Law firms outsource a variety of functions, including various aspects of marketing. It's important to know what the marketing job titles mean and how to manage vendors effectively

1. +
How to Effectively Manage Marketing Vendors to Achieve
Maximum Return on Investment (ROI)
Stacey E. Burke

2. +
Part I: Outsourcing

3. + Defining Outsourcing
Recognized as an integral business strategy since 1989, outsourcing is
a business practice that involves hiring outside parties to perform
services either previously performed in house or services the business
needs and cannot perform itself.

4. + To Outsource or Not to Outsource:
That is the Question
 Outsourcing work at a law firm is done to be
competitive, competent, efficient, and smart about
how the work is accomplished.
 One common issue small firm lawyers often face is
deciding when – and how – to delegate.
 Should you hire new employees or outsource certain
tasks?
 This is a difficult decision since the work of small firm
lawyers often ebbs and flows, and hiring staff on a
whim may prove to be problematic down the road if
business slows down.

5. + Time is Not On Your Side
Reports suggest lawyers spend up to six hours a day doing non-billable
work. The whole point of outsourcing is to leverage your time. Imagine
how much time you could recapture if you outsourced just one thing.

6. + What Should You Outsource?
For solo &small firm lawyers, some of the best
outsourcing available is for tasks that:
eat up a lot of your time
are critical to your practice’s success
are irritating enough that they do not get the
appropriate attention

7. + In 2019, nearly everything can be outsourced.
So, where should you start? With an assessment.

8. + Advantages of Outsourcing
It saves on time
It saves on costs
May increase profitability
Access to specific resources and skills
Increased focus on practicing law
Increase in efficiency of
business operations

9. + Disadvantages of Outsourcing
Breach of confidential information can occur
when third parties access a law firm’s
network and digital properties
Signing contracts between two parties
require legal review, which
shouldn’t be as big of an
issue in the legal industry as
it is in other industries
Quality control

10. + Deciding WHAT to Outsource
There’s no sense in contracting out your strengths. Instead,
when deciding what to outsource, consider the following
items….

11. + 1. What You Struggle With
 Decide whether to outsource based on two
factors:
 Can you hire an internal team member for less
than the cost of an agency fee?
 If so, do you know someone who’d do at least as
good of a job as the prospective partner?
 If you can’t answer “yes” to both questions, then
outsource it. Spending the time to recruit for a
role you can barely afford isn’t a bright bet.

12. + 2. Expertise You Don’t Have
 Just as in the cases you handle, your law firm
likely won’t have the budget to hire a full time
engineering expert, but it might be able to retain
an experienced individual as an outside advisor.
 Think of outsourcing as you think about hiring
experts in your cases.

13. + 3. Mundane Tasks
Be sure neither you nor your best workers
are spending time on tasks that don’t fit their
skillset or level of expertise.
Automate what you can, and outsource the
rest.

14. + 4. Creative Work
While you may want to DIY, amateur design
doesn’t get the results you want.
It might cost you
more, but you get
what you pay for,
so pay a specialist.

15. + Ethical Considerations When Outsourcing
It is important to work with a marketing firm well-versed in
the legal industry because of the unique market and ethical
considerations involved in lawyer advertising.

16. + Don’t Be a Rule Breaker
Attorneys have legal and ethical rules they must follow. If
you hire someone who doesn’t know those rules and ethical
boundaries, it can get you into big trouble!

17. + Pay Close Attention to Your Website
Content
 When hiring a marketing professional to build
your website, make sure to be closely involved
in strategy and choosing content.
 Write your own copy or at least edit the
vendor’s copy to avoid violating Model Rules
7.1, 7.4, and 7.5, which involve communications
about you or
services offered
by your firm.

18. + … But Maybe Outsource Your
Content Marketing
Content marketing generally does not fall
under attorney advertising rules because
what content marketing
really does is convey useful
information to the public,
not solicit business.
Make sure you explain to
anyone helping you exactly
what would cross the line into advertising.

19. + Ready to Work With An Outsourced Vendor?
Once you’re ready get started, vendors will need access to a
variety of your firm’s digital assets.

