Written by Daniel Steinberg
When you think about diversification, you typically think about the process of allocating assets or capital as a way to reduce exposure to any one particular asset or risk. This philosophy holds true across numerous decisions that individuals and businesses have to make throughout their lives.
For the past five years, I’ve been exposed to two separate industries in both marketing (Influitive), and legal technology (Clio). It was only about two years ago that those worlds collided. I had the opportunity to help reshape the way law firms digitize their storefronts specifically through Google My Business.
In today’s blog, I will guide you through how to think about diversification of marketing spend, and the value it will have on your law practice.
Let’s begin,
✋ Raise your hand if you’ve ever ordered UberEats/DoorDash/Skip?
Again,
✋ Raise your hand if you’ve gone to a restaurant to pick up your food?
I bet this is the first blog you’ve ever read that just made you raise your hand! So why do I ask? Well, because you’re all consumers of goods and services, and it’s important to think about selling your services the same way you buy them.
Although food and legal services are not one in the same, the concept of how restaurants diversify to capture consumer demand is of extreme relevance. Similar to you, every restaurant wants a consumer to walk into their restaurant, saving their bottom line 20%. That being said, you still see all those restaurants exposing themselves through on-demand delivery apps. This is the power of diversification.
Consumers shop in a magnitude of different ways. Some consumers leverage referrals, or Google Reviews, while others prefer to remove the confusion, and complexities of finding a lawyer, and leverage services that mimic everyday consumer interactions.
All business owners hope that they are found organically, but when you’re competing with millions of legal brands throughout North America, it’s a pipe dream. The market is saturated, and only continuing to expand as individuals continue to open up their own practices, breeding one of the most competitive industries when it comes to consumer acquisition.
Leveraging multiple tools, and diversifying your spend across the internet is one of the most impactful things you can do for your business. Providing you/your firm what I refer to as “at bats” (conversations) is the success metric you should be focusing on. You don’t have to convert a client for these platforms to be considered a success. These platforms that you diversify through are to help your firm reduce your cost per lead / acquisition of conversation. Although a lost client might seem like you have fallen flat, and you struggle to find a direct Return on Investment (ROI), it’s important to treat every conversation as a current & future opportunity. Every individual you connect with creates a webbed network effect. If not for them, someone they know will need legal services. If you continue to leverage tools that open up conversations, all while providing the customer experience that is expected, you will be surprised at the referral network you’ve now opened up for you and your firm.
In my next post, I will focus on consistent communication, a topic that will zero in on how you can turn every conversation into your strongest referral network opportunity.
