Synergy Associates (UK) Ltd, the North West legal marketing agency have recently completed the largest and most in-depth survey on the legal marketing habits of North West firms. One of the key findings suggests that when it comes to marketing investment, bigger isnt always better.
(PRWEB) October 14, 2005 -- Synergy Associates (UK) Ltd, the North West legal marketing agency have recently completed the largest and most in-depth survey on the legal marketing habits of North West firms. One of the key findings suggests that when it comes to marketing investment, bigger isnt always better.
The survey questioned 150 firms, in their majority with more than 3 partners. The telephone questionnaire was complemented by a series of face-to-face interviews to confirm the findings with leading firms. Contributions were also sought from key specialists in the market, consisting of legal accountants, legal recruiters and legal management specialists.
The survey has thrown a number of key findings for the legal community and key headings in the main report include the Top 10 Key Trends, Legal Marketing People, Top 5 Outsourced Services, Top 5 Under-Used Tactics, Marketing Budgets and Return on Marketing Investment per partner band.
The key findings of the study, in summary are:
1. 85.7% of firms in the North West do carry out some marketing in-house but there are still 10% of firms that dont do any marketing at all.
2. 39% of firms now employ a dedicated marketing professional to oversee their marketing function, however 34% still allocate the responsibility to a partner that also has responsibility for day to day fee earning and management of the firm. 20% of firms are allocating the marketing function to the Practice Manager and 7% of firms do not have anyone responsible for the marketing.
3. Late adopters: If they havent started doing any marketing, the trend shows that they probably wont in the near future.
4. The firms that started marketing in the last 2-5 years are the most successful marketers, combining low budgets and high returns. 88.9% of these firms will be increasing their marketing spend and nearly half of them have experienced high income returns. All of these firms have a strategy, they all do CRM and Market Research, use PR and have a strong web presence.
5. Web Design & Web Optimisation is the top outsourced marketing service for law firms followed by Design & Branding, Public Relations and Media Monitoring.
6. 82% of firms do not carry out any Telemarketing the top under-used marketing tactic, possibly due to a misinterpretation of the Law Societys publicity code. Other under-used tactics include Market Research, Direct Mail and Database Management as well as (surprisingly) Networking and Referral Generation.
7. Nearly 10% of legal firms do not have a Strategy.
8. 26% of firms are set to increase their marketing spend over the next year.
9. Firms that have between 11-26 partners that spend between 51K - 100K on marketing (excluding marketing salaries) are receiving the highest return on their investment.
Elpi Pamiadaki, Director of Synergy Associates (UK) Ltd and the main co-ordinator of the survey says The survey has shown incredibly encouraging signs of marketing activity in the legal sector but most importantly it discusses areas that firms may under-estimate
We all know that the legal market will become more and more competitive in future years, and it is time that firms review their position in the market as well as their marketing spend. Clearly there are firms that are over-spending and under-spending and the survey points out that in order for marketing to yield results, an equilibrium needs to be reached.
Our aim for completing this survey is to set a benchmarking tool that legal marketing departments can consult but also to measure and compare marketing habits in the years to come.
For a full copy of the legal marketing survey, please email us. To contact Elpi Pamiadaki and to enquire about specific trends in particular areas of law please call her on 0870-7401322 or email her.
Editors Notes:
Synergy Associates are a forward looking marketing and PR agency based in the North West and work with mid tier professional services firms throughout the north west region. The company was set up in 2001 by Elpi Pamiadaki. 2004 has seen record growth. Their services include market research, strategy formulation, marketing planning, public and media relations and design & branding.
Synergy Associates client portfolio also includes Accountancy practices, Information Technology and Recruitment companies. They cover both the B2C and B2B markets.