Progressive Marketing

90% Really Like You

2012-09-21T07:16:00.001-07:00

A new report by Gartner called “The Consequences of Fake Fans, ‘Likes’ and Reviews on Social Networks predicts that, by 2014, one in ten reviews, likes or fans of your social media presence will be fake. Mashable covered the report in it's recent By 2014, 1 in 10 Social Media Reviews Will Be Fake.

Makes me feel a whole lot better about my blog having just one follower. I mean, how fake could that be? That person really likes me.

Even so, the coverage of the Gartner report includes observations about the relative value of these "engagement" metrics. The toe-in-the-water law firms will need to be more circumspect about celebrating the blog comments, Twitter followers, Facebook likes and so on that might be easy to count, but just as easy to discount.

What do you think would be a better or "more real" measure of the effective use of online and social media?

Are The Klout Changes Relevant?

2012-08-17T11:51:00.001-07:00

Klout just has pushed out a major update to its online influencer scoring system. Here's what they have to say:

More Actions Measured
There are more variables in the algorithm, including Facebook subscribers, +K received, and more.
Always Learning
We now pull real-world influence data from sources like Wikipedia, LinkedIn titles and +K received on Klout. These signals enrich our data and help our systems adapt to the changing landscape of influence.

I've noted Klout's role in calculating return on online activity before. While we all may want to be winners in the online influence game, the more important route to success is to pay attention to "context", a fact we were reminded of last night by Tim Wood of Imagine Simplicity. Tim's company was the sponsor of our LMA Virginias Chapter social down at Sam Miller's Restaurant in Richmond.

He has put the slides from his short talk on Slideshare.

How are you making sure you are talking to the "right" audience online?

More information here:

Does Your Klout Score Determine Your Value?

This Says It All

2012-07-30T08:01:00.002-07:00

Notwithstanding my previous post, here's a frank assessment of the use of social media in marketing campaigns. It appeared in Ad Age.

Erich Marx, Nissan’s director-interactive and social-media marketing, says, “From a pure ROI standpoint, are we selling hundreds of cars through social? No. But social media has to be a responsible part of any media package now. You have to be there. It’s not about ROI, it’s about COI– cost of ignoring. It’s too big to ignore.”

COI. Employing social media means accepting that, among the huge audiences these utilities represent, there may be opportunities. It would be nice if there was science behind this, and I am sure when it exists the social utilities will be giddy proclaiming it, but at the moment the reason to be in social media is what if you're not?

Is It Too Crowded to Be Social?

2012-07-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Andy Beal's Marking Pilgrim reported earlier on some information it read on eMarketer about the participation levels of businesses in social media for marketing. Ninety percent were in social media of some kind for a marketing purpose.

Can't be many law firms in that number. They must be in the ten percent, because if you look around, you have to search far and wide to find integrated marketing campaigns among law firms that include a load of social media. O, there will be some legal blogs. Kevin O'Keefe has made sure of that. And there seem to be plenty of lawyers on LinkedIn.com. But Twitter? Facebook? Digg? Precious few. And the rest of the social utilities (Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, and on...) Isolated early adopters. And thought leaders like Nancy Myrland.

Strong recommendations for participation exist. Jayne Navarre and Adrian Dayton have written books about the practice. The firm I serve has its @SocialLawyers channel on Twitter. Information abounds.

At Marketing Pilgrim, Frank Reed poses the question of whether there is any room in social media for more businesses to enter. eMarketer observes that the percentage this year is only one percent higher than last year, whereas five years ago there were only 20% of businesses using social media for marketing. The thing is, social media is not about comparative data. Each entrant brings their own space to market, that is, their own community of interest and engagement.

The potential for using social media is therefore both finite and infinite. Space to join is the infinite quantity. Bandwidth notwithstanding, there are utilities and containers for social activity aplenty. The finite is both the level of interest (anyone have social media fatigue besides me?) and the network for engagement (how many people do you know and do you want to know?). I find it relatively easy to enter the social space, or to persuade lawyers and business people to enter the social space. The relatively difficult thing, in my experience, is to achieve a level of personal activity that sustains and feeds the interest of the community I want connected to me. And, while it is somewhat difficult for me, it appears nearly impossible for most of the lawyers I know to form the activity habits that engage their connections and generate conversations.

What are you doing to develop the right habits that foster social media engagement and bring in conversations about business? What are the right habits?

