Branding – EM Consulting

Tomato, Toma’to… Potato, Pota’to

There are many ways to look at branding and the brand development process. For those who do not fully understand the power of branding, it might only mean the color palate and font of your brand and website.

Brands can create excitement that yields integrated marketing tools and messages through which the brand essence reverberates. Brands, in their truest sense, take on special meaning to the buyer. A successful brand rewards a client with a certain amount of comfort in their purchasing decision.

The reality is effective and genuine branding digs deeply into what your firm and services stand for. How are you differentiated from others in your space? How do you deliver those services? How is your firm distinctive?

And most importantly, how do your clients or customers benefit from what you offer? What problems do you solve? What messages that you offer simply cannot be ignored by clients, referral sources, and potential clients?

One of our clients works for a company that takes its brand to its deepest and most effective level. They commented to me, “When a firm takes the time to identify and communicate its distinctions in how it practices, how it deals with its knowledge and content, and how it relates to its clients, we can see it and feel it. More firms need to identify their brands more clearly and be certain it is shouted from the rooftops and applied to their websites, blogs, social media posts, webinars, presentations, and thought leadership content.”

The key to a successful brand is that the target audience perceives a distinction between your firm’s brand compared to other firms in your space.

Once your firm’s brand has been determined, each of your communication vehicles should be evaluated in terms of their ability to deliver and support the brand. Brand development is the process of discovering your brand. Branding is everything else discussed in this article.

How clear and meaningful is your firm’s brand?

What is the Difference Between Branding and Brand Development?

Professional services firms are starting to wrap their collective arms around the difference between a brand and brand development. Branding is a tactic. And brand development is a discovery process that unearths brand distinction. The definition of a brand is, “A claim of distinction.”
Branding tactics include the consistent use of color, graphics, and positioning lines used in the communication of a brand’s distinction. But the color, graphics and tagline are not the distinction itself. No, a brand’s distinction is whatever separates it from its competitors, makes it stand out as extraordinary, or better yet, more valuable to the client—the end user.
Branding is the process that unearths a law firm’s unique distinctions. If you know three solid, bulletproof unique selling points (USPs), ones that no other law firm can claim, then communicate that differentiation by creating a clever and catchy positioning or tag line. If you can’t really define at least three USPs, your law firm should go through some sort of discovery process that will uncover them. Start by listing as many facts as you can about your firm (a hundred or so) then distill those facts down to three to five USPs.

We call this process Turning the Telescope.

This means we turn the telescope on the firm and conduct an inward search of what is unique about it like its culture, people, products, history, you name it. Once you’ve accomplished your discovery, find ways to make them absolutely unique. That creative and clear positioning line that communicates your firm’s brand essence is the beginning of the branding process. This line becomes a firm’s brand promise.

The concept of branding expands from tag lines or clever slogans to encompass brand-focused integrated strategic marketing plans. Successful brands have a well-crafted Brand Essence Statement or a paragraph that captures what the brand stands for. The critical attributes of this statement should be applied throughout a firm’s website, not just on the Home page or the About the Firm page. Website branding should also be realigned with new technologies and industry trends – not just redesigned.

Your firm’s unique distinction helps clients and potential clients understand who you are, what you stand for and what’s important to your firm. Branding is a serious proclamation of a firm’s brand values to its clients.

In articulating a brand promise your goal is to imbue your mark or logo as well as your positioning line with consistent meaning so that every appearance of it further communicates the brand promise and reinvests the logo with all associations. These traits are integral components of how your firm will go to market. All of a firm’s communication materials reiterate the brand concept. Over time we expect that when clients, prospects, recruits, and other friends of the firm see the collateral materials or hear the firm name, they will recall the brand concept and link it mentally to the critical attributes that differentiate your firm from other firms in your space and define its value proposition.

Making the Invisible Visible

Let’s face it, marketing professional services is a bit like making the invisible visible – it’s almost like smoke and mirrors. After all, we can’t see our services, yet they can make significant and indeed impactful contributions to businesses, individuals, practice groups, and firms.

But how do you turn the invisible into visible results? It must always begin with a clear brand development process. Professional services firms must find their true distinctions, codify why they are unique and how they deliver their services to meet client needs. Once an individual or firm creates its clear brand it must then implement a specific plan to bring it to life through marketing and meaningful business development measurable plans.

For twelve years, we have worked side by side with Jeffrey M. Verdon. Jeff is a distinctive and nationally regarded #assetprotection attorney for affluent investors. Having such a long and productive partnership has allowed us to work together to increase Jeff’s national and regional visibility, drive significant revenue, and obtain wonderful business development opportunities.

