Who is your ideal client?

Your marketing efforts should focus on attracting clients that bring the most value to your firm. By refining your approach, you can target those that will yield the highest returns, both in terms of revenue and long-term relationships.

Identify and refine your target audience

The best way to identify your ideal client is to have a look at your existing client base. Understand who they are, their needs, and how they interact with your firm. 

Look at your client demographics and identify the number of clients that have the same characteristics. These seem to be the clients that you attract most. Are those the type of clients you want more of? If not, you need to change your approach.

Then look at your existing high-value clients. They are also your ideal client, so look for more like them for all practice areas.

Work smarter, not harder

Focus on work that yields the best returns. If something is work intensive but pays a fixed amount, then rather expand your practice to do more of the work that has higher returns.

Identify your highest paying activities and increase your efforts to attract more work in these areas.

Your existing clients

Look after your existing clients. They are your source for repeat business, and for more business in other practice areas.

  • Cross-sell your services. If you’re doing commercial work for them, chances are they also need employment advice. If they are expanding their business, they may need your property lawyers to assist them. Identify where their needs align with other areas of your practice.
  • Foster client loyalty. Maintain strong relationships with your existing clients by consistently offering value and anticipating their needs.

Your client relationships

Are your client relationships anchored in the person you’re dealing with or the company? Meaning, if your main contact leaves, is it likely that you’ll lose the company’s business?

  • Widen your contact base. Build relationships with more than one person at the client company to ensure that you remain their go-to legal advisor if your main contact moves on.
  • Build individual loyalty. If your relationship is primarily with an individual, maintain the connection as they move on to new roles at other companies. You’re likely to get their work wherever they’re moving to.

Do a survey

Do you feel you don’t know enough about your clients? Do a survey. They won’t mind if you want to find out more about them so that you can deliver a better service.

A survey is another method of keeping in touch, plus it can provide valuable information. You can ask just about anything in a survey. Use the feedback to tailor your marketing efforts and client interactions.

Underpromise and overdeliver

Going above and beyond can turn a one-time client into a loyal, long-term one.

  • Stay proactive. Share relevant legal updates or developments with your clients that may affect their business or personal lives, even when it’s not directly related to a current matter.
  • Inform and educate. Give them a heads-up on developments in the law that may affect them in future in a personal email. And then write an article about that and post it on your website and social media.
  • Reward client loyalty. Acknowledge key anniversaries in your client relationships with personalised messages or small gestures, like a thank-you email or lunch invitation.

Let’s look at client service

If you receive complaints, take them seriously. Investigate and, if they are legitimate, remedy the situation and tell your clients you have done so. 

  • Handle complaints professionally. If a client raises a complaint, address it promptly. Investigate the issue, offer a solution, and communicate transparently with the client. Even if the complaint is unfounded, apologising for any misunderstanding can help maintain the relationship.
  • Recognise problem clients. If a client consistently causes issues, demotivates staff, or is a slow payer, it may be time to reconsider the relationship. Some clients take up more resources than they provide in value. Letting go of problematic clients can improve overall firm efficiency and morale.

By focusing on identifying your ideal client, fostering relationships, and working smarter, smaller firms and sole practitioners can create a sustainable and profitable practice.

Why you should have a Google business profile

We’ve all used Google to find a shop, a hairdresser, or a gym. And it’s convenient when their Google profile shows their opening hours and a map to locate them. 

A Google business profile is also extremely useful for potential clients who want to find out more about your firm.

The benefits in a nutshell

Increased online visibility

  • Free to list: Creating and managing a Google business profile is a cost-effective way to reach a wider audience. 
  • Stand out in local searches: An optimised business profile is more likely to show up in Google’s local search results, including the highly visible “Local 3-Pack”. This feature displays the top three relevant local businesses with key details right below the map and paid ads.
  • Higher search rankings: A Google business profile helps your business rank higher in local search results, making your firm easier to find. 
  • Boost your local SEO: A well-optimised profile also boosts your local SEO, which can lead to increased website traffic.
  • Google Maps: An optimised listing ensures your business can be found easily when someone searches for legal services in their area on Google Maps.
  • Catch the eye with visuals: You can upload high-quality photos and videos that showcase your brand.