Future Looks Online to Dave Saunders

2012-06-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

At a recent AMA Market Dialog, Dave Saunders of Madison + Main, who was there to talk about video, ran through a group of themes that he believes are developing in consumer and business marketing, especially with the growth of online use. I was taking notes furiously and I'm not sure I got them all, but here's what he said:

The physical and digital worlds are becoming more connected, illustrated by the rise of geo-location;
Perceptions of reality will be altered by technology, called augmented reality, ie. Google Glasses;
Web users will have more rights and less privacy;
Human relationships will become more dependent on digital communications;
Soon we won't search for information, it will find us, known as the semantic web;
We as consumers and citizens will become less passive and more engaged; and
Everything will be connected on one platform.

Intriguing, no? I don't know how strong each of these themes will be in the short term, but a few have already started causing disruptive marketing effects. The rights and privacy theme is a profound and polarizing part of the online ad tracking discussion. Which of these themes do you see playing out in your marketing plans? What are their implications?

How Does A Video Go Viral?

2012-06-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

In a recent Market Dialogue presented by the American Marketing Association Richmond Chapter at the University of Richmond RobinsSchool of Business, Dave Saunders of Madison + Main described the process of viral engineering. Only he wasn't talking about the newest pathogen or pandemic.

Instead, Dave was explaining how to create an internet video that would "go viral" as a popular pass-along in social media and other online communications. In his 45 minute talk on video, he touched on the scale of social media and themes for online marketing in the future. It was a remarkably generous conversation by the leader of an ad agency currently travelling in the fast lane of Richmond, Virginia.

Social media is a sweet spot for Dave and his group, so the 20 people who gathered were "all eyes" as he listed the content that typically grabs viewers' attention and triggers sharing online:

Funny or cute
Talent or unusual skill
Funny: commercials
Funny: awkward or embarrassing
Celebrations in real life
Nerdy (robots, videogames)
Funny/strange: compilations
Funny: spoofs (imitation, satire or parody)
Tragedy: disasters and world events
Memes and themes (like badgers or bacon)

Most (but certainly not all) of these can be lumped under the term "entertainment." But entertainment, no matter how side-splitting or compelling, has to be noticed first by the right viewers to release its viral power. Dave identified these tools as effective in the encouraging a video's online contagion:

Memes (to find what is currently popular, try searching trends.google.com)
Tag/hashtags/links – piggyback on trending ones
Influencers and bookmarking (digg.com, reddit.com)
Web PR (try distribution services)
Paid placement

Dave also gave out a very valuable "YouTube Best Practices" handout to the attendees. You should ask him about it.

In "The Tipping Point", Malcolm Gladwell's hypothesis about social behavior becoming "viral" was predicated on interrelated components. It's clear that "going viral" online also requires interrelated elements: content and distribution must function together based on viewer's interests and involvement in social media. Far from being accidental, viral videos are intentionally designed to spread online.

What do you see as the value of going viral?

In-house Panelists Rebuff Lawyer Marketing

2012-06-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last April 25, the Virginia Lawyers Weekly hosted the third in their series of Breakfast and Business Law sessions where a panel of in-house counsel face an audience of lawyers interested in their business and discuss what makes them hire (or fire) lawyers and law firms.

Deborah Elkins' fine coverage is right here. She reviews the conversation and her information is valuable, if not particularly different from what we hear generally at presentations like these in various forms. In-house counsel differ individually, but corporate legal services buyers have remarkably consistent characteristics among the services and professionals they consume.

The most startling revelation of this particular set of in-house counsel to me was their admission that they were very difficult, if not downright impossible, to get in front of to pitch our services. Not only do they have disdain for the various marketing tools that many of us produce and champion, but they are insulated from new lawyers and firms by the press of current business, their own staff and the way they buy services, generally by Request for Proposal or other administrative procurement processes.

The only positive suggestions centered on the activity in industry groups and the ability of lawyers to penetrate those groups with expertise through presentations and publications. In this way, it was very much an "old school" mentality, where the encounter of knowledge demonstration could produce inclusion in the next stage of buying behavior. However, it does reinforce that there is no substitute for face-to-face marketing, despite the convenience and speed of relationship building through social media.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Don't you agree?

Is This Any Way To Start A Relationship?

2012-05-03T12:16:00.001-07:00

Recently, I was in the audience at the Law Firm Alliance meeting in Vancouver as Kevin O'Keefe, CEO of Lexblog, patiently explained to the 100 lawyers in the room that social media was not a substitute for actually meeting people.

A month earlier as I sat in a session on engaging with the media at the Legal Marketing Association annual conference in Texas, I noted Kevin's answer to my tweet on a comment by a panelist who reported that when a lawyer approached her with the intent of blogging, she advised him to first show his ability to be consistent with content by maintaining a presence on Twitter for six months. "Exactly backwards" was Kevin's retort.