Together we secured numerous national speaking opportunities, interviews on national radio, chances to be interviewed and quoted in prestigious news publications like the Wall Street Journal, become a guest on podcasts, become an interviewer and presenter at numerous award functions, advertise in a meaningful way in targeted publications, form relationships and obtain referrals from numerous professional service providers, and significantly grow his law firm.

Jeff has even been an online longtime contributor to Kiplinger’s Wealth Creation Column publishing 22 articles for them. He raised his visibility and business development success by showcasing his fresh well-branded content in the area of wealth management and asset protection. Through our firm’s outreach and connections, this ongoing effort produced an increasing number of clients and revenue for the firm.

And all of this success recently led to the New York-based law firm of Falcon Rappoport & Berkman reaching out to Jeff and finalizing a merger with his firm on December 1, 2022. https://frblaw.com/professionals/jeffrey-m-verdon/ FRB was a perfect cultural and practice area match helping the firm reinforce its brand, Great Results Begin with Great Relationships!

With consistency, collaboration, creativity, and focus, a brand can raise an individual and a firm to new heights not yet imagined. But it must always start with a clear brand. For Jeff, his brand line was The fusion of planning and protection, offering high-net-worth individuals #advancedestateplanning and a legacy that would protect their families for generations to come. He has brought that with him to his new firm.

Jeff and the Falcon firm now work together to assist their Private Client Group to reach new heights. https://frblaw.com/practice-areas/private-client/ This is a branding success story.

Branding is a Strategic Asset that Morphs into Revenue Generation

Has your brand with its “unique selling points” been incorporated into your marketing initiatives to propel your business development success? Are you using it to demonstrate how and why you are different from others in your space?

The first questions to consider when delving into a brand’s impact involve exploring the clarity of its messaging, its unique appeal, its market position, and the effectiveness and depth of differentiation it offers from the competition.
Consider answering these questions about your own brand:
Are my unique distinctions and areas of focus uniformly and clearly presented in all marketing efforts?

When a new viewer comes to the Home page on my website, do they get who we are, what we do, and why we do it, all within seconds?

Does my LinkedIn Profile pay off my brand and unique essence in the same way? Do my posts demonstrate clear thought leadership and industry knowledge?
Is the messaging throughout my website consistent and clear? Do I offer examples of client successes that pay off my distinctions and areas of expertise?
Have I considered how I am distinct from others in my space and do I offer that up to potential clients? (Why would a potential client/customer choose us?)

Branding is no fool’s errand. It is a deep and involved process that can provide a big payoff in driving revenue. Very few professionals have the luxury of being the only person in their space. Take marketing consultants, for example. I was recently in a Zoom networking meeting in which there were three marketing consultants. Each of us offered distinctive services and positioned ourselves completely differently.

For example, take Susan Gold, of Susan Gold Coaching. Susan’s position clearly shows her position in the marketplace as a “Marketing Strategy Coach working with B2B businesses to help them attract their ideal clients.”

Susan works with her clients digging deeply to uncover the best marketing strategies that will produce the most effective results. https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmgold/

When Michele Correnti, of Correnti Marketing & Events, explained her line of services we quickly understood that she helps law firms build and clarify their online presence. She offers a niche market service in her well-defined area of focus. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelecorrenti/

When it was my turn to reveal the areas of competence at EM Consulting, I shared our brand or tag line, “Our business is developing yours℠.” I included the words from my LinkedIn Profile headline copy, “Award-winning biz dev consultant driving revenue connecting your distinctions with the unique and sustained client and potential client interactions.”

Our services start by clarifying the client’s brand messaging. Next, we apply it to their website (or create a new one if the site is older than three to four years as web technologies have morphed) and also to LinkedIn. We create solid marketing and business development plans creating a unique and sustained offering. The goal is to combine clients with potential clients in their targeted industries, vertical market, or the space the client plays in. Simply stated, our brand is driving revenue. https://www.linkedin.com/in/merryneitlich/

Three consultants, all marketing professionals, but offering different and specific areas of expertise.

At another meeting I attended, there were three insurance professionals present. Each one worked in a different space and was well branded.