Enhanced credibility and trust

  • Build a strong reputation: A well-maintained profile adds legitimacy and professionalism to your business.
  • Provide essential information: Your listing acts as a central source for critical and up-to-date business information, including your address, phone number, website, and operating hours.
  • Connect directly: Clients can engage with your firm by asking questions in the Q&A section or even messaging you directly from your profile.
  • Share updates and offers: You can create “Google Posts” to announce special events and other firm news.

Cost-effective marketing & valuable business insights

  • The “Insights” dashboard provides valuable analytics that reveal how clients are interacting with your listing. You can see how they found you, what actions they took, and which keywords they used.
  • Analysing these insights helps you make informed, data-driven decisions to optimise your marketing strategies and improve your online presence for better results.

Creating and maintaining a Google business profile is completely free, making it a highly cost-effective way to market your business and reach a wide audience.

Legal marketing for sole practitioners and smaller firms

A new year is an opportunity for a fresh start! Everybody is rested after their year-end break and full of enthusiasm and positive expectancy. A good time to review and update your marketing activities.

You need a marketing strategy to promote your brand and a marketing plan to implement it.

If your budget is limited, prioritise digital because it’s the most cost-effective way to raise your firm’s profile. Keep in touch with your existing client base through regular updates via email newsletters and social media.

Write articles with relevant content that you can send out in an email newsletter, post on your website and on social media, and submit to relevant publications. One article gets multiple exposures – that’s time well spent.

The essential marketing elements

  • Website
  • Database (for example, MailChimp, or via your website)
  • Firm profile and other brochures
  • Monthly newsletter
  • Articles for external publication
  • Social media posts
  • RFPs and pitches
  • Events, seminars and webinars
  • Directory submissions (Chambers, Legal 500, etc)
  • Award submissions

Review and refresh

Ensure what you put out is presented in a professional manner with a consistent brand identity and voice.

  • Your website. Your website is your calling card. If you haven’t got one, get one. If you have one, refresh the design if the look is outdated. Replace existing content with updated information and upload new items regularly. Update individual profiles: Add new expertise, or just rewrite existing content to make it sound fresh and new.
  • Brochures and pitch templates. Update design and content.
  • Newsletter template. Refresh the look.
  • Social media. People are more active on social media than ever. You can’t afford not to be seen. Ensure your social media pages are aligned with your brand and your individual lawyers’ LinkedIn profiles are well-written.

Your annual marketing calendar

Enter relevant events and dates on an annual planner. These should include:

  • Conferences and industry-specific association events
  • Deadlines for directory and award submissions
  • Graduate recruitment university open days
  • Public holidays and social events where you usually send out emailers or plan functions (like Spring Day, Mandela Day)

Then add your in-house activities:

  • Decide on dates for seminars and workshops for the whole year. (Note: School holidays are usually not a good time for client events.)
  • Draw up a schedule for newsletters and assign content provision. Make sure everyone knows what they’re expected to contribute and by when.
  • Social media: Schedule regular posts of newsworthy information, firm news and observances. The 80/20 principle applies: For every promotional post, you should have four that provide value-adding content.

Events and webinars

Networking is important in the legal profession. External events offer the opportunity to meet prospective clients. Interacting socially adds a personal dimension to relationships. You find common ground when you talk about your hobbies and interests and your families. And that’s when prospective clients become real clients.

But the best way to find new business is not finding new clients but getting more business from your existing clients. Internal events offer the opportunity for lawyers to introduce their clients to their colleagues. This opens the door for business development opportunities between practice areas.

What type of event is best?

  • Educational seminars and workshops focusing on specific areas of law can position your firm as a thought leader and attract potential clients interested in those topics. Offer short, informative seminars to clients at your offices. Keep them low budget. Have a coffee break at the halfway mark to give your lawyers the opportunity to network with the clients. Don’t think food has to be the main attraction for clients to attend a seminar. Sharing knowledge and expertise at no cost is the drawcard.
  • Webinars and virtual Q&A sessions offer a way to reach a broader audience without the logistical complexities and costs of in-person events.

Differentiate yourself from your competitors

You can provide in-house seminars or workshops for clients about issues that are relevant to their employees. You’re not marketing your services, but you’re adding value, and clients remember that. And these short presentations can be given by junior staff – an opportunity to develop their presentation skills.

Social responsibility

Get active in your community. If you don’t already have a social responsibility programme, partner with an NGO in your neighbourhood. Get your staff involved in volunteer work. And, if you can, make a financial contribution or offer pro bono services. These activities will create goodwill and promote your brand. As a bonus, you can post what you’ve done on social media.