I have a lot of respect for Kevin. He is a man who consistently puts his money where his mouth is, and has made Lexblog one of the world's leading content communities for legal expertise. His "Real Lawyers Have Blogs" is a remarkably reliable and lively source of information and advice for lawyers who want to add value to their client relationships and demonstrate their skills through online content.

Lawyers, many of whom are already reluctant to venture out of their offices and billable constraints to build better relationships that drive their business development efforts, don't need another excuse to sit behind their computer screens. Long before social media intruded, it was already difficult for firms interested in marketing to extract articles, news interviews and seminar appearances from them. In a profession that requires its practitioners to maintain an exaggerated confidence in their own authority, the adoption of a new and unknown technology is likely to be viewed a fraught with peril.

Kevin's point, of course, was that social media only matter to the extent that they support a lawyer's current relationships and extend his or her reputation through them. Participation in the creation of online content through owned media like blogs or social media utilities such as LinkedIn or Twitter must communicate to an existing circle of clients, referral sources and allied professionals the legal knowledge and skills array of the lawyer. This then enables these relationships to spread content through "word of mouse."

Research is clear: people and companies that hire lawyers find out about them online. Search engines and their professional directory siblings respond to queries with a bewildering array of choices having varying degrees of relevance. Online content creation is a reliable marker for experience and reputation and one that carries the added value of advice and problem solving to the relationships lawyers have and want to expand. In addition, the ability of this content to be shared through existing relationships with potential clients is a lubricant to business development.

Who's Got Klout and Why We Should (Or Shouldn't) Care

2012-04-16T07:03:00.001-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reflected on Klout.com last week in John Bussey's column "The Business." He was referencing a couple of books recently published including Mark Schaefer's "Return on Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing."

I have been watching Klout.com myself and not just because I'm interested in my score (37 today, which doesn't indicate much influence). Fact is, Klout picks up and uses some data for my score that's not correct and it makes me suspicious of all their results. However, the important questions for me as a marketer of professional services are what do Klout scores measure and are these measurements useful in marketing our firm?

My first and intuitive response is "nothing useful." This is within the context of looking at Klout's scores relating our lawyers and clients. Since Klout clearly says it is a measure of an action taken from the foundation of social media, and since our lawyers (and most clients) are not using social media to spark action, the scores are not going to be relevant.

Suppose, however, that we believe that social media has a certain influential power on reputation of our professionals (something I happen to believe and the reason a portion of our firm's marketing concentrates in social utilities). That reputation is searchable on the internet and various sources provide validation of the positive (or negative) data. As social media expand and their data pages get ranked in search results, and as they become more self-influential (that is, users see them as important and relevant to validation of online data), the clear implication is that they will grow in importance.

Meaning that the scores become relevant to us because they are relevant to those who are scored. As word-of-mouth (still the number one way lawyer reputations are spread) transitions to online conversations, recognizing those within the contacts of a firm who are highly influential online through these social scoring sites may provide a hierarchy of messaging and priority of communication that get the highly influential involved in positive reputational transmission early in a campaign.

Should we care about these ratings or not?

Hello, LMA Minnesota!

2012-03-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I've been invited to speak to the Minnesota Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association on my current favorite topic: social media metrics. I am looking forward to seeing many friends and making new ones. If you attend the event, I'm bringing along a printout of the following resources, which I've stored in my Dropbox account in the public folder. The links below will call each up for you.

I trust these sources for information on the industry. The "Top Tips" lists were developed internally for our lawyers at Sands Anderson.

Please join my contacts on LinkedIn.com or follow our SocialLawyers account on Twitter for more information and news. And let me know how your social media program is progressing in the comments below.

Loyalty Fundamental to Human Relationships

2012-03-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

James Kane made the keynote at the Legal Marketing Association 2012 Annual Conference from the behavioral science perspective about loyalty. The subject, he said, is about relationships, all relationships.

Relationships are built along four states. The first state - antagonistic - is the foundation, and comes from our survival response and the need to quickly determine if a relationship is one in which we belong or must reject to stay alive.

The second state is transactional - the stage where what you give to the relationship is perceived as a duty or responsibility instead of something that comes from authentic feeling. The third state is predisposed - these are relationships you currently have and feel no need to change. Final stage is loyal - it's a human condition, a behavior, an emotion. This is where you will get opportunities. This state is also about forgiveness and about advocacy.

Kane said the word loyalty has been hijacked - in the middle ages by poets, was about duty to king and queen, county. Recently, about brands - but studies say loyalty has nothing to do with products, rewards programs - not really about frequency of consumption, that's a bribe. It's not about satisfaction, said Kane, loyalty is a completely different thing.

