Podcast Ep. 121: Law Firm Business Development Turns to Digital: Lead Generation and Awareness Campaigns on the Rise

On this episode of the Legal Marketing 2.0 Podcast, Guy Alvarez interviews Lynn Tellefsen-Stehle, the CMO of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer. Lynn oversees the business development and marketing operations for this century-strong New Jersey law firm. Tune in to hear Guy and Lynn discuss how digital marketing has transformed the ways law firms develop business and market their practice.

Podcast Show Notes

Lynn is a chief marketing and business development officer who helps law firms and lawyers improve financial performance and expand their practices through business development strategy, initiatives, marketing campaigns, communications and process improvement. Also as an entrepreneur, Lynn co-owns Cavé (Ka-Vey) Bistro, a popular farm-to-table restaurant emphasizing sustainability in Avon-by-the-Sea. You can connect with Lynn on LinkedIn here.

Why do you think that law firms are now turning to digital marketing and lead generation campaigns?

First of all, the Coronavirus pandemic. Now that people must work from home, more people are online now than ever before and for longer periods of time. If your law firm wants to be successful, you have to market where your audience is, and there is a good chance that they are online now. There is also a shift in generations too, there are now more Millennials than Baby Boomers, so you have to market to that age group accordingly.

What are the key elements of a digital marketing campaign?

The first element that defines a digital marketing campaign is the goal of the campaign. Whether it is a campaign to generate awareness of your law firm, or to generate leads, the goal will define the campaign and how to best execute it in order to be successful. Next, you must narrow your target audience to be as specific as possible. This will help you cater your campaign to your target market’s interests by creating an appealing lead magnet with a message that resonates. Then you will have to create a budget and pricing strategy that will work on the platform you are using for your campaign. 

Can you tell us about a digital campaign that you have run?

We recently ran a three month long awareness campaign during COVID-19 for small business owners in New Jersey, to provide them resources and information. This campaign consisted of 3 different videos that educated our audience on different legal aspects associated with businesses. This campaign was quite successful, after adjusting the target audience of course, we found that our original audience of HR executives were not too interested in what we had to say, but CEOs, COOs and other C-suite executives were attracted to our ads.

How do digital campaigns tie in to the work a law firm does in marketing offline?

Digital campaigns are highly efficient in terms of time and cost. But in order for them to tie in to marketing offline, they need to integrate into an omni-channel campaign. This will synchronize your campaigns and amplify the message you are trying to communicate to your audience.

Are digital campaigns here to stay? How have your attorneys reacted to the increase in digital?

It varies, but we have ongoing initiatives in place to demonstrate the value of digital. Last year, we conducted a seminar for our lawyers concerning Google My Business and the emerging trends in organic searching on Google, and that was very well received.

Takeaway

If your firm is looking to get involved with digital marketing campaigns, the best way to get started is by surveying the landscape and the potential audiences. See the types of content other firms are producing and how their audience is engaging with it. This will help you determine which tactics will work for your firm and which might not. Then determine the goal of your campaign to help guide you to produce content that will attract the correct audience and generate leads.

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