Effective Social Network Marketing

According to its Wikipedia definition, social media marketing is "an engagement with online communities to generate exposure, opportunity and sales."

Today, prominent social media sites include Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and many more 8 figure subscriber sites that are prominent within their geographical or demographical spheres of influence.

The volume of social media Web sites springing up these days is reminiscent of the competing search engines back around 2000. Some of you may remember names like Lycos, Webcrawler, Excite, Altavista, or Infoseek. Many of these engines disappeared rapidly and we will likely see similar results within the social media space.

I think it's Facebook's game to lose at this point though and their subscriber base and growth trend position the company for considerable sustained success. LinkedIn is also highly influential within the business community and may ultimately change the recruitment/job seeking landscape entirely.

Understanding the basics of social networking is critical so you can begin to think of ways your business can leverage these evolving marketing platforms, as competitive marketing differentiators.

Click here for a link of sites around the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Click here for a link of recent Facebook statistics: (pretty astounding)
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

So, how can you integrate social media into your current strategy?

First, focus on relationship building with relevant contacts, on sites that you are comfortable with. Do not look to navigate, or even understand the entire world of social media - it is far too broad reaching and may be overwhelming, if viewed in its entirety.

There are many influential community members, lawyers and non-lawyers users of sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, who can be great potential sources of new client leads for your law practice. Social media allows you to stay in touch regularly, by posting relevant updates or news about your firm. This way, you are continually reminding contacts of your expertise in the domain, making it more likely that you will be the one they reach out to. While not everyone within your network circle will be interested in an proactively seek out your professional blog, you may still be able to share important information and updates via more personal sites like FaceBook or Twitter. For example, a blurb announcing a a recent $5 Million medical malpractice verdict may attract the attention of your banker, who has a client whose mother was recently misdiagnosed. Alternatively, a LinkedIn profile, higlighting the new organization that you are now affiliated with may cause an old business contact that you did not expect to hear from to inquire into your offering.

Also, social media opens the door to highly targeted marketing to sizeable audiences. Facebook's pay per click marketing tools, for example, enable advertisers to target a subset of its roughly 1/4 Billion user base, by interests, age, location, etc... As with any marketing tactics, you will want to test, measure and optimize to make sure you are achieving the ideal return on your investment.

There is an art to leveraging social networks to promote a product or service and most experts will advise to be very cautious in your approach, so it does not backfire. Tip: Social Media is a two-way communication channel - using it as a one way tool is ineffective and may harm your company's image Getting a contact that you met online through a social network to visit your Web site, or blog takes patience. Leverage your relationships to give your organization a human element and nurture these relationships and you will see the long term dividends.

Lastly, social media is an incredibly powerful tool for exchanging information with both peers and clients, including developments in the law, trial strategies and successes. The field of social media is still in its infancy right now and I would strongly recommend that you first get your feet wet and start taking advantage of some of the networking opportunities offered. Once you understand how to network within your social circles, you will be better positioned to grasp the strength of various opportunities to market outside of it.

More Recession Wisdom

I came across a very interesting report on marketing during a recession. It is a more elaborate and substantiated take on some points I had made in a recent post.

http://www.mb-blog.com/Images/Recession_POV1_Final.pdf

Whether you are a law firm or vendor in the space, putting the brakes on your marketing during the recession will cripple your business in the long term, particularly if you are operating in a highly competitive environment.

If you are a vendor and are in the business of cost savings, or directly helping firms acquire or retain business, there is no better time to get aggressive than now. If you can tie your offering to a concrete financial value proposition you will greatly improve your chances of getting the business.

Marketing, Operations & Your Litigation Practice

In today’s competitive legal environment, litigation frequency is gradually, but persistently decreasing and technology is completely redefining competitive advantage in both marketing and operations. As a result, litigation firms that lack the foresight to adapt will inevitably be forced out of the marketplace by organizations with more innovative and aggressive business practices.

While competent legal representation leading to favorable outcomes remains the key benchmark upon which litigation firms are measured by their clients, organizations of all types are finding innovative ways to reduce costs, and to increase profits by improving the return on their promotional initiatives. Once firms have ensured that they have the legal talent necessary to succeed, they must turn their attention toward two key areas of opportunity for competitive differentiation: operations and marketing.

Most firms today are completely inundated with the requirements of running a legal practice and often fail to dedicate sufficient time and resources on building the appropriate business infrastructure to ensure sustained growth and competitive advantage. Many such firms have grown through considerable reliance on quality of relationships of one or more partners. This overreliance on the brand of a particular individual poses multiple potential threats, or opportunities, depending on one’s perspective.

First, when the markets face recession like conditions, price sensitivity is heightened. This is a major opportunity for efficient organizations to capture market share from competitors by either offering a comparable offering at a better fees, or offering additional value through enhanced technological capabilities.

Next, there is considerable risk that the departure or loss of a key firm member can have considerable potential impact on firm revenue. By establishing greater brand equity in the firm itself, an organization may partially insulate itself from such a threat. Large and prominent corporate firms such as a Skadden Arps, or a Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz, often recruit lawyers from other firms, or even merge in entire departments. The strength and prominence of their brands allow new firm members to benefit from the overall reputation of the firms.