Your clients are satisfied, perhaps, and they will pay you and give you more work, but they may not need to be loyal to perform those acts. Satisfaction is a mood. Loyalty is an emotion. Satisfaction is about the past. Loyalty is about the future. Satisfaction is about what you do for them. Loyalty is about what they do for you.

Kane said humankind expanded across the globe because we learned to live in social commuinites and communicate. Because members of these communities needed to know that they could trust one another, that they could "put my life in your hands", our brains learned how to figure out who we can trust because the moment we arrive in this world we need another human being.

The emotion of love has almost an identical brain response as loyalty. There are stages of love/loyalty.

it's initially about attraction, familiarity - it's contextual, based on what we know or want to be
second stage is passion, because we need to defend the choice we made, this is when the person needs to hear good things, to reassure their choice
next phase is pair-bonding, allowing relationship to remain over time
loyalty = "you make my life easier" (more efficient), "you make my life better" (fulfillment)

Easier is not a hard hurdle to get over, better is a much higher bar and is about not having to make a new choice. There is a difference between choice and control - choice we want, control we need. Kane said the fact is people don't want a lot of choices, they just want to have some control over those choices.

Loyalty is composed of trust, belonging, purpose. Trust is about competency, character, consistency, capacity. The way to build trust is to make sure your promises and their expectations are aligned. Trust is an expectation you need to manage. We all think we should get great credit for doing things that are just basic expectations.

Purpose is composed of vision, fellowship, commitment.

Belonging is do I feel connected to someone

stage one is recognition - do you know who I am, for example, how well is your receptionist prepared for the arrival of your client
stage two is insight - knowing with the problem is
stage three is anticipation - do something I didn't ask for, solve a problem before I ask
stage four is identity - how we mingle with the world you occupy
stage five is is inclusion - not us vs them :"WWIC - why wasn't I consulted"

Kane concluded by pointing out research shows conclusively that all our relationships want to be loyal to us, want to feel included, wanted and valuable. Loyalty proceeds from enabling these components to flourish.

Hitting the Trail

2012-03-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Over the next week, I'll be putting in an appearance at two Legal Marketing Association meetings. One is the annual conference, held this year just north of Dallas in Grapevine, where the Gaylord Texan Resort is located. I will be live blogging (along with Larry Bodine and several other, I suspect) from the conference sessions and on Twitter, the conference hashtag is #lma12. Follow along. The main meeting runs from March 14 (pre-sessions that I will not be able to attend) until March 16.

On March 21, I'll be a guest of the Minnesota Chapter (hey, Mini Apple!), speaking on social media measurement, currently my favorite topic. I'll put up some data and resources on my blog next week before I head out. You can follow along there, too.

If you're headed to either of these meetings, I hope to see you and say "hello."

Set reasonable expectations for a social media plan

2012-02-04T13:01:00.000-08:00

If you never decide where you're going, how will you know if you ever get there? Setting expectations is no less important in a plan using social media than in any other endeavor. It simply is the only place to start.

What are your objectives from a brand and awareness standpoint? From an engagement standpoint? Who will be the content creator(s), who the conversationalist(s)? How much time can you/you company devote? How much money can you invest? Will you need outside help?

I've been using a simple form that is a schematic for each area in which our firm wants to apply social media. It covers what I think are the basic decisions and assignments that are necessary for starting a social media component.

Forrester Research's report on ROI in social media is also illuminating. They insist that in-channel metrics need to be augmented with other research tactics to learn if a strategy is really working. The start of your effort is where decisions should be made on what these measures will need to be at the end of a project in order for it to be properly judged as to its effectiveness.

One can get overwhelmed with the multitude of choices. I know I was. What helped me was selecting one or two objectives and measures that made reasonable sense as targets and that were within my ability to collect and assess.

Can you think of some simple goals that might be within your grasp as you start to use social media? Would you post them as comments below? Let's talk!

New Year's Resolutions...Not!

2012-01-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

I am in agreement, yet again, with my good friend Heather Morse, who admits in a new year's post that she's not much for resolutions. Me either, Heather. And I agree that it is no longer OK for lawyers to not to know how online social media work.

Heather's post about this gives a great catalog of meaningful sites and features that lawyers brush aside at their own peril. There are still some at the law firm where I work that insist that they will never develop a reputation as subject matter experts through social media. Yet, this is only true because they are not participating in social media.

I think of social media as "the people's public relations." Where once one had to be known by a reporter or editor, or conference planner, in order to be asked a question, quoted in a story or offered a speaking gig at the next industry conference, now it is much more likely that one of these media and industry professionals will reach out through social media to find the experts known among their networks of sources. If you are not in these collections of virtual connections, you will be virtually invisible.

