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MARKETING FOR LAW FIRMS

Marketing law firms is an art. Marketing is more than just advertising. Smart firms realize that people form opinions and make decisions based on the images and messages they receive. These images and messages are present in the firm's logo, business cards, and website, as well as in print, broadcast, and electronic advertising. Marketing starts first internally with your infrastructure, your firm, and the leadership of the firm.

Good firms have good marketing plans.  It is not how much you spend as much as HOW you spend it. Catalyst will work with your firm and vendors you choose to make yourself an effective marketer. 

"Today's lawyers are in a competitive environment and every marketing dollar spent has to be a smart one. There are so many ways to market a law firm, some free and some costly. A marketing plan is crucial and it has to start with a plan. It begins with the message and the image you want to deliver. A final element of the plan is how you handle the new cases. Lawyers tend to forget that you may get a lot of cases but can you deliver the product and can you deliver it in a reasonable time to generate a steady income stream with a profit as the end result."

                                   Cheryl Leone
                                   Excerpt from Marketing on a Shoestring
                                   Published 2001 Law Office Professional

Among many things, Catalyst can develop with you are:

Basic Brand Marketing Package

The Basic Brand Marketing Package is designed to give the firm a high-quality, professional, and consistent image in the materials it uses on a daily basis. The package includes creation and design of visual identity system for firm. A firm should have an image that carries its image through from its stationery to the business cards to the promotional materials to the website and even into the television market. Image is everything! You cheat yourself and your firm if you settle for less.

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New Client Orientation Kit

The Client Orientation Kit is designed around the principle of client service. The package is intended to reinforce the clients' positive perception of your firm, while providing them with information on the firm, the process, what they can expect, and a specialty item designed to help keep your name in front of them, all contained in a portfolio they can use to store all of their case papers.

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Website Development

In our opinion, a firm's website coupled with wise use of the internet will be the single most important leap law firms make in marketing their firm in the 21st Century.

The website is a tremendous marketing and advertising tool that is overlooked by many firms. This is often the first place a prospective client goes for information regarding the firm and its associates. First impressions are critical, and can lead to the actual phone call and new business. We will work with you to decide how you want your website to look and what you want to say. A website is your story of your firm. We will then work with a third party vendor to deliver the website.

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Television Commercials

Television has proven to be an extremely effective medium for advertising. When properly done, the combination of visual images and audio can reinforce brand identity and motivate people to action. Commercials can be produced emphasizing specific niches or areas of expertise, or they can be more generic in nature.

Television is not for everyone but when you decide this is the way you want to go working with the right company and doing the right commercial can make or break your firm. Catalyst works with commercial producers so that your voice is being heard when you make your commercials. Because we understand law and the consumer, we know what needs to be said.

Television advertising is taking a new turn and you must be prepared to position yourself wisely. The most popular purchase right now by TV consumers is the option to record shows now and watch later. Thus, TV consumers are bypassing commercials. The question becomes what you do about this. Now is the time to think about the future of television marketing.

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Print Ad Campaigns

Print ad concepts can be used in a variety of mediums, including newspapers, magazines, trade publications, the Yellow Pages, billboards, etc. It is all in how you deliver the message.

Yellow Page placement is costly and intends to increase year by year. Learning to get a handle on how it works and how to negotiate the placement is crucial. Catalyst can work with you and your representative or handle it for you.

Print Ad includes marketing your firm through writing articles, press releases, and placement of effective newspaper advertising in the right venues.

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Radio Commercials

Radio is another way to effectively target your desired audience. As with television, commercials can be produced emphasizing specific areas of expertise, or in a more generic form.

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Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail is an excellent way to target very specific niches with your message. The concept, graphic design, layout, photographs, and copy writing of a direct mail marketing piece is crucial to deliver the right message and the right image.

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Media Research, Negotiation, & Placement

Once you have decided to advertise, the next step is determining the best way to allocate your budget to maximize the value to you. Our company can handle all media research, planning, negotiation, placement, and reconciliation of account billing, while ensuring that you get the best deals possible. The media outlets typically pay a 15% agency commission, which does not impact your cost.

* In the event a media outlet does not offer agency commission, you will be billed the 15% commission.

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Market Research

We offer a variety of market research options, including primary demographic research, targeted research, competitive analysis, professionally moderated focus groups, telephone surveys, etc.

Catalyst surveys are a great way to find out what your clients are thinking. Catalyst mails on-going surveys to your clients, past and present, to find out how they view your firm. We take this information and give it to you so you can see what changes you need to make in your marketing as well as delivery of your product. This is a valuable tool in your growth.

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Specialty Merchandise

Specialty items run the gamut from high-end to inexpensive. They can be used internally for your own staff (leather portfolios with embossed logo, for example), or as prospective client giveaways. We offer literally thousands of specialty merchandise options, from briefcases to shirts, hats, mugs, pens, refrigerator magnets, stress balls, and more. Each object can be personalized with your firm's logo and/or message.

Note: Our Company does not believe nor would it be fair to you to lead you to believe that we do anything and everything in marketing. We believe when it comes to marketing you need a voice that understands you and can negotiate the best possible prices coupled with delivery of the message and the projection of the imagine of your firm. We are forward thinking and visionary.

Those matters we can handle in house we do. Those matters that need third parties involved are done taking into account that we only deal with vendors we know share similar values and deliver high end product. Our company is in no way financially rewarded for use of vendors we recommend. We are looking for the right company for you if we cannot handle it ourselves.

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MARKET YOUR PEOPLE - MARKET YOUR FIRM

One of the most forgotten areas of marketing is the men and women who work with you. Learning to market your people is an art. Teaching them how to project themselves in a positive way reflects well upon the firm. Catalyst helps your firm develop programs that create venues for the lawyers and non-lawyers to write articles, make presentations, and create a positive image for the firm. When you get the names of your people out in public, the name of your firm is automatically spoken. Consumers respect firms who hire highly visible employees.

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CLIENTS AS MINI-MARKETERS

Most law firms simply think client service is a given. This simply is not true. Until you develop a good client service program that works, you are throwing away valuable marketing dollars that are free. Every time a client refers someone to you, that is a "free marketing case". Unfortunately, lawyers do not know how to make the client get out there and market the firm. The role of a developed client relationship-marketing program is to get the client to not only say something good about you but to say something great!


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