How law firms can work more effectively with a legal marketing consultant in the long run
Many law firms have worked with marketing providers who were perfectly capable of completing individual tasks, but less capable of providing senior, strategic advice.
That distinction matters.
A law firm may have had blog posts written, social media updates prepared, Google Ads managed or website changes made, yet still feel unclear about whether the marketing is moving the firm in the right direction.
Activity alone is not the same as progress.
For senior leaders in the profession, the real value of a legal marketing consultant should come from better decision making. The consultant must understand the firm’s commercial priorities, the type of work it wants to attract, the pressures on different departments and the long term position the firm wants to build in the market.
This is particularly important in legal services, where marketing has to do more than generate visibility. It must support trust, reputation, compliance, enquiry quality and business development.
The following points are intended for law firm leaders who want to get more from their relationship with a legal marketing consultant and move beyond a purely task based approach.
1. Treat the consultant as a fractional marketing officer (FMO)
A fractional marketing officer, or FMO, is an experienced marketer who supports businesses on a part time or consultancy basis, rather than as a full time employee. For many law firms, that model makes sense because employing a full time marketing director is not always realistic, but senior marketing input is still needed.
A legal marketing consultant can often fill that gap. They should help the firm make informed decisions about priorities, campaigns, content, SEO, PPC, social media and the wider position it wants to build in the market.
This works best when the consultant understands the firm’s longer term aims, rather than simply being asked to complete isolated tasks.
With the right level of context, the consultant can help the firm decide what should be done, when it should be done and how each activity supports the firm’s broader commercial objectives.
2. Share commercial priorities
A legal marketing consultant can give better advice when they understand what the firm is trying to achieve commercially.
This might include growing a particular department, increasing instructions in a specific location, attracting more profitable work, improving visibility for key fee earners or building the firm’s reputation in a niche area of law.
Without that context, marketing can become too activity led. The firm may end up with regular posts, articles or campaigns, but no clear connection between the work being carried out and the direction the firm wants to move in.
Senior leaders should be clear about the firm’s medium and long term priorities. That allows the consultant to recommend work that supports those objectives, rather than simply responding to individual requests as they arise.
If those priorities are not yet clear, that is not a problem. Working with the consultant to identify them can be part of the process. A good consultant should be able to help the firm think through where it is now, where it wants to be and which marketing activities are most likely to support that direction.
3. Set up a business development committee
A business development committee can help the firm get more value from its legal marketing consultant.
This group does not need to be large. It may include one or more partners, relevant fee earners, internal admin or marketing staff and the consultant. Meeting once per quarter may be enough, provided the discussion is focused and useful.
The purpose is to give the consultant regular access to the firm’s priorities, plans and commercial thinking. That helps them understand what the firm wants to achieve over the medium and long term, then advise accordingly.
For smaller firms, a separate business development committee may not be necessary. The same purpose can often be served by dedicating part of a partner meeting to marketing and inviting the consultant to attend.
The structure is less important than the outcome. The consultant needs regular senior level input so they can understand the firm properly, develop their relationship with key people and provide better strategic advice.
These meetings can also be used to review marketing reports in real time, assess what is working, identify weaknesses and agree priorities for the next quarter/s. This keeps reporting connected to decision making, rather than treating it as a document that is glanced at and forgotten.
4. Remember long term brand building
Some marketing activity is designed to generate measurable enquiries in the short to medium term. In law firm marketing, even a five year horizon can be considered relatively short when compared with the longer term value of brand building.
A strong legal brand is built over many years. It’s legacy. Digital marketing plays an important role, but firms should not forget the value of offline visibility where it suits their market, audience and budget.
Radio, billboards, print advertising, sponsorship, events and local profile building can all help reinforce the firm’s name and position in the market. These activities may be harder to measure than PPC or SEO, but they can support recognition, trust and reputation over time.
A good legal marketing consultant should help the firm balance measurable short term activity with longer term brand building. The strongest strategies usually make room for both.
5. Give the consultant access to useful internal knowledge
A legal marketing consultant can do better work when they have access to the knowledge that already exists inside the firm.
This works best when the team is encouraged to treat the consultant like a colleague rather than a distant external provider. The consultant should be able to collaborate with partners, fee earners and relevant support staff where needed, so they can understand the firm’s services, clients, priorities and day to day realities.
That does not require lengthy meetings. Often, short conversations, occasional emails or quick feedback are enough. The consultant may need to understand the questions clients are asking, the types of enquiries the firm is receiving, which matters are more valuable, where clients seem confused and what concerns arise before someone decides to instruct.
Reception staff are a good example. They are often the first human point of contact in the legal consumer journey and may have useful insight into what prospective clients ask, what puts them at ease and what creates hesitation.
Similar insight may come from fee earners, secretaries, paralegals, heads of department or anyone else involved in the client journey.
The more the consultant understands how the firm operates in practice, the better they can shape marketing that reflects how clients actually choose, contact and instruct a law firm.
6. Use CRM data to measure tangible results
A CRM is a client relationship management system. In a law firm, it can help record where enquiries came from, what they related to, whether they converted into instructions and what value they had.
CRM is not the same as a case management system, although many case management systems include CRM style features or enquiry tracking tools. The key point is to record useful information before and after a matter is opened, so the firm can understand which marketing activity is generating real work.
This is often some of the most valuable information a firm can share with its marketing consultant.
Google Analytics (GA4), Tag Manager (GTM), Search Console (GSC), PPC reports in Google Ads and social media analytics all matter. They can show traffic, clicks, visibility, enquiries (key events) and engagement. However, they do not always show whether the firm won the right work.
That information usually has to be recorded by the people dealing with enquiries and opening files.
A dedicated CRM is ideal, but similar information can still be tracked manually in Excel, Microsoft Lists or another simple internal system.
For a legal marketing consultant, this helps connect marketing activity to tangible results.
7. Recognise that advanced marketing is holistic
Advanced legal marketing works best when activity is planned as part of a wider strategy.
SEO, content, PPC, social media, service pages, FAQs, internal linking, reviews, calls to action and reporting all influence one another. When these activities are handled in isolation, value is often lost. When they are planned together, each piece of work can support the next.
This is one of the reasons why giving one senior person overall control of the strategy can work so well. It allows them to extract more value from the time spent on each activity.
For example, a blog post can target a question that prospective clients are searching for. That post can support SEO, provide material for social media, link back to a relevant service page and identify extra questions that should be added to that service page’s FAQ section.
The service page can then link back to the blog post where more detail is useful. Related articles can also be connected through internal links, creating a web of helpful information for readers who want to understand the subject properly.
This benefits the firm in several ways. It helps prospective clients find useful information, gives engaged readers more depth, strengthens the website’s topical relevance and makes content easier to find through search engines and AI tools.
We are expert legal marketing consultants who work closely with senior leaders in the firms we support
If your firm wants more from its marketing and values a consultant who will think strategically, challenge constructively and become genuinely invested in your success, Reid & Partners can help.
Contact Us to discuss how we can support your firm.