And while lawyers once looked for the editorial exposure of being quoted in a news story on an issue as enhancing and spreading their reputation, they now have the dynamic duo of blogging and Twitter to develop audiences of interested people who will listen to and look forward to their views.

If you or your firm are making online social media a part of your public relations strategy, here are ten, well, they are not resolutions, let's call them ten suggestions...strong suggestions for 2012:

Set realistic expectations
Define your target market
Choose tactics carefully
Stay on topic, be provocative
Don't overdo it
Measure and listen in equal amounts
Keep current and be current
Reach out and circulate
Ask questions, give answers
Keep a record

I'll expand on this list in the weeks ahead, so bear with me.

A shout out to the Minnesota Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, where I'll be speaking on social media on March 21, in Minneapolis. Thanks for the invitation!

More Tips for Business Development Coaching

2011-11-10T04:52:00.000-08:00

At the Legal Marketing Association Virginias Chapter meeting in Richmond last August, Deb Knupp and Megan McKeon were talking about business development coaching. Previous posts have discussed some of their presentation here and here.

One of the intriguing ideas that I wrote down was an action concept they called "Three INs." The authentic business relationship between lawyer and contact/prospect generates three kinds of responses that facilitate a continuing conversation and a deepening understanding of one another:

Invitations - these would be issued along the lines of the contact's specific interests, might be educational, social or some other mutually enjoyable shared activity;
Introductions - these would be among contacts to assist in building corollary business or social relationships that would benefit the contact's career, life or happiness;
Information - these would be highly customized for top prospects, perhaps regarding the specific business expertise of the contact or the lawyer, or for some other situation that reflects shared goals.

Deb and Megan also had some great suggestions for networking:

Always keep your business cards where you can fetch them in two seconds (the 2-second rule);
Approach individuals or groups of three to introduce yourself, where conversations are easier to start and participate in (the 1 or 3 rule);
When waiting in a long line, make two friends by speaking to both the person in front of you and behind you;
When you speak with someone new, make at least three minutes of conversation to be gracious, ten minutes to have a deeper discussion and fifteen minutes of conversation for a hot prospect, then move on (the 3-10-15 rule);
Avoid lingering in conversations (or getting trapped in unproductive chats) by preparing to exit with finesse, step away for food or drink or have a ready reason (return a call, check for client email) to depart.

My thanks go to Deb Knupp of Akina Corporation and Megan McKeon of Katten Muchin Rosenman for their gifts.

What advice can you add for business networking? How would you overcome the natural reluctance to make an intentional process out of social conversations?

Qwikster, New Coke and Big Fat Marketing Egos

2011-10-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

Netflix's Reed Hastings has fallen on his knees again, begging for forgiveness. No need to rehash this news from yesterday's Netflix blog. This might be a good time to put the cement overshoes on his marketing consigliere, though. Someone's corporate ego is in the way big time.

I hear from NPR that the finance side might have been a big reason for these twin black eyes for Netflix. On the one hand, raising prices is bad enough. But not understanding the needs of your consumer and how they interface with your revenues is deadly. Here's a cycle not to repeat: double your price, say I'm sorry and we're going to make you do twice as much work to consume our service and then mea culpa, we didn't understand you used our service to simplify your life and entertainment choices.

I'm old enough to remember "New Coke" and it's a case study in wrongly-done marketing in courses and graduate schools around the country. It seems like such common sense now, but back in the day this was big fat marketing egos gone wild. Despite the Coca-Cola Company's spin (read this!), "New Coke" was a try that failed in the most public way. It cost a bunch of money and generated much negative press and consumer confusion. Even today, it is shorthand in the marketing profession for a really bad marketing decision.

OK, nobody's perfect. But we all can use a little humility. What are you doing to make sure big, fat marketing egos don't get in the way of your integrated marketing communications programs with ill-conceived strategems like market share warfare and illogical service spin-offs?

More reading:

Qwikster – Biggest Marketing Blunder since New Coke

Mobile Is Now How Content Gets Shared

2011-10-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

Go Popcorn (@GoPopcorn) is the source of this very interesting graphic, which details the fast growing influence of mobile platforms on social content sharing activity. Here's a slice of activity that's just 60 seconds long.

Motivating Lawyers in Business Development

2011-10-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what you can learn for a $35 lunch at the LMA Virginias Chapter. Below you will find my first followup to the earlier post on Deb Knupp and Megan McKeon's program in July, also posted at the Virginias Chapter blog.

Business development coaching is about motivators. Motivators can be carrots (recognition, compensation) or sticks (management, peer pressure), but everything boils down to what’s in it for the lawyer. Methods of motivation include training (what is it I need to do), coaching (how do I perform business development) and encouragement (where is my support).