Now, these firms did not build their brands overnight. They established them over decades and decades of quality representation and continual commitment to excellence. The good news is that today’s market is much more dynamic and competitive and your business can achieve much more in a far quicker time by implementing cutting edge marketing and operational strategies.

As a smaller firm, you may not have the same firepower (read capital), but thinking about your processes like the big firms do will keep you one step ahead in the game. Here is a partial checklist you may want to go through in your mind as you consider how your firm stacks up against the competition in the areas of marketing and operations:

Marketing

• How do you highlight your firm’s successes to existing clients and/or prospects?
• What do your regular client touch points look like, outside the ordinary course of handling your case?
• How do you measure the overall financial return on your marketing expenditures?
• If you deal with repeat client business (plaintiff’s firms typically excluded), what is the lifetime value that the average client brings to your firm?
• How much does it cost you to bring that client in?
• Do you have a process for capturing information for and following up with business leads (Web site visitors, inbound calls, RFPs, event participants, exhibit booth traffic, random leads)
• What steps have you taken to provide your staff with better sales and client service skills?
• Do you have a cost-effective marketing process for continually staying in front of your key prospects until they are in a position to contact you?
• How are you leveraging new technological capabilities in your marketing efforts? Online surveys? Electronic newsletters? Social media focusing on your areas of expertise?

Operations

• Is there a more cost-effective solution to handling your firm’s redundant tasks?
• Does your technological infrastructure maximize staff efficiency and provide management and clients with transparent data?
• How do you handle temporary surges in labor requirements caused by considerable case loads?
• Is your firm able to perform around the clock?
• Do you have clearly defined roles and responsibilities and processes in place

Tip: The most successful businesses focus on their core competencies and seek out assistance in areas outside the scope of their expertise. If you are a law firm, practicing law is yours. Remember, putting a plasma tv in your office is an expense. Spending capital on cost reduction initiatives, or on improving client acquisition and retention is an investment.

Now for the shameless self-promotion... LitigatorEdge will help you take your business to the next level by improving your firm's operational and marketing performance. Contact me at jzissu1-litigation@yahoo.com if you would like to discuss your needs further.

Listening to Your Clients

I have been quite busy over the last week or so with a new client, hence the gap in between posts. The good news is, I can relate this directly to a marketing tip. The marketing tip today is always listen to your clients.
Marketing ultimately boils down to communicating your value to a prospect or client. It is impossible to do this well without listening to a client's needs.

Whether you are selling turkey or telescopes, being in tune with your clients is the key to client retention. For example, in my consulting capacity, I have come across situations where the client wanted a project completed in a way that was not necessarily intuitive to me. In these instances, it turned out that the client was driven by needs that were not immediately apparent.

Actively listening to the client and following up with probing questions will allow you to elicit the client's true objectives. Remember to hone your listening skills and utilize them in your direct interactions with clients.

Strength in Numbers

Why is it that Fortune 500 companies can't seem to get enough of gobbling each other up? Companies merge, the large company now acquires a smaller one, then another, until the company becomes too large and diverse to effectively manage. Before you know it the company is involved in an accounting scandal that the CEO "never knew about", or the company falls to pieces as a result of risky subprime bets. Then, guess what? A white knight swoops in and... yup, you got it - acquires the collapsed business.
While there are many lessons (Do's and Don't Do's) to be learned from the world of mergers and acquisitions, here are a few reasons why companies choose to merge.

- Consolidate redundant functions and cut costs
- Gain tax advantages
- Increasing market power
- Compensating for weakness in key areas

How does this apply to litigation marketing?
Tip: There is strength in numbers.

The same principles that apply to these large companies also make sense for smaller entities. I have seen a perfect example of this in a NY no-fault/PIP firm that has brilliantly combined partner merger activity, superior marketing and client communications, technological efficiency and operational exellence to blow their competition away and gobble up market share. The merger was the catalyst for everything else that followed.

They combined one partner's marketing expertise, with another's client base, another partner brought strong operational capabilities to the table and together they created efficiencies and pooled resources. This in turn allowed the partners to focus on their respective areas of expertise, cut costs, increase marketing spending and it wasn't long after until no firm in the marketplace could keep up and they put much of their competition out of business.

Now, I am not suggesting that mergers, or even joint ventures are for everyone. In the legal field, or even as a legal vendors, getting in bed with the wrong partner can be disastrous. However, it is important to be mindful of the flip side of this coin. Make sure that you do not get so caught up in your business routine, that you ignore opportunities to strengthen your firm's or company's strategic position - your competitors may be doing just that!

Return on Client Investment

If you were to impart just one lesson from your business experiences, what would that be?

Although I certainly have a lot more learning to do, I would have to say that over the first 10 working years of my career, my personal lesson is to always strive to exceed expectations -- as it pertains to both performance and character.

I have always tried to go above and beyond what my supervisors expected. Further, I came to the fundamental realization that it was not enough to exceed the expectations of the company that employs me, but that I needed to do everything within my sphere of control to exceed the expectations of those who employ my company - our clients.

