is no one single ‘best’ method. In fact, you should be using as many different types of media to market your trackable message. Having said that, I truly believe that using video is the best way to communicate with someone you have never met who is searching for an attorney with your expertise.
Branding is paying money to put the name of your law firm on a highway, without your phone number. That accomplishes little. Marketing shows the world your expertise and gives people a way to get in touch with you. It allows you to see whether the ad is working. Lawyers should be marketing not branding.