Business development for any lawyer, says Deb, revolves around three truths:

Knowing his target market – what’s a good fit so he can concentrate on catching only the clients he wants
Building authentic relationships – she must focus on mutuality, trust, frequency and sincerity
Solving problems that should be solved – even when self-interest must be suspended

Simply, the keys are being focused, making friends and solving problems. Akina sees the business development cycle in six phases, which they call the Revenue Acceleration Framework. It describes three preparation phases that Deb likened to “taping the room” before you paint; necessary, but definitely not the exciting part.

One of the principles in these phases that served as a light bulb moment for me was the deliberate segmentation of a target market. In the Akina approach, as Megan and Deb outlined it, a lawyer makes a list of their top 20-40 contacts. These must fall within three types: prospects (contacts who buy legal services), connectors (contacts who know and refer people who buy legal services) and allies (contacts who can co-market legal services). Further segmentation sets a “priority” level: A= definite prospects/clients; B=not sure about the contact’s value; and C=completely unknown value. This matrix puts the highest value contacts at the fore, but also defines concurrent work to understand the business development benefit of the additional relationships. Thus begins a process resembling “dating”, according to our speakers.

Despite the mechanical nature of the description, Deb insisted the purpose of the exercise is to “share the love.” And for the next phase, a lawyer must discern what these contacts need to know. She and Megan had some suggestions about messaging.

In training lawyers on the proper message to deliver, Deb works in two areas. The “quick pitch” (“elevator speech”) is the answer to the ubiquitous question “What do you do?” Deb arranges the answer like this: the problem I solve for whom. Diagrammed another way the answer is “I [verb] [target market] [problem solved].”

The “follow up” is also the familiar question, “What’s new?” This answer can be broader, but should show some relation to 1) current events (ie. specific news), 2) a current project (either business or personal) or 3) looking forward (what’s on the horizon). Deb even handed out a worksheet to outline these areas in more detail, where the lawyer can note the possible answer to “What’s new?” so they enter a relationship activity prepared.

That’s what’s new with me. What’s new with you?

When automation subs for thinking, is that a good thing?

2011-09-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we were told that Google+ is wide open for business. We learned that Facebook now sends your account news based on what they think you are most interested in. Both of these platforms congregate personal networks into audiences and apply an automation model to the process of extending the user's identity and activity across that audience.

I'm a proponent of social media, which I consider "the people's public relations channel" as it taps into and uses online broadcast utilities to distribute comment and reputation outside of traditional media. What once was under the complete control of a reporter and editor now is within the command of any individual internet user. And it has turned the previous media relationship on its head, as reporters and editors now search among social media looking for sources for stories and expertise.

However, the proliferation of multi-featured channels, with increasing demand for permissions to access and sell your personal attributes, poses huge questions for users, both corporate and individual: how much do we trust these social utilities to understand us and respect our individuality? How great an effort are we willing to put into managing these tools so that the automatic features we use operate as we intend?

Marketing is a process. Each cycle of communication rests on calculated tactics aimed at specific outcomes drawn from product and consumer knowledge. All along the communication and feedback loop, energy must be expended. When we enter social media channels with the hope that they will automate our communications and ease our work, are we putting our faith in the right place?

Hello, LMA Midwest!

2011-09-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to thank your lucky stars. How else to explain occupying the same forum as Ross Fishman , Ann Lee Gibson, Tim Corcoran, Barbara Miller and Bill Flannery? I am not worthy!

Friday, September 9 we each play a part in the Legal Marketing Association Midwest Chapter Conference being held in Chicago at the University Club. My topic is Social Media (big surprise there!), but I'll be talking about how to calculate the benefit of participation, using some of the "big five" as examples.

For folks in the audience, I have put some resources in my public Dropbox, a service I have used for over a year and which I recommend to anyone who has to keep up with files from several computers or mobile devices. If you came to the Conference, I hope you will let me know in the comments below if you got what you wanted, or anything, from my time at the front of the room. I'd appreciate your help in improving the information.

Even if you didn't attend, here are some recent resources I find really helpful, you can collect the articles and reports at the links below.

And check back with my blog to let me know how you're doing on measuring social media.

Back in the BizDev Dojo

2011-08-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I found myself furiously scribbling notes at the Legal Marketing Association Virginias Chapter meeting in Richmond. Deb Knupp and Megan McKeon were talking about business development coaching.

I felt like I was back in school, with my mind open and new ideas pouring in fast as I could absorb them. Truly, I can recall nothing recently that turned me on more and gave me better actionable intelligence that this hour with my two newest senseis.