Your plan of action

The size of your firm, your main practice areas, how much time you have every week to spend on marketing, and your marketing budget will determine which of these elements you can implement.

Don’t try to do everything. Pick what’s most important and manageable right now. Add other elements later – a few more next year, and a few more the year after.

Do you need help deciding on the right marketing activities for your firm? Schedule a free consultation: https://calendly.com/ap-andreapaulsen/30min

Who should implement your marketing plan?

You probably have an accountant to do your books and an IT specialist to sort out your computers.

So, don’t waste time trying to become a marketing expert. Focus on your core business and outsource your marketing if you don’t have full-time marketing staff.

Alternatively, train someone at your firm who has spare capacity to handle your firm’s basic marketing activities. More about that here: https://andreapaulsen.com/legal-marketing-101/

© Andrea Paulsen

Why smaller law firms compete on an uneven playing field

In the 1990s, law firms started marketing their services. At first, nobody really had a clue how to do that. Marketing professionals from other industries tried their best to figure it out. Also, initially, the ability to market legal services was restricted.

But the biggest problem was that smaller firms just didn’t have the budget to employ someone to figure it out at their expense.

So, big firms recruited marketing people, and over time, by trial and error, they learned the best practices for legal marketing.

Small firms just muddled along. And most of them still do. Skilled legal marketing professionals are in short supply, and small firms can’t afford to employ them anyway.

That’s why smaller firms are missing out on projects they’re well qualified to handle. Because big firms have beautifully presented pitches with a myriad of client testimonials and legal directory rankings, they impress.

As a small law firm, wouldn’t you want to be able to compete on an equal footing?

What if I told you that there is a way to put you and your firm on the map without breaking the bank?

Since 1994, I have been involved in law firm marketing. First in the UK, then in South Africa. Twenty years ago, I joined a medium-sized firm to increase their profile on a shoestring budget. So, what did we do?

I looked at what lawyers do already. They read, and then they write. They study the latest case law, weigh in on new legislation and its implications, debate the impact of ground-breaking judgments, and write opinions for clients. Why not turn all that into articles?

And that’s what we did, and I got these articles published in business publications. Regular columns in newspapers followed and, voilà, these marketing efforts began to gain traction.

Then we tackled submissions to legal directories, added some small events, got media coverage, and the firm’s footprint increased.

As a result of our directory submissions, some lawyers were ranked in their practice areas. That immediately made them more marketable. As the firm kept on growing, so did the marketing team. They prepared stunning pitches and handled all other legal marketing activities.

What’s your main obstacle to achieving growth and stability?

You may be a two-lawyer firm or a start-up. Or you may have a team of six or eight lawyers with expertise that matches that of lawyers in bigger firms. But it’s unlikely that you have in-house marketing support in any of these scenarios. And you don’t have the time to spend hours on the internet researching the best practices for a firm your size and in your niche.

For new and smaller law firms, it can seem like a formidable task to establish a thriving practice. It’s a competitive market. You may well have a few clients on board already, but the ongoing challenge is to retain those clients and to grow your client base.

The most cost-effective solution

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of business survival. The key is to know which marketing activities are right for a firm of your size. You want to improve your firm’s visibility and stand out in a crowded market with targeted, effective marketing techniques. Establishing trust and credibility will boost client acquisition. You need strategies to retain more clients, enhancing your firm’s growth and stability.

You may not be able to employ an experienced legal marketer, but you probably have secretarial or admin staff with the capacity to learn the marketing basics.

The most cost-effective solution is to upskill your existing team with the skills and knowledge to manage basic marketing tasks efficiently. With the right guidance, they can do what I did for that firm twenty years ago, just faster.

Marketing doesn’t have to be a process of trial and error. My article, Start the year with a marketing plan, gives you some ideas on what you could do. But your practice areas and your niche in that sector will determine the marketing activities that will give you the best returns. And that’ll vary because each firm is unique.

All you need is some guidance from an experienced legal marketer to provide your staff with basic legal marketing skills.

If you’re interested in finding out how to do that, have a look at our training pages.

© Andrea Paulsen

English spelling – Why different options?

The English language spread throughout the world when the British Empire established overseas trading posts and colonies between the late 16th and early 18th centuries.

In every country the language developed in different ways. In the United States, English acquired a substantially different accent, the use of words changed, and so did the spelling. South Africa, Australia, and Canada still follow British spelling, but in each country the language is spoken with a different accent and has unique local terminology.