What does this have to do with marketing?

As I noted in an earlier blog, marketing touches all parts of your business and Tip: there are few things that can impact your business brand (positively, or negatively), like the level of service you provide to your clients.

Think about the last time a business truly wowed you with its level of service. Companies that I interact with that stand out in my mind are Enterprise Rental Car, Optimum Cable, Fidelity Investments and Geico. Every time I deal with these organizations they are prompt, knowledgeable, profesional and always seem to go the extra yard. Consequently, my business has stayed with these organizations even though I may conceivably have saved a few bucks by moving elsewhere.

The best organizations create a culture of customer service amongst their employees and if you are able to achieve this, you too will see remarkable improvements in your business output. Great client service reduces turnover and increases profits. I have seen top tier client service salvage Fortune 500 accounts, in spite of inferior product offerings. Yes, it is THAT important.

As a plaintiff's firm, consider the importance of giving regular feedback to your clients on the status of their cases. Yes, it is likely that you are extremely busy, but think of how professional you would look if you had your secretary or paralegal proactively e-mail a periodic status update to your client. You would reduce the number of calls and improve satisfaction and subsequent referrals.

Defense firms - same thing. Keeping adjusters and defense counsel in the loop is another great strategy to build relationships. Couple surveys with a strong process for status updates and you are already ahead of the game. If you want to truly wow your best clients, try noting their contact preferences and customizing your follow-up strategy to their unique needs.

As a vendor servicing litigation firms, take the time to understand what clients value most in your interactions with you. Is it the support that you provide when they have questions on their software? Is it how quickly you respond to a trial exhibit need? How much personal care you give in understanding what they are looking for in a Web site? Determining the types of service interactions your clients value most and going above and beyond to execute better than your competition is another clear key to success.

What is going on in the insurance world?

During my time as head of Marketing for Cybersettle, I spent a lot of time analyzing data on the insurance industry, and more specifically, data on insurance bodily injury claims. I used many sources for my market analysis, including a book published by AM Best called Best's Aggregates and Averages. I believe this to be an indispensible source of information for any advanced marketer looking to keep a finger on the pulse of the insurance industry), and sometimes I also reviewed statistics on the Insurance Information Institute's (III) Web site.

The III, arguably a pro insurer Web site, offers data that shows a decline in litigation costs in 2006. This is considerable given inflation, the general trend for increasing settlement values and the III's natural tendency to position litigation data in a light most favorable to carriers. Further, the site explains that they project increases in litigation costs in 2007 & 2008 due to the subprime mortgage debacle. See the following link then come right back...

http://www.iii.org/media/facts/statsbyissue/litigiousness


This is great if your firm handles these types of disputes, but the one trend that is not touched on, is the continual drop in total annual bodily injury claims - the bread and butter for many of you, or the law firm clients you work with. In fact, based on my reviews of AM Best data, overall injury claim volume is currently decreasing by roughly 4%-5% anually. This is considerable and while not everyone will feel this immediately, it is inevitable that this will impact many firms.

Next, this trend is even more dramatic for plaintiff's counsel handling high volume, low severity cases. There are an increasing number of claimants using the Internet to get educated and handling small cases independently. Today, there is no consistent method by which a claimant can accurately evaluate his or her $20,000 or smaller claim, taking into account medicals, lost wages and pain and suffering in a given venue. With systems like Colossus and Claims Outcome Advisor offering evaluation mechanisms for carriers, you can be certain it is only a matter of time before technology will facilitate a claimants' ability to handle their own smaller claims start to finish.

Case in point: when Cybersettle started doing business back in 1998, there were only a handful of non-represened claimant setlements. In 2007, more than 10% of the cases submitted by insurance adjusters were against non-represented claimants. Assuming this trend is representative of the broader industry, as a plaintiff's lawyer handling large volumes of small cases, you are going up against a 5% annual industry claim volume decrease and an unrepresented claimant rate of over 10%+ and it is very difficult to predict how high this figure will get and how fast.

Defense counsel may not be as drastically impacted by the trend in non-represented small claims, but the overall shrinking pool, which includes larger injuries is certainly a major consideration.

Some vendors will be directly impacted, other more indirectly. Companies like Cybersettle handling large volumes of small claims will be affected by the industry reduction trend. Financial services companies marketing services to claimants through their attorneys may see a reduced opportunity for this. Overall competition will increase and profit margins for firms will shrink, and unless firms can adapt and find ways to reduce costs and become more competitive, discretionary firm spending will be impacted and many vendors will be affected by this.

In my next post, I will discuss in greater detail what I know about claim evaluation systems like Colossus and Claims Outcome Advisor, and the newer Precedent ID and how these have impacted the way personal and commercial carriers do business. This is very interesting stuff - be sure not to miss it.

Today's marketing tip: Marketing is so much more than communicating your offering to clients and prospects - marketing touches all facets of your business. A sound marketing strategy must incorporate understanding the big picture in your industry, through the accumulation of comprehensive business intelligence that gives you greater foresight and keeps you a step ahead of the competition.