As a rare act of generosity, Deb and Megan left the attendees at the luncheon with both a fully developed and proven system of coaching and a tool kit of ready forms and tactics. As it happened, I needed to return to work that afternoon and have a first coaching session with one of our lawyers who had expressed frustration with her marketing plan's speed of progress. I applied a few of the ideas I'd just learned during that afternoon conversation. The effect was remarkable and resulted in an energized attorney and focused multi-step plan which we are now shaping for implementation.

I'll be discussing some of the key concepts here over the next few weeks. Today, I just wanted to issue a shout-out and grateful "Thanks y'all" to Deb Knupp of Akina Corporation and Megan McKeon of Katten Muchin Rosenman for their gifts.

Who have you heard recently that has rocked your world in business development?

Marketing Still Adjusting to New ROI Models

2011-06-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim this week covered an Insights report from Forbes (free registration required) showing that top level marketers are still stumbling towards implementing the new marketing paradigm: customer acquisition. (Read the MP article here.)

Maybe you're surprised that customer acquisition as a marketing goal is something new. A more complete explanation based on the Forbes report might be that the stringent measurement of short term acquisition and buying activity is currently a top metric for judging marketing program success. More than brand recognition, more than brand communication and outreach, more than profit, sustaining customer activity and increasing incoming customers are the measures that matter.

At least that is the reported state of affairs from the responses to Forbes's interviewers. Customer retention and customer acquisiton are more important to the marketers than profitability or branding. The methods for achieving these goals are mostly online, too, as the largest spending increases are forecast for online media, social media and mobile media efforts. The vague categories of retention and acquisition also rank in the top five for spending increases, but there is scant discerment of what constitute these.

Further, the two top challenges identified have to do with understanding the interaction of strategies. The bewilderment of marketers is a chief obstacle to improving the focus and effectiveness of marketing. I wish I could say I do not belong in this crowd, but mea culpa, for sure.

How are you seeking to clear your mind and focus on understanding the retention and acquisition effects your marketing strategies? Have you any insight for me or the rest of us?

Going Mobile?

2011-05-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

One of my all time favorite rock bands is The Who, but they were going home when they were "Going Mobile." These days, going mobile is the future of marketing, IMHO.

While text messaging is still the dominant way of communicating messages of all types to mobile users, the increasing penetration of smart phones and tablets worldwide will eventually make cell application channels and the internet the main distribution methods for high definition and interactive ways to reach mobilized consumers. Just recently, I had the pleasure of hearing Jolie O'Dell of Mashable.com talk about the use of location-based marketing pioneered by foursquare.com. This tactic is now proliferating through the smart phone universe as mobile users "check in" voluntarily at participating businesses. While the marketing implications of location broadcasting are still murky (and the hidden collection of mobile data by Apple and Google is causing privacy concerns and government scrutiny), the most obvious conclusion is that mobile device users consider their hand-held technology the most convenient point for consuming information, entertainment, sales offers and social connections. Sounds like a "place" where marketing belongs, don't you think?

If you're interested in learning almost everything about the mobile world, there's a great post at mobithinking.com. If you're still in doubt about whether your business can benefit from entering this developing arena in marketing, consider this:

250+ million Americans carry mobile phones—over 80% of the nation's population

Cell phones subscriptions topped 5 billion globally before 2011

The global mobile advertising market was valued at over $16 billion by 2011

And if you still doubt that mobile marketing can deliver the emotional intimacy that is the heart of effective marketing:

Four out of five teens carry a wireless device, and the majority (57%) view their cell phone as the key to their social life

Going mobile?

General Counsel Panel Says Lawyers "Spectacularly Bad"

2011-04-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

At the Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference on April 6 at the Disney resort in Orlando, we heard again from a set of in-house counsel about their needs and advice for outside counsel.

Stephen Kaplan, SVP, General Counsel, Connextions

Jeff Novak, GC, AOL Paid Services

John Lewis, Jr., Senior Managing Counsel, Litigaiton, Coca-Cola

They said that law firms are "spectacularly bad" at asking about the client's needs, but really good about talking about the law firm's capabilities.

They said cost is important because it represents risk and is actually part of the outcomes they measure.

They remember when law firms ask "what does a win look like for you?" This relationship continues to grow revenue for the law firm, and they "make us look good."

They recognize as novel the concept of a law firm saying "we know how to contain costs on our side, we can apply these same ideas to a client's costs."

They realize that the law firm is offering an partnership that transcends the vendor relationship when they educate the GC on a new role as a value-add, off the clock. They say it makes a difference in treatment of the lawyer/law firm: "We leverage vendors, put them under duress, drive their price down. We don't do that to partners."

