Law marketing-europe.com

Question by Rubén Castillo, lawyer, founding partner of Mendoza, Arias, Valle & Castillo (Panama City, Panama)

Publish if you wish to be an expert. Publishing in prestigious media (local, national or international) affords prestige and visibility. Publish if you wish to be perceived, as the case may be, as a lawyer and assessor of reference investments.

Naturally, I am talking about publishing quality contents, targeting specific clients, communicated with efficacy. The mass media want quality contents. Such contents increase circulation, dissemination and gain advertisers, their main source of funding.

The mistake that some law practices make is approaching firms of lawyers with prejudices or with fear. They think, for example, that in certain dailies or sections in them, you only appear if you pay. The media need the forms as much as the firms need the media.

The Head of the Economy Section of one of the main European dailies told me, a few days ago: “We are going for proximity contents increasingly more, those that small and medium-sized companies give us”  [We are referring to small- and medium-sized law practices] What do you think about this? It is an opportunity which small- and medium-sized practices do not seem to have realised.

What do the mass media seek? They want “stories” to tell: practical, understandable and pleasant tips to prevent or solve problems, open offices abroad, bring in new partners, create an international alliance of firms, foreign investment opportunities, etc. Law practices should take into account that the “stories to be told”, the contents, must be consistent with the practice’s market strategy, and should be carefully drawn up and persuasively communicated. This is all compatible with professional codes of conduct. It helps bring the profession closer to society. Fortunately for the future of the profession, the legal profession has evolved in most countries. Professional boards and bar associations no longer “ban advertising (or rather communication), barring exceptions”; and now permit it, barring exceptions.

Advertising (“ads”) is a secondary professional Service marketing technique. The most important thing is not to pay to appear in the media, but rather use your imagination to gain space in them. By paying (for ads) you are stating  that your company is the best; by gaining space, your company demonstrates  its capacity to assess the potential client.

By gaining space in the press and communicating your identity, values and style, not just services, potential customers will be more likely to hire you.
 

© 2007, Francesc Dominguez, marketing consultant, co-author of the book El marketing jurídico [Law Marketing]. www.lawmarketing-europe.com