20. + What a Marketing Vendor Will Need
to Get Started
 Domain name hosting provider (GoDaddy, Network Solutions,
etc.)
 Website (administrator level access)
 Logo files (NOT just a .jpeg or .png file... preferably an .ai,
.eps, or .psd file)
 Social media channels (login credentials for Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Instagram, and more)
 Google Suite (Google My Business, Google Analytics, Google
Tag Manager, Google Search Console, YouTube)
 High resolution photos of the attorneys

21. +
Part II: Which Vendors Matter For
Marketing and What They Do

22. + Marketing is Here To Stay
 Today, very few of the top producing law firms
rely on just “word-of-mouth marketing” or
random referrals.
 Firms have either made the commitment to
assemble an in-house team, or they work with
an established legal marketing firm to
implement a strategic plan.

23. + Which Law Firm Vendors Are Important to Marketing?
That will depend on what functions you keep in house and what
you outsource. The following are the most common outsourced
vendors that touch upon law firm marketing in a meaningful way:

24. + Domain Name Registrar
 Every website you visit online has a domain
name, which means that every website owner
went through the process of buying and
registering that domain name. It’s one of the
first necessary steps
involved in starting a new
website.
 A domain name registrar is
a company that sells Internet
domain names and manages
their registration.

25. + Website Host
 Web hosting is the place where all the files of your
website live.
 Web hosting is a necessity for any
website — it is the physical location
of your website on the Internet, an
online storage center that houses
the information, images, video,
and other content that comprises
your website.
 Web hosting service providers maintain the
server where the data associated with your website
resides, and also manage the technology that makes
your website connect to the Internet.

26. + Website Designer
 A web designer's main job is to design web pages.
There is a lot to consider in the design of websites
which may not be immediately apparent when
looking at a webpage for the first time.
 A web designer is an
IT professional who is
responsible for designing
the layout, visual
appearance, and the
usability of a website.

27. + Website Developer
 A web developer or programmer is someone who
takes website design files created by a website
designer and turns them into a website.
 A website developer is responsible for using various
components to construct a fully-functional website
that is error-free in its
technical aspects.

28. + Website Developer, cont.
 There are three main types of website developers:
 Front-end developers develop what a user sees when
they visit your website;
 Back-end developers develop how the owner of the
website can access it and make edits;
 Full stack developers do both front and back end
development.
 Full-stack developers understand both front and
back-end strategies and processes, which means
that they are perfectly positioned to oversee the
entire process.

29. + Campaign Managers
 These people are the main points of contact, and
manage client communication.
 They are responsible for the management of any
marketing campaigns for your
firm, and utilize your feedback to
optimize the campaigns.

30. + Communication Mechanisms
 Phone System
 Internally, if you have an internal intake department, how
does your phone system route calls to them? If someone
takes an intake call, who documents to whom the call was
transferred for screening and how is it documented?
 “Hunt groups” can make intake calls rotate
among a preset group of extensions so that
only the right people in your firm ever have
the chance to talk to a lead.
 On the outbound side, ensure your caller ID
is the business name.
 Be sure to utilize online call tracking and recording.
 Local versus toll free numbers versus vanity numbers.

31. + Communication Mechanisms, cont.
 Answering Service
 Preprogram your answering service to ask the basic
questions anyone can ask to save you time once you take
over communication.
 Have them ask for name, DOB, contact information including
email, and their reason for calling. They can email this to you
contemporaneously with live patching the call.
 Preprogramming your answering service is also useful for
after-hours and weekends.

32. + Communication Mechanisms, cont.
 Live Chat
 Make sure you use pictures of named partners (not just
stock photos) and your firm colors so the live chat graphic
interface looks like it’s part of your site.
 Ensure your service will only charge you for valid leads and
not existing clients, solicitations, etc.
 The provider should also
provide you with a login into
an online portal in addition
to real time emails of live
chats so you can follow up.

33. + IT Systems
 Email
 What distribution lists will you use
for contact form submissions?
 What email will be associated
with all of your accounts (such as
hosting and social media)?
 Will you have a general info@
or contact@ email?
 Will you put individual lawyer emails on your website?
 Internet Service Provider
 How fast or slow, uptime/downtime… everything matters for how
well things work receiving and processing leads (especially if you
have a VOIP phone).

34. + IT Systems, cont.
 Case Management Software/Database
 Where is it hosted: cloud vs. your server vs. provider’s
server?
 What level of customization is available
 Do you have intake screens?
 Can you transfer intakes from person to person?
 Does it handle contact
management, task
management, and
matter management?
 What training is offered
for employees?

35. +
Part III: Vendor Management

36. + You’re the Boss
Once you outsource any function of your law practice, you
automatically become a client yourself who takes on the role
of Vendor Management.

