Based on changes in buyer behavior, traditional forms of advertising such as billboards, Yellow Pages and television ads are becoming less and less relevant in today’s marketing plans. They just aren’t getting the reach they used to. And, as the old saying goes, it takes 7-10 touches for someone to react, so you have got to do all you can to cut through the noise and get those touches!
In order to make the most of your marketing, you need to be constantly present, showing up and reaching your prospects. The Lawyers With Purpose Marketing Plan has a three-pronged approach. There’s wholesale marketing, retail marketing, and community outreach. Today I will address the community outreach piece by asking a simple question: How are you marketing in your community to build awareness of your brand?
The thing I love about community outreach, especially for estate and elder law attorneys, is how effective it is for a business looking for local customers. It really is a win-win. By giving back to the community, you help those in need, all while supporting your marketing efforts by promoting and increasing awareness of your services.
By participating in community outreach, you’ll improve the community’s perception of your company. And with that you will build your prospects as well as customer loyalty.
The bottom line is that people want to do business with people – not businesses! This is especially true when it comes to their estate planning needs. People make purchase decisions based on emotions, and estate planning is an emotional process for your prospects. If your firm supports a cause, you give prospects a good reason to connect with you on an emotional level. Period. It’s really that simple.
I was on a conference call recently with a power partner, and he told me, “You know I love estate and elder law attorneys! They are really like no other that I have come across before, and they just aren’t like most attorneys!” I couldn’t agree more. You all are truly in a field that connects with others on a relational and emotional level. Helping pass on their legacy and protect their families and all they have worked for, that’s HUGE!
The potential that lies in your community outreach is clearly synergistic if you think about the possibilities for estate planning and elder law to support causes. So we want to leverage this potential to grow your business in your community, and we can do that by including community outreach initiatives in your marketing plan.
Here are some examples. It makes sense to sponsor the local living facility bingo night, or participate in the Alzheimer’s walk (with your firm shirt and logo) for an estate and elder law attorney. If you're an LWP Member, you’ll find on the members website a complete list of national marketing events for 12 months out of the year. In March alone there are 14 things on there!
One that I really like is “Save Your Vision Month.” You connect with ophthalmologists in your area, go down to the local living facility and provide eye pillows, magnifying glasses and a Q&A fact sheet on eye care. Or for April there are another 12. One thing that really popped up for me was “National Oral Health Month.” You could work with a local dentist and pass out those plastic zip lock bags with free toothbrushes, mouthwash and floss, and you can include your business card because there’s a pouch right in them to hold cards. You could donate that to a health fair or a living facility in your name. Think of the referrals you can get from that, as well as from the dentist with whom you’ve created a power partnership.
The point is, if you pick from these things and reach out to your community, get involved and share what you are doing to bring awareness to them, it does distinguish you in the marketplace and raise TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness) so you’re not always showing up selling and asking people to come to your workshop. You just participate, support and connect.
And always have fun with it! Make it a team effort, brainstorm possibilities with everyone in your firm, and work together to be sure you are engaging everyone to really make it a hit. Make it meaningful to you and your team, something that stirs their passions. I’ve seen this become something that firms have great fun with, coming together and locking arms for a cause that helps all involved – which makes it a huge success!
When you offer a quality service, AND you support an initiative that you believe in, that’s community outreach at its best! It’s your business taking the time to care about both your clients and your community!
It’s about finding blue ocean. “Blue Ocean Strategy” is a book published in 2005 based on a study of 150 strategic moves over more than 100 years and 30 industries. It shows that companies can succeed not by battling their competitors, but rather by creating “blue oceans.”
The concept is that there are red oceans everywhere. They represent all of the industries in existence today – the known market space in which everyone competes. In red oceans, your marketing is well understood, your competitors are doing the same thing you are, and everyone is trying to outperform the competition to grab prospects and fill their workshops. As that space gets more and more crowded, prospects dwindle. The frenzied competition turns the water bloody. This is red ocean.
Blue ocean strategy asserts that the strategic alternative is to leap into other territories, or waters if you will, where you’ll stand out from the competition and be relevant. By doing this, you are creating blue ocean, clear waters where you are showing up. And your community outreach really captures this blue ocean concept. (Wiki reference)
So, what can your firm do to benefit your surrounding community? Brainstorm with your team! Think about sponsoring a community event, taking time to donate to or volunteer at a charity – you can do this without ever writing a check. You can do a food drive where you ask people to drop off cans of food for a cause. By taking this positive initiative, your business helps others in need while increasing its marketing success. What could be better than that?
Once you have a plan in place, you must also be sure to tell the story. Share it with as many prospects and referral sources as possible. This is where social media, your blog and your website become key players. You can also do this via a newsletter that you email or mail out, or by putting a flyer out in your conference room or in the reception area of your office so you are sharing it. Make mention of it at your client appreciation events. The key is to share the story with as many of your connections as you can. Be sure to take pictures, or even a short video.
Distribute the content to your entire network. Don’t be shy. I know I’ve mentioned this statistic before, but there is a recent study showing that each of the people you reach out to results in an additional 20 contacts through your networks.
You do the math – the reach of your community involvement adds up quickly.
And make sure you are letting your community connections know how to get in touch with you on every piece that you share on this. You website URL, phone number, social icons, and email are all included on everything. Put the event on your website so people it’s reaching can go to see more, connect with your firm and reach out to you if they’re interested. This drives referrals and will increases your pipeline and workshops!
Always remember that your activity breeds other activity and you never know who might be watching. Community outreach helps you build your brand, which always drives your marketing. That helps you get found through all the other noise, which gets the phone to ring, which ultimately leads to growing revenue!
If you're an estate or elder law attorney and want to learn more about marketing your estate practice, join us for our Tri-Annual Practice Enhancement Retreat June 3rd – 5th for 3 days of technical legal, marketing and collaboration! You do not want to miss this event and we sell out each time. Reserve your spot now. For registration information contact Kyle Russ at kruss@lawyerswithpurpose.com.
Roslyn Drotar – Lawyers With Purpose, Internet Marketing Strategist.
This is not a “Dave” thing. 
