Legal Marketing & The Need for Soft Skills

Frequently when I speak with potential marketing clients for the first time they are eager to tell me about all the ‘technology’ and digital tools they use in their marketing campaigns.  It is rare for them to express any concern about the actual message they are delivering in their marketing.  There are so many ways to reach audiences through technology today that it’s easy to forget about the soft skills or human skills that are essential to marketing campaigns.  Experience has taught me, the more professional and expensive the service, the more you need human skills in your marketing approach.

Most digital marketing companies focus on technology skills for their employees. Of course these skills are important, but if your message isn’t engaging your audience it doesn’t matter how that message is delivered.

I regularly see examples of digital marketing that has relied too much on technology and message delivery rather than the content of the message.  The simplest example is websites.  So many websites are built on templates, including the content.  Often these templates use 80-90% of standard, regurgitated content and 10% of original content. 

I’ve reviewed websites that highlight staff who left the business years ago. A more common issue is a website whose content doesn’t reflect the brand of my client. I’m amazed at how many clients haven’t thoroughly reviewed their websites, read the content, and verified the emails and phone numbers are correct.  

If your marketing relies too much on templates and not enough original content, you will not develop trust with your audience. When you’re hiring marketing staff or a marketing agency, look at their experience within the legal industry.  Ask for content samples!  Most businesses ask for website samples but they focus exclusively on design and layout, not the content.  Read the content from the viewpoint of the audience.  Does the content connect with you?  Is it informative and persuasive?  

Think about the following example, both sentences convey the same information but the second one sounds much more personal.

“Our lawyers offer a free initial consultation for new clients”

OR

“Our lawyers believe everybody deserves to feel confident about their case and their legal team.  We begin with a free initial consultation to understand what your specific goals are for your case.”

If you need help creating a successful marketing strategy and improving your results, please feel free to schedule a phone appointment with me.

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