Partner commitment is the most limiting factor when it comes to North West legal firms carrying out successful marketing. A recent survey, carried out by Strike Marketing, revealed that nearly 40% of heads of marketing at North West legal firms feel that partners do not give enough, in terms of time and effort, to the practices marketing function.
MANCHESTER, UK (PRWeb) March 11, 2007 -- Partner commitment is the most limiting factor when it comes to North West legal firms carrying out successful marketing. A recent survey, carried out by Strike Marketing, revealed that nearly 40% of heads of marketing at North West legal firms feel that partners do not give enough, in terms of time and effort, to the practices marketing function.
Almost all of those surveyed believe that non-lawyers taking up partnership, a key recommendation of the Clementi review will be beneficial both to firms and the industry as a whole. In many cases these changes will result in firms being more commercially focused and allow more senior management time to be given over to marketing.
The findings also show that legal firms are not fully prepared for the effects of the Clementi review. 25% of firms are unsure as to how the Clementi review will affect how they market themselves whilst another 48% feel that it will not affect them at all.
The survey questioned 150 law firms in the North West on various aspects of their marketing. The information was collected over the telephone, with a number of one-to-one interviews carried out with experts to support the findings.
The Clementi review is widely expected to change the way in which many legal practices operate, as its key recommendation will allow non-legal companies to offer certain legal services. The review also recommends changes to current partnership rulings. These changes will pave the way for non-lawyers to take partnership roles within firms. All of this will result in major changes in the way many practices market themselves as they fight against a sharp increase in competition. Although many practices are well aware of the Clementi review, relatively few have altered their marketing strategy to accommodate its effects.
The survey, which is now in its second year, also uncovered a number of other interesting trends. Average annual marketing budgets for law firms are slightly down on the previous year. When the survey was carried out in 2005, the average marketing budget for a North West law firm was £70.8k. This year the average budget was £66.4k. Despite this decrease, overall satisfaction on return on marketing investment has risen.
In terms of generating new clients, advertising is the most effective tactic used. Advertising came out as the most successful marketing tactic when gaining new clients, closely followed by referrals and corporate hospitality. This is reflected by the trend for eye catching and often controversial adverts that law firms have produced in recent times.
Firms with designated Marketing managers are on the rise. In last year's survey, 39% of firms had a dedicated Marketing manager. This years survey showed that 48.1% of firms now have a dedicated marketing professional working for them. This reinforces the movement, which has seen more and more firms developing a strong internal marketing team.
On his firm's commitment to marketing, Andy Duxbury, CEO of Aaron & Partners adds, "We are being proactive and widening out the involvement and contribution from staff in marketing. This way there are more people to share the burden. We have put together teams with responsibility for making the marketing and business plans happen and at the same time crystallising the services and focusing on the client."
If you would like a copy of the report or require further information, please contact Elpi Pamiadaki on 0870 740 1322 or email.
Press Contact: ELPI PAMIADAKI
Company Name: Strike Marketing
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Phone: 0870 740 1322
Website: www.strikemarketing.co.uk
Press Release Source: EMediaWire
