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EditorPermalink Reply by Richard Pettet on July 27, 2011 at 15:32

In a word: No.

Seriously, though, how do you find this approach goes down with clients? It's, erm, quite out there and not particularly subtle. Please don't take offence, but it does look rather 'spammy', ironically.

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Permalink Reply by Yair Cohen on July 27, 2011 at 17:00

Hi Richard,

 Well, it is very difficult to offend me Richard, so no, I am not offended at all by your comment.  In fact, I can probably agree with you that this is outrageous, ugly and totally unconventional web page. This particular page is more of a gimmick but nevertheless we are testing it and will know probably within couple of weeks whether or not the page is effective in generating business.

 

This type of marketing has worked for us very well. It generates constant good work on a daily basis. This type of 'unpolished' marketing has brought us some serious clients including PLC companies as well as a bunch of entrepreneurs.

Surprisingly enough, many of these clients are what some might describe as 'old generation', people with some very conservative views. I agree that on the face of it this appears to defy common sense but the truth of the matter is that what you see is actually an organised mess. We test new marketing material all the time but at the end of the day our clients value our creativity and straight forwardness.

 

Lawyers on the other hand hate our approach almost without exception. It goes against everything they ever learned about the way solicitors should present themselves. I spoke to a few who in effect said they rather starve to death than put a green and yellow on their websites. They said it did not fit with their image and they were right. Their image was old and outdated.

 

But whilst their practices are shrinking ours is expanding all the time with new loyal clients joining us every single day.

I really don't know why having green and yellow on our marketing material works. But provided it helps us to reach out to the type of people which we believe we can best, I rather not ask too many questions.....

 

I remember when I was at school I always wondered how come some of the ugliest boys, the ones with the biggest noses and the thickest eyebrows in town were doing so well with the girls. Being a relatively pretty boy I simply could not understand why the girls chose them over me. I now know that there is something about a very big nose which makes it stand out from the rest of the crowd. Once the girls come to check your big nose out, personality takes over.

 

 

Yair

Bains Cohen

 

Richard Pettet said:

In a word: No.

Seriously, though, how do you find this approach goes down with clients? It's, erm, quite out there and not particularly subtle. Please don't take offence, but it does look rather 'spammy', ironically.

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Permalink Reply by Yair Cohen on July 27, 2011 at 17:32

Hi Ralph,

We test elements of our website every day. If I was to tell you our analytics you will probably not believe me anyway. It is beyond the wildest imagination of most solicitors. Our cost per acquisition is very small and the average value per transaction is relatively high (and we are not talking here about £500 conveyancing transactions.)

As for the correct level, the only level that we set is that our marketing must be ethical.

If you go by what appears to be the ‘industry’s acceptable levels’, you will end up swimming more or less in line with all the other fish.  But once you decide to break away, then you are left to set your own levels. People then cannot compare you to anything else they know and being the only one who delivers in a particular way you can get very close to start creating a Monopoly, which is where we all want to be right?

The only way to tell if you have gone too far ( I am not taking about ethically, this must never be compromised)  is to actually test test and test even more. Your clients will let you know.

Yair

Bains Cohen

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Permalink Reply by Simone Pasquini on July 27, 2011 at 18:56

It's definately different ... and a far cry from the big international corporate firms.

 

I suppose the question is not if the site / superman figure / yellow and green is working or not ... but more are you attracting the types of clients you want to work with this very unique approach to  conveying your firm's message.

 

The website site does look a bit of a Jackson Pollock painting with experimentation with different layouts and media on each page.  An eye tracking study of this site would be interesting.

 

Differentiating law firms is always a challenge.  We can see by your replies tha you are very passionate about your work and your site.

 

This approach is definately not suitable for any of my current clients at this time.

 

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Permalink Reply by Lee Taylor on July 27, 2011 at 19:52

Thanks for sharing this Yair - certainly makes the firm stand out. 

 

I agree with Simone in that it would certainly not be a suitable route to go down for some of my clients either, just because the firms values and positioning is focusing on a different target clients.

 

If it's hitting your target clients in the correct manner and getting the response you intended then - well done. 

 

I would just be cautious of overplaying the "being different" aspect so much to the point where the messages you are intending aren't really being received, as if I'm honest, I didn't get passed the third paragraph.  

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Permalink Reply by Yair Cohen on July 27, 2011 at 20:08

You are right Simone. The question that matters the most is whether or not you can capture the market of your choice. Having done this a number of times, I think it is always best to choose your desired market first and then work the marketing message around it.  This way you might end up appealing to a smaller audience but with a razor sharp marketing message.

Simone Pasquini said:

It's definately different ... and a far cry from the big international corporate firms.

