Many solicitors today are concerned about what the future might bring.

The ongoing growth of claims farmers and the threat of ‘Tesco law’ means more and more potential work for solicitors is going elsewhere or being sold at a cost that could threaten your profits, compromise service levels and risk increased complaints and higher PI premiums.

A comprehensive marketing strategy can put you back in control and ensure a steady flow of work with a far higher return on investment than you will get from buying work in.

A complete marketing programme has many aspects, here we will look at one most of us are familiar with and most frequently get wrong: press advertising.

Good press advertising should be a vital part of your overall marketing strategy. Here’s how you can make your ad a success.

First Rule of Press Advertising – make it work

There is no point in advertising if your advert doesn’t work and the vast majority of press-ads don’t work.

When drafting your advert bear in mind the following:

• Offer a solution

o A client is someone who has a problem they want to solve. Identify that problem and tell them you can solve it.

• Keep them Clean

o Don’t clutter up your advert with logos and platitudes – ‘quality service’ – who offers poor service? Don’t overload your advert with loads of small text detailing your services, direct them to your website where all the information they want is available.

• Keep it simple

o Focus on one thing only; wills for example. If you cram everything in people will lose interest and move on. Better 10 enquiries for wills than no enquiries for everything.

• Make an offer

o People respond to offers, ‘Free consultation.’

• Give a Guarantee

o No deductions from your damages – 100% guaranteed – you might think this cheesy but research shows people actually find this reassuring, and gives you credibility.

• Have a Call to Action.

o You have identified their problem offered them a viable solution, now tell them to get in touch; be clear and confident– call us now for your free consultation.

Second Rule of Press Advertising – Ignore the Rate Card.

Right now print advertising is at an all time low and you can use this to your advantage.

If a paper goes to press at 3.pm. and if they haven’t sold the spot the chance to sell it has gone for good. Call them just before deadline, ask them what they’ve got and what is the cost; then offer them half, you may not always get it but you will get a better deal – have your advert ready to email over to them.

o One further thing with press ads is; don’t listen to anyone (normally an ad sales rep) who tells you to take a series of adverts to build brand awareness; you’re not coca-cola! Any advert you run has to generate leads, enquiries and sales.

Third Rule of Press Advertising – Test and Test Again.

As the cliché says: “I know half my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” Advertising is no use if you can’t measure it. You should test your press ads in the following ways:

• Telephone number.

o Have a separate telephone number just for a press ad so that you can really measure the results.

o It’s quality not quantity you want, if they are all ‘tyre- kickers’, they will just waste your time. Testing allows you to identify which ads and which papers produce the best results.

• Track your website visits from the advert

o You are using Google Analytics aren’t you?!

• Change the advert

o You may find that enquirers from your advert for wills are responding well to your suggestion that they consider Lasting Powers of Attorney as well, so focus your next advert on LPAs.

o Try different versions; you can change any element; layout, wording, fonts, guarantees etc. However don’t make more than one change at a time or you won’t know which change made the difference.

Press Ads should be part of your overall marketing strategy including, cross selling, up-selling, pay-per-click, email marketing, referrals etc, all of which will help you build a reliable and profitable source of work for your practice.

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