By way of example, take Frank Campbell of Stratus Financial Planning. Frank’s company performs custom analysis of life insurance plans because – wait for it – 88% of all plans do not deliver what the owner of the plan expected. There are a myriad of reasons why so many plans fail. Frank uncovers them and can correct over 80% of those policies’ deficiencies. https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-m-campbell-clu-98b91040/

Then, there’s Jim Better. Jim shares a personal story of a family member who ran out of funds needed for their long-term care. This had a devastating effect on his family. Jim took his years of experience selling insurance now singularly focusing on helping individuals secure long-term health care insurance. Jim understands the devasting outcome of having no such policy in force. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbetter/

And finally, we share the story about Aaron May, who heads his company which sells employee benefits for companies’ employees. His firm serves small to mid-size organizations taking great pride in their white-glove and personal service. They work closely with their client companies and their employees taking as much time as needed time to educate them and have them completely understand all of their benefits. The professionals at Ancile Insurance always take the time to answer the myriad of questions to deeply explain coverage offerings, clearing up any confusion. This focus offers true compassion and lots of education creating differentiation for the company in the crowded insurance market. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-may-930a2572/

Is it the time for you and your company to reflect on your brand’s clarity? Are you using it effectively to create a distinction in the marketplace and to drive new revenue? Branding, after all, is the backbone of strategic marketing. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/branding-is-the-strategic-backbone-of-84058/

Brand Stories that Position and Drive Revenue

If your website is more than three years old, it might be time to rebrand and get the latest technologies.

Here are the stories of three professional services firms and how they developed their branding to become clear and consistent on their websites. Each was looking to raise their firm’s visibility and to drive an increase in revenue. We worked collaboratively with each firm to uncover their company’s unique distinctions, ultimately creating more robust positioning and clarity for the marketplace. And each entity had its own preferences and goals in how they wanted to use digital marketing.

Stratus Financial Partners

Frank Campbell, the founder of Stratus Financial Partners, sought to develop a more apparent brand and to create a successful implementation of its marketing strategies. In addition to growing his company, Frank had an underlying motivation to help more people. That is Frank to a tee – helping others.

During the brand development process, I was stunned to learn 88% of all life insurance policies don’t pay what is expected. There are numerous reasons why this happens and finding the right person to conduct a policy analysis to discover potential problems can be challenging. It is best to select a professional who is part of a rarified group of only one percent of all licensed insurance brokers: These are the experts who put in the work to become California Licensed Policy Analysts. Frank is one of them and is making a difference to policyholders and their families.

On the company website, www.stratusfp.com, one can read about the Stratus brand, Ensuring families and businesses are protected, and learn about the real reasons policies can fail. The site shares stories of how Frank and his team successfully fix broken policies for a modest fee. There is a small percentage of policies that cannot be righted. When this occurs, Frank’s team explores new policy options for those clients, comparing offerings and rates with over 50 insurance companies to get the perfect policy for each client.

The new website and the personal and company LinkedIn pages are frequently updated with the information clients, potential clients, and referral sources need and want. With this depth of information and deeper brand clarity, Stratus

Financial Partners is positioned for success.

Sumrow Business Law Group

It has become standard practice to replace old websites every three years. We know that the requirements for search engine success are constantly morphing. And after three years, well, those website technologies are simply out of date. The reality is search engines do not favor older sites, especially those which do not offer frequent content updates or have up-to-date technology. The internet and search engines are fickle. They tend to promote sites that are thoroughly optimized and sport the latest Google trends for better analytics. These days, keywords, messaging, and search engine optimization are only a part of the ticket for improving a site’s standing in search results.

Matt Sumrow, the founding partner of Sumrow Business Law Group, knew it was time for a clearer brand and a new website. With Big Law experience and now a solo entrepreneur, Matt’s clients are primarily mid-sized companies that need a corporate attorney to assist with deals, M & As, contracts, and outside general counsel services. Matt prides himself on his new and aligning brand line built from years of experience: Real Insights. Real solutions.

With a bustling practice and no outside marketing support, Matt knew that realistically, he would not be blogging on an ongoing basis nor making frequent website updates. He also knew he needed a new site that offered the latest technology. This new website, www.sumrowlaw.com, was created paying mind to his constraints and goals. Building the site with substantive representative matters, client testimonials, ever-green blogs, and a page of client logos and stories, it was developed it to reflect his expertise and successes. We built-in keywords and organic SEO so the site could stand independently. Matt is a realist. He is not looking to be on the first page of results when potential clients search for a “corporate attorney in Orange County, California.” But he certainly wanted potential clients and referral sources to understand his talents and areas of expertise instantly.

The feedback on his new site produced the results he wanted and needed.

AGA Legal Staffing

For many years, Amy Goldware was a partner with a Los Angeles agency that provided legal staffing solutions. The two partners of this entity split in Q4 of 2021. With a keen focus on client needs and service, Amy needed clear branding and messaging to launch her new company, AGA Legal Staffing. www.agastaffing.com

We collected the most important aspects of what the new company would stand for through the brand development process, incorporating Amy’s tremendous success and skills honed over the years.