When markets have mobile lawyers, after they move around and immediately want to command an audience on how great their law firm is now, GCs remark they have to remind the lawyer that they used to say these great things about the place they left. And GCs make a joke out of many of the claims law firms make about themselves. As for differentiation between law firm strengths, GCs say "A lot of firms struggle on the 'what else' question in pitches."

Learn who are you, what is your brand, give GCs the differentiators that make a difference to their companies and them.

Firms must realize that GCs do not believe they hire lawyers not firms. "If you haven't figured out how to make us clients of the firm, you are always risking the work moving. We want to be clients of firms who know our business, anticipate our needs and understand what we want out of our legal work."

"It's just not acceptable to come into a company looking for work and know nothing about us, it's intellectually lazy, when everything in the world now is an open book test."

It is painfully easy to stay up on a client's moves, executives and activities, they said. This is table stakes now, firms should know clients as well as they can throughout the relationship and that includes every member of the client legal team team.

GCs remark that diversity is not a moral imperative, it is just the way the world is. Not having a diverse workforce, and not to recognize it among clients, is "just plain dumb." This is about growing your firms, they say. It is evidence of a forward thinking, innovative legal firm. "The industry acts like a herd of wildebeests, moving together in almost every action" from associate salaries, law schools recruited, fees and partnership agreements. That is clear to GCs and it destroys the notion that there is anything that differentiates law firms one from another.

Good strategic and tactical marketing that reach GCs must convince them that there is a compelling reason to displace a current relationship. Example: One was sued in NY, and a law firm came to the company GC and said they'd like to represent the client in this case. They said they were so sure they would win, they had already drafted the motion and would do the engagement for a flat fee. And if they lost, the client didn't have to pay. That got their attention. Only specific and highly customized marketing is effective.

GCs think "the landscape is changing, client expectations are moving. To not adjust the business model is akin to the tree that stands stiff in the storm and gets snapped in two." The majority of legal work in not "life or death" for a company, and most matters can be done by any one of several dozen law firms. Firms have to be introspective about where their growth opportunities lie.

GCs have become very sophisticated at how they use data, especvially when insituting an electronic billing system where clients can discover errors that their law firms don't even catch. When law firms say that they don't have a method to analyze their work processes and create more efficient ones, it's a red flag. Having the capacity to do these things is essential to the client's work and revenue. In-house law functions are a cost that has to be managed, and that has to be part of a law firm's marketing to us. "This business is one size fits one." The things like the ACC Value Challenge are not the end of the conversation, they are just the beginning.

Your Honor Awards: Winning!

2011-04-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

During the judging this year, co-chairs of the Legal Marketing Association Your Honor Awards asked the panelists to indicate submissions that would be interesting case studies for a conference audience.

Wold Theiss's Janet Nordstrom is Chief Strategy Officer of a 325 lawyer firm spread over mostly Europe with services among many former USSR states, that won in training category. The lawyers had never had business development training. Brought in corporate counsel from multi-national firms and ACC to teach lawyers what would be necessary to compete for business among this universe.

Young lawyers were sponges, ready to learn. Took them to a remote site in Austria where they couldn't leave or access communication and distraction. Wrote two very difficult case studies. Did day and half pre-training on how to create value for client. Empowered the lawyers to devise solutions to the case studies, which would be judged by the in-house counsel as if in an RFP situation. At the end, panel of corporate counsel gave deep details on how to forge relationships that develop work for a lawyer.

Andrea Wood of Leonard, Street covered her winning entry in the online category, the launch of Dodd-Frank.com. Just seven marketing staff, but a strong business development culture, enabled a team effort to focus on this time-sensitive time-intensive project. One attorney reserves the domain on June 27 and presented the name to the marketing department.

They knew they could leverage the name, so June 30 it was decided to implement a blog. The bill was signed on July 21, 2010 and this mean it was a rapidly expiring opportunity, needed to do development and support with PR and other marketing. Budget was not identified. Firm had no prior blogging experience. Attorney did have time to devote to the project.

Stockpiled posts for ten days prior to launch. Sought a lot of suggestions for low cost providers. Meanwhile, supported the attorney's interest in his practice and took the project information to all other practice groups. Enlisted firm leadership, somewhat at their looking askance, but they trusted their business development team. Ultimately, eighteen lawyers were trained on blog writing and have posted nearly 300 pieces of information on the Dodd-Frank Act. Site launch was July 30.

Stephen Hastings of Fasken Martineau discussed firm's Best in Show winning entry in marketing on a shoestring, a bespoke marketing tool built on SharePoint. Called Symphonie, it is a repository of marketing and branding tools that can be worked on and is systematized firm-wide. Fact sheets, bios, photos, events are easy to access and adapt. Everyone can see everything. Also built a social networks internal feature.