You invest a significant amount of time in legal directory submissions. Partners and Central teams coordinate the process, fee earners identify their strongest matters, case descriptions are drafted and refined, client referees are selected and permissions sought. Multiply that across several practice areas and offices and the investment in Legal 500 and Chambers submissions can quickly become considerable.
But there is a question I think more firms should ask once the results have been published: What happens to all that information afterwards?
More than just a submission form
When the new rankings are released, marketing activity understandably focuses on the result. There are announcement posts, website updates and graphics celebrating individual and team rankings. Quotes are turned into social media content, added to lawyer website profiles and used on pitch documents, which is all worthwhile activity.
But sitting behind those rankings is something potentially even more valuable: a carefully curated bank of evidence about the firm.
Your submission may contain significant matters, examples of sector expertise, new client wins, emerging areas of work, evidence of collaboration between teams and examples demonstrating exactly how you have helped your clients.
Legal 500’s own guidance asks firms to focus on what makes a practice stand out and says its research considers factors including the quality of work and calibre of clients. Chambers similarly describes work highlights as the most important part of its submission. That makes the submission a potentially powerful marketing resource in its own right.
Turn submissions into marketing
Where information has been cleared for publication and the appropriate permissions are in place, consider what else could be done with it.
Could a publishable matter become a case study for the website? Could several matters demonstrate expertise in a particular sector and form the basis of a targeted marketing campaign? Could you create a thought-leadership article? Could examples be incorporated into credentials documents, tenders, award entries or social media content?
You may even spot wider trends. If several teams are increasingly advising on a particular issue, does that present an opportunity for a campaign, roundtable event or new piece of content?
The objective isn’t to simply copy sections of a directory submission onto your website. It is to look at the evidence you have already gathered and ask: what story does this help us tell?
Get more from the work you’ve already done
Marketing doesn’t always require creating something new. Sometimes the best starting point is looking again at the information, expertise and evidence already sitting within the business.
At Number 34 Consultancy, I help firms to take a strategic look at their marketing, identifying what is working, where opportunities are and where existing resources could be working harder.
Nottingham Law Society members can currently access our Marketing Insight Review at a discounted member rate. It provides an independent review of your current marketing activity, with practical recommendations on where to focus next.
Because if you’ve already invested the time in demonstrating why clients should choose your firm, it makes sense to ensure that evidence keeps working long after the directory deadline has passed.