Reprinted from Strategies:The Journal of Legal Marketing. Permission granted by Legal Marketing Association, Glenview, Ill.

Strategies 010.08V10.N09

The Journal of Legal Marketing

P U B L I S H E D B Y

Many experts agree that if theTitanic had stayed oncourse and tackled the dreaded iceberg head on,the ship would have crushed through the ice and

made it safely to the shores of America. By attempting tohastily change direction, though, the ocean liner lost com-plete control and disappeared into the depths of theAtlantic. Much like the Titanic, businesses, especially lawfirms, tend to dramatically abort their chartered coursesduring a recession, risking the loss of valuable position andmomentum and ultimately sinking the entire marketingstrategy for when the economy eventually rebounds.

An economic downturn is Wall Street’s warning call thatyour marketing and PR efforts need to be more strategicand efficient. Here are seven tips for getting the most bangfor your PR buck during bearish times.

(1) Measure your effectiveness and allocateresources properly.Given the difficulty of quantifying the rationale to sup-port many marketing initiatives, there is often tensionbetween marketing executives and partners. Do you havean idea of the firm’s “PR efficiency”– how useful your PRresults are at influencing purchaser decisions and develop-ing business? It’s important to find out, because third-party “thought leadership” quotes are not as significant asthey were in the past and have lost ground to more sub-stantial, communications-based positioning strategies.

Additionally, BTI research recently published a study thatfound a direct, positive correlation between market dif-ferentiation and firm revenue. Use it! Share it with yourCFOs and managing partners and utilize it as a tool tosteer resources toward the marketing strategies that actu-ally create market differentiation and lubricate sales.

(2) Create finite PR campaigns.The biggest detriment to PR’s effectiveness is for a firmto view it simply as an on-going monthly activity withoutclear goals, rather than a powerful strategic business-development tool to be applied when appropriate forachieving a specific firm objective. How many interviews,

bylines and speeches are enough to credential an attorneyas an expert on an issue? Typically, it is far fewer than theamount showered on them when they become theextended focus of a firm’s PR activity.

Think of the money to be saved by creating a simple planthat clearly delineates when your effort will stop (e.g.,when you’ve reached success or run out of time to try).

(3) Leverage content.To be efficient and manage resources properly, it isimportant to spin firm-generated content into as manymarketing opportunities as possible. For instance, consid-er the legal alert that your energy practice published andmailed: If the partners who published it are important tothe firm’s business-development strategy, make sure torecycle those alert-style briefs into interview pitches andarticle and speaking topic abstracts to pitch trade pub-lishers and conference organizers.When partners secure acoveted speaking slot at an important conference, makesure they bring a colleague (to work the crowd whilethey’re pigeon-holed at the podium after the speech) andare armed with reprints of a recent byline on the sametopic. If that’s not possible, secure a byline to be pub-lished soon after the speech and encourage them to usethe reprint as a reason to reconnect with the contactsthey met at the conference.

Additionally, if the attorney is traveling out of town to theconference, be sure to set up lunch or coffee with severallocal trade or beat reporters. Meetings like this are anextremely useful way to network with increasingly mobilereporters and often serve as catalysts for articles. In otherwords, never settle for one thing; using the same or simi-lar content, expose your market to it in as many ways andthrough as many channels as possible.

(4) Create branded content.In addition to leveraging content, many firms are discov-ering the enormous cost-savings associated with creatingbranded marketing vehicles such as annual industry sur-veys, industry briefing reports, quarterly roundtable dis-

RECESSION-PROOF YOUR MARKETING

SevenTips for Getting MoreBang forYour PR Buck

by John Hellerman (pictured) & Maggie Schmerin

Reprinted from Strategies:The Journal of Legal Marketing. Permission granted by Legal Marketing Association. Glenview, Ill..

cussions, etc. Branded content ultimately becomes some-thing the market expects and the media always covers.Granted, creating branded content can be a significant sin-gular line item – however, when done right, it returnsmultiples of what it costs because it serves as an anchor forsubstantial marketing and business-development activity.

Consider a firm that is now in its fifth year of producingan annual securities litigation report.With the market andmedia now clamoring for the data, nearly all of the firm’smarketing activities revolve around their report: They dobriefings and seminars to explain the findings, they pub-lish byline articles about it, they are invited by conferenceorganizers to speak about their report and they aresought-after sources for the media throughout the yearbecause of it.Those activities cost less to the firm to exe-cute because the report generates interest in and of itself.The key to making branded content successful is to makesure firm leadership is committed to the idea beyond thefirst attempt. Things are always more expensive the firsttime, so create something with the potential for longevity.

(5) Delegate to outside specialists.Law firms are intimately familiar with this philosophy – itis how their clients typically operate. In-house staff areever more skilled and uniquely positioned to be criticalassets in the execution of the firm’s core PR functions.Outside experts should only be brought in to supportthem on the more robust and/or time sensitive projects.

(6) Explore value billing arrangements.Value billing refers to determining the fee for a particularactivity based on the outcome the initiative produces andthe significance of that result – not on the effort involved.Thus, the savviest CMOs pay very little for effort and a lotfor results.A decreased budget presents an opportunity forfirms to review their billing structures with the consult-ants they work with and discuss more effective ways togenerate the same results.Take advantage of that.

(7) Get creative.The only good news during an economic downturn is thefact that your competitors are suffering, too. For firms thatcan muster the resolve, there’s never a better time to thinkoutside the box, generate grass roots buzz and deliver con-tent in a way your competitors can’t.

As an example, consider a firm that found itself as one of adozen sponsors for a major trade publication’s annualawards gala. It was a significant investment which couldnot be wasted, yet they were one of 12 firms in the sameboat.To stand out from the pack, create buzz for the firmin the practice area and enable partners to develop newrelationships with industry leaders, the firm decided tohost a live podcast from the “red carpet,” featuring inter-views with the award winners, which was then linked backto and promoted on the firm’s and the trade publication’sWeb sites and industry blogs. Shortly thereafter, othertrades and bloggers linked to or mentioned the podcast.The buzz that was generated was unique and lasting.

Whatever you do, make it special.

Whatever you do, make it special; clients and prospectswill appreciate their law firm’s commitment to creativityand resourcefulness – a benefit to both business develop-ment and marketing.

A sluggish economy and a subsequent decreased market-ing budget can make the task of maximizing a firm’sinvestment in PR a daunting task. By instituting these PRstrategies, your firm will not only remain afloat duringturbulent waters, but will drive business growth objectivesfor smooth sailing ahead. �

John Hellerman is a partner and Maggie Schmerin is an accountexecutive at Hellerman Baretz Communications. ContactHellerman at 202/274-4762 orjhellerman@hellermanbaretz.com.