Now We Can Advertise

Lawyers and Seltzer 

New lawyers starting a law practice in the 1800 America could advertise their business. Using mass circulars, handbills, posters, ads in the local community papers, they let the citizens know of their existence. In 1908, however, the American Bar Association (ABA) published the Canons of Professional Ethics, which abolished advertising by lawyers.

The ABA believed that lawyer advertising was unprofessional and cast a negative light on the profession. There was also the concern of encouraging frivolous cases and clogging the courts. According to the Chicago Bar Association, “The most worthy and

effective advertisement possible…is the establishment of a well-merited reputation for professional capacity and fidelity to trust.”

Lawyers were, however, allowed to be listed in legal directories, like the SBM Member Directory, and could also print business cards and use professional letterhead. They were back to the days of face-to-face networking, building their relationships with clients one person at a time.

Bates v State Bar of Arizona

That is how things stood until 1974, when John Bates and Van O’Steen founded their practice in Arizona. They decided to focus on a large number of small cases such as uncontested divorces, adoptions or simple bankruptcy to support their practice. To get the word out, they placed an ad in the Arizona Republic on February 22, 1976.

The State Bar of Arizona suspended Bates and O’Steen for six months. The lawyers challenged the decision and eventually the matter was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in their favor. The Supreme Court removed the ban on advertising stating that it “inhibited the free flow of information and kept the public in ignorance.”

The Court, however, did allow the State Bars to “regulate” advertising to make sure the information offered was true and didn’t mislead consumers.

The day after the Supreme Court decision in 1977, Group Matrix, an advertising agency, obtained their first legal client. In those years, they advertised for personal injury lawyers on television, radio, outdoor advertising on billboards, benches, taxis, buses and yellow pages. Over time, the yellow pages have faded away and the agency added a web service. 

How do lawyers advertise in 2016?

In many ways, advertising of legal services follows the same path it followed in the early years. We still advertise on TV, radio, billboards, taxis, buses and benches. What has changed is the addition of the Internet which gives lawyers another way to gain name recognition, impart information to prospective clients and establish their brand by creating websites and writing blog posts.

And, we are subject to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct on advertising, which are in the section titled “Information About Legal Services.” One of the rules requires “A copy or recording of an advertisement or communication shall be kept for two years after its last dissemination along with a record of when and where it was used.” {Rule: 7.2 (b)} That rule includes material on your website. Remember to give it a read.

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The Social Media

The lawyer sitting next to you at the conference is busy writing a tweet for Twitter, another is taking a selfie to post on Facebook. It seems that everyone except you are busy using social media to market their practice. Should you jump into the social media pond?

Maybe, maybe not.

Social media has its good and bad points. To understand what is best for you, your first step is to analyze your practice. Understand the legal service you offer in order to know your target market—their age, demographic, economic position. Knowing your practice will help sort out the pluses and minuses of using social media and decide which social media platform is right for you.

What is social media?

Social media is defined (Merriam Webster) as: “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)”

Think Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and so forth. Each attracts a particular audience. If that audience includes your target market, you could consider joining the group.

The advantages of using social media:

·      Social media marketing is cost effective AKA free. You can sign up, create a profile and post information without paying a cent.

·      You can reach consumers that never come to your speaking events or read your newsletter or your blog. Your tweets find new readers who will comment or retweet your tweet to their followers leading to an even larger audience.

·      You gain name and brand recognition.

·      People come to know you by your choice of words, style of writing, topics you pick. Use an easy to read style, offer real information and show them you are approachable and they will be loyal and frequent readers.

·      Social media builds relationships.

·      Use visitor analytics and readers’ comments to learn more about your audience. Knowing their interests will help you find topics for them.

·      You can post a link to social media on your website and your SBM Enhanced Profile, making it easy for readers to find you.

The disadvantages of social media marketing:

·      Time—time is money, time spent on social media is not billable time, time you don’t have, which means if you start a social media be sure you are aware that time must be set aside to continue the postings.

·      Content needs to be written, edited, revised and published—again a time issue.

·      Social media creates demands on your talent; posts need to relevant to your practice and interesting to a wide variety of readers. Fortunately, as a lawyer, you have access to a variety of topics with the weekly SBM e-journal and the SBM news-links posted daily.

·      You lose control of your content. Everything you publish is available to be commented upon positively or negatively by all who read it.

·      Social media doesn’t have a quick return on your investment. It builds relationships and firm loyalty over time so you need to decide to be in it for the long haul.

Social media can bring many benefits and increased profits to your practice, but it does come with limitations. With good planning, you’ll be successful. If you decide to start a social media account, it could be you taking “selfies” and posting news items to your readers at the next conference. You’ll be in good company.

  

The Millennials are Coming. Are You Ready?

As of 2015, the millennials, defined as those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, outnumber both the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers in sheer volume. (Pew Research http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/) By 2020, 46 percent of the US workforce will be millennials. And, it is reported that these individuals account $1.3 trillion in annual spending, which doesn’t include millennial—influenced spending by their parents and grandparents.

Who are millennials?

For some of my readers, they are your children and grandchildren. Studies show they have the following characteristics:

                                                                   

•  They work and play online, mostly on mobile devices.

            •  They welcome access over ownership in a new “sharing” economy, think UBER, bike sharing.

•  They expect media, information, services and purchases to be available on demand.

•  They are socially aware and assume that companies, firms, individuals will be active in the community and give back.

            •  They know more about technology than any other generation; they live in a world of sharable information.

What legal issues could millennials, aged 18-34 in 2015, have?

They are buying houses, estate planning for their children, starting businesses or helping their aging parents. And some are having criminal problems. MADD reports that the 26-29 year olds (20.7 %) have the highest rate of drunk driving. Think about how your services can be of use to this younger audience.

How can lawyers reach millennials?

Millennials are never out of touch—they live by their mobile phones and expect the information they need such as reviews, social media commentary, price comparisons to be instantly available. For law firms, that means their website, profiles and blogs must be mobile friendly. Your law blog should be informative, short, engaging and easy to read on a smaller screen.

Being active on social media such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn is an effective way to ensure millennials see your firm, interact and engage with you, learn something from you and eventually employ your legal services.

In the interests of hands-on research, I texted my millennial grandson, Collin, 22-year-old, bio-molecular engineer living and working in New York city, asking one question—How would you find lawyer? He texted back, “I would ask one of my fraternity brothers who are lawyers.” And “I would Google my geographic area and the kind of service I needed. Then I’d check their website and then try to find some sort of review or blog post written by a past client.”

Two marketing concepts are at work here. He began the usual way, asking friends for referrals, showing the importance of face to face marketing. Then he used the millennial way—going to the Internet to find and investigate lawyers in his area. And, it’s reasonable to assume he would do this on his phone.

Would millennial Collin find your mobile friendly, easily accessible website?

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