Get Noticed to Get Business

An important axiom of marketing is: “Customers do business with people they know, like and trust.” The significance of that axiom swells when you market a professional service instead of a product, because your potential clients can’t see, touch or taste your wares in advance of the purchase. To achieve that coveted status of being known, liked and trusted in advance of providing the service, choose marketing strategies that enhance visibility, credibility, personal relationships and referrals. Clients can’t like and trust you if they don’t know you exist. So this month we’re focusing on how you can augment your visibility to potential clients and referral sources.

When you increase your visibility, you increase your name recognition. People gravitate toward names they recognize, even when they don’t remember why they recognize the name. The “I’ve heard of her somewhere” factor pays off. A while back I read an article reporting the polling results about the best lawyers in another city. I recognized the names of many of the lawyers selected, and could confirm the quality of a number of them from personal experience. I also recognized the name of one lawyer in a category that I didn’t have much knowledge about, but I assumed he was good because I had heard of him. Later I saw his name selected in several other categories requiring dramatically different skill sets and knowledge bases. Something seemed awry. With today’s in-depth specialization, rarely can a generalist truly excel in multiple legal practice areas, and this fellow was named among the best in four different areas! On reflection, I recognized that he had been very active in leadership roles in bar and community activities, and was a former State Bar President. He may be a genius and a multi-tasking time management pro, or he may be benefiting from name recognition. After all, I myself had assumed he was good in his practice area merely because I recognized his name.

Advertising increases visibility and name recognition. Studies have shown, however, that when it is the sole mechanism employed, it is the least effective strategy for professional services marketing. The majority of professional service clients engage services based on a personal acquaintance or a referral. Therefore, advertising alone is generally only effective for attracting clients who are unlikely to have any other source of referral to a lawyer. When combined with other forms of marketing, however, advertising can serve to boost the impact of the other efforts by adding name recognition to the formula. Unfortunately, advertising that has high visibility tends to be quite costly. Further, research shows that, to be effective, the ad must have repetitive exposure, increasing the expense. Therefore, unless you have a generous budget, your marketing dollars will probably be better spent elsewhere.

There are many other ways to gain visibility, or preserve it, once achieved. Listed below are 20 ideas that are more cost effective than advertising, and some are even free. Use these or other strategies you feel comfortable with to increase your visibility to potential client and referral sources.

With these ideas as a start, do some brainstorming to create your own visibility mechanisms. Consider brainstorming with some non-lawyers to develop some out-of-the-box solutions. Get known to your potential clients and referral sources!