37. + Vendor Management 101
Managing multiple outsourced vendors
requires its own set of skills.
Vendor management enables a firm to
research, vet, enlist, and be serviced by
various vendors while ensuring service
deliverability.
It also helps you hold your
vendors accountable, and
ensures they are delivering
what they promised.

38. + Don’t Delegate This Interview
Interview each outsourced vendor as if they were as
important to your business as your best paralegal because
they will likely wind up costing you more money.

39. + Ask Vendors These Questions
 Have you worked with law firms before?
 How many attorneys have you worked with?
 Do you have a law firm like mine I can contact as a
reference?
 Do you offer exclusivity?
 Who will be my point of contact/
managing my account?
 What portion of vendor charges is a
management fee vs. the actual
ad spend?
 What will be your reporting frequency and
substance?

40. + Having the Tough Relationship
Conversations
 Contract Terms: Website ownership, duration, etc.
 Responsibilities and expectations: Explicitly settle
on the terms of your relationship from the start to
ensure an alignment of responsibilities and
expectations.
 Communication and Feedback: Provide lead
feedback to help optimize your campaigns and ask for
an oral review of reporting to ensure you understand
it.
 Termination Process: Changing passwords and
revoking access.

41. + Having the Tough Relationship
Conversations, cont.
 Risk Management: A key part of vendor management is
to be aware of the risks associated with third-party
vendor outsourcing, and how they should be managed
and mitigated.
 It’s important to consider the types of data accessible by the
third-party, what types of transactions they perform on your
behalf, where these activities are being carried out (and by
whom), and where the data is hosted, etc.
 Determine the risk level associated with each vendor.

42. +
Part IV: Results

43. + The Proof is in The Pudding
Don’t accept reporting you don’t understand or that you feel is
inadequate. A good vendor should be able to answer your
questions and provide meaningful reporting.

44. + Own Your Google Assets
 You can only hold an agency responsible if you
have the same level of access to the data that they
do. Insist that you are the owner of your Google
Analytics account so you don't risk losing access in
the future.
 Do not allow an agency to collect data in a Google
Analytics account that
they own. Make sure that you
own your account. You can
easily provide the vendor
access to your Google
Analytics account.

45. + But Don’t Just Track: Analyze
 Set regular calls and/or meetings and come prepared
with your own analysis of their reporting, your data, and
questions.
 Start your marketing journey with a solid understanding
of your expectations, marketing goals, foundation, and
potential. This background and benchmark data – which
can be collected at initial meetings or via an
assessment tool – helps you
set realistic campaign goals
and allocate resources to
strategies with the highest
success likelihood.

46. + Make Sure You’re Getting The Data
You Want
 Part of good reporting is providing data on metrics
that matter most to you.
 These metrics should be agreed upon at the outset
of the campaign.
 They need to be reported on within a set time frame
(weekly, monthly, etc.).
 Metric definitions should
remain constant so a true
comparison can be made
to the baseline.

47. + Track Everything
Even when using an outsourced vendor, it is ultimately up to
the firm to keep track of its marketing metrics to ensure it
meets its marketing goals.

48. + Internal Reporting Metrics
 Database entry and health: Is the client data entered
uniformly and accurately? Is your system bloated with
duplicates or useless information?
 Intake conversion rate: Marketing vendors can report the
total number of conversions they generate,
but it’s up to you to track how many of those
leads are converted into signed clients.
 Acquisition costs: How much does each signed lead
cost to acquire?
 Projected case value: How much is each
signed case worth to the firm? Knowing this
informs how much you are willing to spend on acquiring
each lead.

49. + External Reporting Metrics
 Google Analytics/Tag Manager/Search Console:
These free tools tell you how many people are
visiting your website, what content is performing
well, and if Google sees any problems with your
website.
 Search engine rankings: Know how
your website ranks in organic search
results, for what keyword phrases, and how the
rankings trend over time.
 Social media key performance indicators:
Understand how your social media content performs
by tracking engagement (likes/reactions, comments,
shares, follows, etc.)

50. +
Connect with Stacey:
 Facebook: @MarketingLawyers
 Twitter: @staceyeburke
 Instagram: @MarketingLawyers
 LinkedIn: /company/stacey-e-burke-p-c
 Website: www.staceyeburke.com
 My e-newsletter: http://bit.ly/StaceyMail