 

I suppose the question is not if the site / superman figure / yellow and green is working or not ... but more are you attracting the types of clients you want to work with this very unique approach to  conveying your firm's message.

 

The website site does look a bit of a Jackson Pollock painting with experimentation with different layouts and media on each page.  An eye tracking study of this site would be interesting.

 

Differentiating law firms is always a challenge.  We can see by your replies tha you are very passionate about your work and your site.

 

This approach is definately not suitable for any of my current clients at this time.

 

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Permalink Reply by Yair Cohen on July 27, 2011 at 22:10

Hi  Lee,

Great feedback. Much appreciated.  

I know you don't have any reputational issues so am not surprised you could not read pass the third paragraph. It is almost like your GP going on and on about an illness you don't even have. Terribly boring.

I am very happy to have provoked this discussion. It is of course a case of horses for courses. To be fair I don't know of many solicitors who will choose to adopt the marketing route which we have developed or of many legal marketing experts who will be brave enough to advocate our marketing strategies to their own clients, even if shown hard proof that it works.

I do think however that time has finally arrived for us as solicitors, especially in the smaller firms to take the initiative and start experimenting with different marketing strategies which might at present time be foreign to the legal profession but which are very acceptable in so many other industries.  I think this concept of borrowing ideas from other industries and applying them to law firms is essential to the future survival of many of us.

Yair

Bains Cohen

Lee Taylor said:

Thanks for sharing this Yair - certainly makes the firm stand out. 

 

I agree with Simone in that it would certainly not be a suitable route to go down for some of my clients either, just because the firms values and positioning is focusing on a different target clients.

 

If it's hitting your target clients in the correct manner and getting the response you intended then - well done. 

 

I would just be cautious of overplaying the "being different" aspect so much to the point where the messages you are intending aren't really being received, as if I'm honest, I didn't get passed the third paragraph.  

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EditorPermalink Reply by Richard Pettet on July 28, 2011 at 9:41

Yair, I want to see you take the next step ... a video like this?

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Permalink Reply by Yair Cohen on July 28, 2011 at 10:01

Good point Ralph. I agree that marketing plans should be built on the basis of long term goals rather than for quick immediate gains.

And there are ‘problems’ of course. One of the issues is that as soon as you find ways to appeal to a niche market you almost automatically stop appealing to the rest of the crowd. But is this really a problem or is it actually a good thing?

I have found that solicitors are very scared of the concept of niche marketing mainly because they are focused on the clients they may lose rather than the ones they stand to gain.  My argument is that solicitors’ website should be an attraction that people come and see what this is all about. Once you have attracted your visitors, what matters is the content and the cosmetics become irrelevant. Little has been said so far about content and perhaps too much about cosmetics which I think is an indication that what is important to us, as marketing people might be different to what is important to the clients.  What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Yair Cohen on July 28, 2011 at 11:43

100% agreeing with you. The only way to know is by pushing the boundaries slowly and by testing. They key is TESTING. I would say the amount of material that we end up dumping is far greater than the amount of material that we are actually ending up using.

I believe that many law firms find it too expensive to constantly test new things because marketing experts, consultants, web developers and designers need to be paid after all. This is why law firms rather play it “safe” so that they don't get stuck with something which does not work and which will cost an absolute fortune to change.

Perhaps solicitors should be taught by legal marketing experts how to place themselves in charge of their own marketing rather than simply having the marketing done for them. Give them the confidence to test new ideas, cheaply and they will end up doing some great things.

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Permalink Reply by Yair Cohen on August 7, 2011 at 19:55

Ralph,

I was wondering if Richard be kind enough to post a poll on the website asking lawyers whether they feel they are deterred from testing new marketing strategies because of the costs which are involved in doing so. I think it is important to get to the bottom of this because I recon there is a good chance that solicitors’ marketing is weak and repetitive because of this very reason.

Once the cause of the problem is identified, the problem can be fixed (I suppose).

Ralph Anderson said:

Of course, testing is all part of the work.

I don't think many law firms are hindered by marketing costs too much, although it may be the case with quite a few. Rather I think the difference is whether they are being proactive with it enough to try out new areas. You are very good because you have a very proactive attitude to your marketing and if it works, don't change it. But it doesn't cost much to change a marketing strategy per se - if an agency is on retainer then the fees may increase or decrease according to the scale of the campaign but it won't necessarily require huge one-off fees to implement.

Solicitors are very much in control of their marketing, especially in PR because they have to be happy with what is sent to journalists. They are always in control of their website and brochures too. Agencies will work for solicitors but it is never the case that the agencies are left to it. 

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