The Death of Good Marketing
Marketing is one of the few areas of business where there are truly an infinite number of approaches. Whether your firm generates new clients via the Internet, TV, yellow pages, billboards, or radio, you have tons of choices regarding messaging, imagery, slogans, and all the other things that get potential clients interested in working with you.
One of the most common statements I’ve heard over the years (and I’ve termed it “The Death of Good Marketing”) is:
“If I were a client, that wouldn’t appeal to me.”
Some of you already see this coming, but you’re not the client! In fact, in many cases, you couldn’t be more different than the people or businesses you represent. Let’s prove it…
If you’re a DUI defense attorney, do you routinely drink way too much alcohol and get behind the wheel?
If you’re a business litigator, how many times have you entered into a commercial venture with someone you know very little about?
And…
If you’re an employment lawyer, when is the last time you email-blasted a joke to everyone in the office with a naked picture in it? (Okay, maybe that’s a bad example.)
The reality is that you should never put something on your website or other marketing that you’re uncomfortable with, or that doesn’t advance the image you wish to promote for your firm. However, there may be times when there are options that are all acceptable by those standards, but they may just not resonate with you. Don’t discount those options because they don’t work for you personally. Your clients are much different than you, and a variety of approaches may give your firm more opportunities to generate business from those that see the world differently, but whose dollars spend exactly the same.