The Brand Essence Statement we developed from the branding session stated, “At AGA Legal Staffing, we pride ourselves on delivering lasting solutions. With over 25-years of experience in the trenches, both inside law firms and as recruiters, we believe that good enough isn’t good enough. Integrity touches everything we do. And clients tell us our straightforward approach delivered with honesty, and the ability to pivot on a dime, are the reasons they come back, time and again.”

The website was developed with a client focus, which provides frequent updates on the new website as well as on LinkedIn personal and business pages. The site was highly optimized and filled with the keywords her clients use most often. The transition to the new company became seamless and successfully integrated into the marketplace in short order.

Amy and her staff are committed and focused on their clients’ needs and wants. Through the brand development process, we created the tagline, “More than you expect. Everything you want.” This perfectly represents what Amy and her team had in mind.

Digital & Content Marketing Strategy: Survey highlights and a summary

Just released in July, this 2019 survey, produced by Greentarget and the Zeughauser Group, provides specificity and insight into why content marketing is so important in differentiating your firm and building your brand. Full article here.

According to the survey, the four most important content marketing guidelines readers seek are relevancy, utility, urgency and novelty of the content. Opportunity abounds for those willing to do a deep dive into specific areas. “Many firms spend time defining the problem or issue in their content marketing, but don’t give enough meaningful insight behind the three to five things needed to solve the issue.”

LinkedIn remains the number one business social media platform. Your clients, referral sources and prospects use it to learn, as well as to connect with colleagues and business leaders. Most use LinkedIn to post relevant content to their coveted connections and to tap into groups that align with specific audiences focused on a singular topic.

The results point out the four most important attributes readers seek in social media content. The survey states readers want information to be educational, relevant, easy to read and timely. Although business leaders want drilled down focused content, they are not one-dimensional in their thinking. They don’t mind reading occasional broader topics to learn from – many seek it.

Does your firm have a focused content strategy? Consider who you are trying to reach and who you want to attract. Create a concept that is the core of your social media outreach by posting the relevant and strong information your audience is seeking.

Remember to place content on your website and blogs too. Incorporate key words so that those searching for specific information will find your posts. This will also help to improve the search engine optimization (SEO) of your firm’s website.

It’s 2019 – it’s all about content marketing these days.

How Brand Development can Increase the Value of a Legal Department

These days many corporate legal departments seek to understand a law firm’s distinctions. They want to know how and why they should choose one firm over another – what is the law firm’s differentiation? ‘Branding’ and ‘Marketing’ are terms that traditionally refer to the ongoing actions implemented by an organization to enhance the sales of the organization’s products and services to increase revenue. And until now, these terms have not typically been connected to legal departments.

It seems to be time to change this. Many legal departments are discovering that their unique brand distinction in how they deliver services to their internal clients may already be there – they just need to be discovered and communicated clearly. Having satisfied clients within the company impacts how the legal department is viewed. It can influence hiring decisions and impact bonuses and salaries. Creating a clear and codified brand allows clients to understand how to best interface with the legal team and what to expect from its services.

You can learn more about increasing the value of the legal department by clicking here.

The Sky is Falling, the Sky is Falling!

The results of the 2019 Altman Weil annual Law Firms in Transition is receiving well-deserved interest from law firm leadership. This year, 362 law firms participated in this annual benchmarking survey. The good news is that most law firms are experiencing improved financial performance. And the issues surrounding what clients are expecting is becoming clearer. Lawyers are busier, per se, and many firms have raised rates.

According to the results, managing partners have long accepted the fact that there is a permanent trend in how the practice of law is and will be practiced. Change is continuing. But increased profits have some law firm leaders relaxing a bit about the impending discussions of “doom” about how the practice of law is changing. Is the sky really falling?

Apparently the sky has not fallen. But at the same time forward thinking firm leaders recognize that high collaboration with firm clients is increasingly essential. And according to the survey, almost all firm leaders agree that the pace of change will remain high or even accelerate.

What do Clients Want?

While clients may not be looking for the low cost leader they are seeking greater transparency and accountability in the delivery of legal services. Over 50% of the firms responded that they are invested in capturing data on the cost of their services. The basics of strong experience and expertise along with a high level of communication, good service and efficient processes remain important criteria for clients when choosing outside firms. And a whopping 96% of law firm leaders agreed that a focus on increased efficiency, and perhaps with it better predictability and innovation, are areas clients are seeking.

