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Marketing seems so simple on the surface. And most partners agree that marketing is an important firm activity. However, too many law firms somehow miss the marketing mark.

How could this be? Well, mostly because marketing is often looked at as a to-do item, an action to be taken. In truth, the most effective marketing is treated as an approach… a marketing practice, if you will.

Marketing is not just something you do. Marketing is a process to embrace and infuse into every fiber of your firm.

As an accounting firm, we can relate to the business development challenges of professional services firms. And as advisors to numerous law firms, we have a deep understanding of the business of running a successful firm. We wanted to share with you some of the marketing errors we often see law firms (and even accounting firms) sometimes make.

So what are the most common mistakes made by law firms?

1. Winging It – No marketing plan? Well, join the crowd. Firms often chase after various tactics that they see working elsewhere, with no overall strategic roadmap. What is your vision for your firm, what are your goals? Convert these to strategies and then… then you can choose the marketing tactics that fit in with the strategies. Ideally, you’ll do best if you create a firm-wide plan that dovetails with individual partner marketing plans.

2. Failing to Check Your Clients' Pulse. Sometimes marketing takes on a life of its own, and you find yourself doing the same things year after year – attending the same exhibit shows and conferences, sponsoring the same golf events, even mailing out holiday cards because it's what you’ve always done. Stop and check to see if these activities (often labor-intensive) are actually building relationships with your clients or if they are falling flat. These items often become activities-by-rote, rather than thoughtful strategies.

3. Giving Marketing Lip Service, Without Full Partner Support. Even though your partners may verbally agree that marketing is important, it is easy to cast marketing aside on a day-to-day basis in favor of more urgent matters (i.e., billable work). Check your culture: Are you saying that marketing is highly important, but rewarding people only for logging in a high rate of billable hours? This sends a subtle mixed message, and puts business development on the back burner.

4. Neglecting to List Success Stories and Testimonials. It seems "infomercialish," perhaps, but prospects want to know if you have actually done a good job. When they peruse your website and brochures, they will skip right over your well-honed services listing and go right for the words and stories of happy clients you have already served. Be sure to make your testimonials real, and use your clients' full name (with permission) to add credibility. Click here for an interesting article about a law firm that created compelling video testimonials for their website.

5. Too much "We" and not Enough "You." Focus your marketing message on your clients' needs and concerns, not on how wonderful you are. There should be many more "you" references in your marketing copy than "we" references. Paint a picture that shows you understand your client to the core, and then hit them with how you can help them with your services. The old adage may be trite, but it's true – make sure your marketing communication passes your prospects' WIIFM test: "What’s In It For Me?" This is what they will ask first, before they get around to reading your list of services.

6. Undermining Your Marketing Staff. Not intentionally, of course. But sometimes, firms hire marketing staff and don't provide the tools, support and time they need to perform their best. When you hire staff, be sure to have a solid plan for helping them succeed. This includes avoiding last-minute projects and giving your marketing "hired guns" room to fully use their knowledge and expertise to boost your business. Click here to learn more specific ways to help your law firm marketers boost your business. A great place for your marketers to build their knowledge, gain cutting-edge ideas and get peer support is through member ship in the Legal Marketing Association.

7. Discounting the Power of Your Website. Quite often, your website is the very first contact potential clients have with your firm. Once they hear about your firm, it’s highly likely that new prospects will first check you out via the web before picking up the phone. You may not realize how many clients you lose because they click onto your site, aren’t grabbed by a compelling message or are turned off by poor design, navigation or – a major culprit – extreme wordiness. Check your web stats – how many visitors come to your site and only click on the home page and then go away? What other clues do your web stats give you to reveal your website’s effectiveness?

Marketing-that-works requires an investment of energy and commitment, which turns out to be an even more important factor than any financial investment. For another perspective on law firm marketing, click here.

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