At its core, firm leadership has three goals, which are sometimes implicit outside office walls:
- Keep current clients happy
- Attract new clients
- Grow and evolve practice areas that will attract higher paying new clients
Yet law firms and other professional service organizations often mistake events and advertising as the best methods for gaining new work. That’s not to say both of those efforts don’t have their place. But as law firm and professional services marketing pioneer Bruce Marcus observes, they should be just parts of a multi-faceted business development approach that includes (in equal, if not greater measure) media relations. 
Advertising is great if you want someone to know who you are or what you’re selling. Special events are fine if you want to tell clients about yourself and entice new business prospects with golf outings or trips to plays, operas and sporting events.
However, neither demonstrates your expertise or highlights unique qualifications. Quite frankly, advertising and client events do nothing to distinguish you from the myriad of legal providers catering to businesses in a particular city. Unless you’re at a global powerhouse with 2,000 attorneys in 25 offices, you are part of a vast majority of mid-size law firms virtually indistinguishable to potential clients.
Therefore, how can you set yourself apart?
The goal of any comprehensive, multifaceted business development plan should be to bring in new business by increasing awareness and then enhancing the reputation of the firm as a legal resource with a significant amount of “thought leadership” in multiple practice areas.
Marketing and advertising certainly increase awareness, but only targeted, strategic media relations efforts enhance a firm’s reputation through third-party validation.
Thought leadership results from positioning your attorneys in newspapers, magazines, trade publications and on television as contributors, authors, expert sources and speakers.
Just how much does thought leadership matter?
For potential clients and general counsel at large corporations, it’s critical to their decision-making process.
If you’re not a global firm, who are the specialized thought leaders who will help potential deep pocket clients consider your firm instead of one of the big boys? Once the current leadership or names on the building step aside, have you determined the next generation that will preserve your firm’s legacy?
If you’re not hiring a new heavy hitter from a larger firm to lead a new practice area, how do you get a new person established as a go-to authority in his or her field? (Hint: It’s not through advertising or by shaking hands at a firm mixer.)
But as is the case when choosing a law firm, pick a public relations partner wisely.
At WordWrite, we have the relationships in the media to get you in front of the audiences that need to learn about your capabilities. We also have experience generating results for professional service firms that previously had little or no presence in the media and no knowledge of how to position themselves to the press.
We’ll supplement and enhance your existing business development efforts as trusted advisors. An internal marketing department for mid-size firms simply can’t do it all. That’s no indictment, just reality. The attorneys can’t do it all either.
We can be your “of-counsel” when it comes to telling your story, reaching new business targets and establishing your attorneys as go-to resources for the press when legal news breaks.
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Jeremy Church is an account supervisor for WordWrite Communications.
He can be reached at jeremy.church@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @churchjeremy.