A clear, strong and distinctive law firm brand remains important to clients. About half of the respondents of this year’s survey said their firms are clearly differentiated from the competition. But what about those firms that have yet to go through a brand development process to identify, codify and implement a clear brand which consistently supports and reflects their unique distinctions? These firms make it difficult for clients and potential clients to understand why a firm with a muddled brand should be chosen.

The survey results report 78% of firms have created a more collaborative culture resulting in improved firm performance. Altman Weil suggests compensation systems should reward increased collaboration and better client service.

The survey did not explore additional issues that are increasingly vocalized by legal departments such as which technologies are preferred, how they use artificial intelligence, or how to incorporate problem solving solutions such as process mapping to minimize pain points.

Altman Weil’s 2019 Survey states that the demand for law firm services has been flat for years and that the acquisition of new clients is essential for continued growth and sustainability. And according to the summary, managing partners are highly concerned about the impending recession. The sky may not be falling but savvy law firm leaders are making sure their firms are realistically facing the changing landscape in the practice of law to secure their futures.

The full survey results provide greater details and explanations.

Stop Clowning Around: It’s Time to Create High Engagement with Clients

Websites these days can create “high-engagement” if they are designed to offer fresh content which will attract clients, potential clients and repeat visitors. Many law firm websites are outdated and not built with the technology for easy to post strong content which would assist clients in meeting their business goals. Law firms of all sizes should be considering updating to current technologies and website strategies in order to stay relevant and to bring in new business.

When law firms jumped into having websites, most were not designed to extend the firm’s brand and disseminate thought-leadership content. These days, firms must view their websites as more than an electronic version of old-fashioned printed brochures. In this old model, bios and practice area descriptions were considered to be the most important content—and client focused content, such as articles, blog posts, and thought-leaderships pieces, were not offered. Even today, many law firms don’t publish fresh and relevant content on their websites. Rather, they do not update their websites to engage their coveted audiences. Some may post fresh content on their blogs or social media outlets, which does not engage viewers to stay on their website and learn more about the firm, its capabilities and unique differentiators.

Fortunately, this is changing. As the market for legal services has become more competitive firms have begun creating more content as a means of distinguishing themselves from the competition. These firms are seeing their websites as publishing opportunities yielding increased website engagement.

The bottom line is that law firms must invest in themselves and consistently develop fresh and client-focused content to maximize the return on their investment. It only makes sense that now, even firms that have resisted, are stepping up and revamping their websites to maximize the chance that visitors will read the firm’s best reputation-enhancing content and engage more thoroughly on their websites.

With years of helping law firms create client-centric and business development focused websites, we, at EM Consulting, are poised to help your firm maximize the return of investing in your website.

Three Simple LinkedIn Updates that Will make you a Standout

There are a few easy tasks every LinkedIn user can do to easily improve the impact of their LinkedIn profile. Here are several to consider.

The cover image behind your profile picture starts with the default standard turquoise blue background with the lines running through it. You can make a greater impact by selecting a custom image that is 1584 x 394 pixels. (If you are not adept at this, any graphic artist can convert an image for you.) For example, you can take your company logo or an interesting horizontal image from your website and insert that easily into the cover image slot. This immediately makes you stand out from the literally millions of LinkedIn users who stay with the staid turquoise cover image. The down side of staying with this default image is it tends to say, “I don’t use LinkedIn very much.”

Another easy thing to accomplish is to update your Headline statement. Many users type in their firm name in their headline when LinkedIn has already automatically inserted your company name on the right side of your Profile page just under your cover image. Why not take this opportunity to customize your Headline turning it into something that articulates exactly what you do. For example rather than repeat your firm name there, write something more compelling in this space such as, “Trial Attorney Specializing in Business Litigation and Attorney Malpractice.”

Our final tip: review your Profile Summary. You can find it just under your cover image. In your Summary, do you repeatedly say, “I do this, and I do that?” Do you have long paragraphs that seem to go on and on? Or do you take the time to create a more branded approach and describe what you do and how you solve problems for people? We always recommend keeping the copy to two short paragraphs and then perhaps listing specific skills or services that you offer. Keep this simple format so readers can quickly ascertain who you are, what you do and how you do it. Keep some of those details about your firm or company for the “Experience” portion below the Profile Summary.

These few updates can assist those who view your Profile page to get a clearer understanding of what you do. After all, according to research from Forbes, over 60% of individuals will check you out on LinkedIn before they will go to your company website. Don’t you check out contacts or potential contacts on LinkedIn this way?