In a time where there are so many possible ways to market your law firm, one legal marketer can only do so much.
Even the most sophisticated law firms need the support of a robust marketing team to achieve their marketing and business development goals. That’s why we asked our network of expert legal marketers to answer the question, “if you could add only one person to your team in 2024, what position would you create or fill?”
Every firm is different. Your size, marketing and business development activities, and existing marketing team capacity are all factors that determine what kinds of marketing hires you’d need for your firm.
And yet, even though every person we spoke with had a different role in mind, we found a few common themes among them. Some of them will surprise you.
Mine your marketing data (and profit)
Among some law firms we interviewed, there’s a clear need to hire specialists who can confidently examine and make sense of the data that they’re already gathering in their CRM and other systems and use those insights to inform their business development and marketing efforts.
Erin Baxendale, Director of Business Development and Marketing, Clients and Industries at Sidley, would hire a data scientist (or two) to make the most out of their firm’s existing client and relational data. “We have a goldmine of data, and we need data scientists to dig in and mine it for information that can be used to help us predict client behavior, identify new revenue pathways, and other business opportunities we didn’t think to consider. AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics are the way forward,” she said.
Similarly, at Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt, Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer Jennifer Papantonio expressed the need for a candidate experienced in both marketing and business development who can mine their robust pool of marketing data. “Adding a specialist position to our team in 2024 would be ideal. Someone with experience, enthusiasm, and the ability to support both business development and marketing efforts is critical to our growth and the success of our Strategic Growth Plan. Given that client development and targeting are high priorities for our Firm, supporting those efforts through research and use of our marketing tech resources is critical.”
Hire communicators who get it right the first time
Marketers at some of the smaller and mid-sized firms we spoke with would like to hire extra hands to have on deck when executing projects. Right now, many firms use freelancers to produce newsletters, blog posts and social media posts. However, there are advantages to hiring in-house staff, as they will already be familiar with your firm’s culture, visual assets and copywriting style and can exclusively focus on your needs.
In an ideal world, Amy Nielson, who is Chief Marketing Officer at Skarzynski Marick & Black, would hire an in-house graphic designer. She said, “We are a small firm, so we often turn to our group of incredible freelancers for many of our project-specific needs, but I’d love to have an in-house graphic designer!”
While Amy is looking for someone able to get the right look, Matthew Trump, Director of Pitches and Proposals at DLA Piper, would prioritize finding people who are able to find the right words to communicate their message. He would like to be able to hire legal writers with a specialty in business development, especially “people who could communicate the technical aspects of legal service delivery succinctly.”
How to fill the gap
In an ideal world, finding the right person for the job would involve nothing more than snapping your fingers. They would appear instantly and start working as though they’re always been there. But if finger snapping isn’t getting the results you need, it may take some time to get the ideal full-time employee.
In any case, CMO2Go is a good compromise between a freelancer and an in-house employee. Our team of sophisticated legal marketers has deep expertise in working for Am Law 100 and 200 firms and is able to get up to speed quickly to keep your marketing machine running until you find that perfect hire. And what’s more, we’ll stay as long as you need us – and not a moment longer.
