Why does lawyer marketing suck? A new Survey by LexisNexis Interaction suggests its because most law firms don’t use data to make strategic marketing decisions. Lexis Nexis Interaction today published its Law Firm Marketing & Business Development Survey. The Survey was conducted between August and October 2019. One hundred three legal marketing leaders across the U.S. and Europe participated, many from 40 Am Law 100 firms. Most were with established multi-office firms with over $500 million in annual revenue. In other words, biglaw.
Law firms desperately want business, but are consistently dissatisfied with their efforts The first thing that jumped out from the Survey: law firms desperately want business, but are consistently dissatisfied with their efforts. Only 49% of U.S. firms describe their business development efforts as successful. Secondly, most firms understand leadership is critical to strategic planning and business development (87%). Finally, 70% of the firms know that they need and plan more significant websites and social media investments in 2020. These statistics are all well and good to know. But having worked in biglaw and been reasonably successful at business development, I think there are bigger takeaways. Takeaways that pretty well mirror my experience. My Key Takeaways. The biggest obstacle faced by big law firms and their partners? Lack of marketing focus. Lack of strategy. Trying to boil the ocean and pursuing too many perceived business opportunities. Phenomena that are applicable for both new business development and client retention. In my experience, too many lawyers never want to give up any opportunity. To focus means to