The major spelling differences

  South Africa and UK USA
ou / o Favour, flavour, harbour, arbour, labour, colour, humour, neighbour Favor, flavor, harbor, arbor, labor, color, humor, neighbor
s / z Preferred version: Organisation, organise, realise, apologise, recognise, analyse, paralyse

The Z-version is also used, in SA mainly in government documents.

 Organization, organize, realize, apologize, recognize, analyze, paralyze
re / er Centre, theatre, metre, litre, fibre Center, theater, meter, liter, fiber
mme / m Programme, although program is also used in a computing context Program
ll / l Travelled, travelling, traveller

Counsellor

 Traveled, traveling, traveler

Counselor
ae or oe / e Leukaemia, manoeuvre, oestrogen, paediatric Leukemia, maneuver, estrogen, pediatric
ogue / og Analogue, catalogue, dialogue Analog, catalog, dialog

How to get it right

The easiest way to avoid the “wrong” English spelling is to go to the MS Word menu, select Review, select Language, select Set proofing language and choose the applicable English version. It also takes care of the squiggly red lines under words that you know you’ve spelt correctly.

What to watch out for

If you quote text from a publication of another country, then it must be quoted with its original spelling.

South African spelling is still very much in line with British spelling. But there are a few words where we have options. Choose one and stick with it:

  • advisor or adviser
  • focused or focussed
  • judgment or judgement
  • enquiry or inquiry

That takes care of spelling. The use of grammar is another kettle of fish.

Grammar

Theoretically the rules of grammar are the same in every country, regardless of how they pronounce or spell words. But bad grammar is spreading rapidly.

Many people learn English by watching television. To make stories realistic, fictional characters speak the way people speak in real life – slang, bad grammar and all. Then people who watch the shows copy what they hear on TV. And the next TV series still has characters speaking the same way people do, and the cycle continues.

In books you can see the contrast between the use of language in the narrative (which should follow correct grammar rules) and that of characters. A much better way to learn a language.

Some of the bad habits that are evident in today’s spoken English are the use of adjectives instead of adverbs, plural verbs with singular nouns (see Collective nouns and verb agreement), and incorrect use pronouns (see Me, Myself and I – the personal pronoun puzzle).

© Andrea Paulsen

How to write numbers

Words or numerals

In words from one to nine and in numerals from 10 onwards. Exceptions:

  • Chapter 1
  • Grade 2
  • Fractions: 3.4 or 8½
  • Age groups: 2-3 years old
  • Dialogue: “I turned twenty-three.”
  • In fiction: She was twenty-three when…
  • Numbers next to each other: 50 ten-metre poles
  • At the beginning of sentences: Two hundred and twenty people attended the event.

Thousand separators

  • In South Africa, except for the accounting profession, we write thousands with a space before the last three digits: 10 000
  • For a global audience (websites etc) use commas as thousand separators: 10,000

Hyphens in numbers

  • Twenty-one (21)
  • Two hundred and fifty-four (254)
  • Three thousand four hundred and fifty-seven (3,457)
  • Twenty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-two (25,782)
  • Fifty-two million two hundred and ninety-seven thousand three hundred and fifty-two (52,297,352)

Percentages and fractions with a full stop

13.4% (use either % sign or write out percent – be consistent)

Amounts have no space after the denomination

  • ZAR100 or €100 or US$100
  • If your website or documents are for a South African audience use R, and ZAR for international use
  • In continuous text use the word “rand” – all lower case
  • Only write R10 000.50 if there are cents; don’t write R10 000.00 – too much clutter

Measurements

  • Add a space before km, kg, or pm: 5 km, 2 kg, 6 pm
  • No plurals: 200 km not kms

Time

Choose one option and stick with it throughout a document:

  • 9.30 am and 6 pm
  • 9h30 and 18h00
  • 9:00 and 18:00

Telephone and fax numbers

  • Locally: 011 888 1234
  • Internationally: +27 11 888 1234

Dates

  • Contemporary style: 30 September 2019
  • Don’t use, it’s old-fashioned: the 30th of September 2019
  • American: September 30, 2019

© Andrea Paulsen Communications

Acronyms and abbreviations – alphabet soup?

Abbreviations and acronyms are shorter versions of words or phrases.

Acronyms

Acronyms are formed by using the first letters of an organisation, a device, or phrase to create a new word. They’re usually written in capital letters. If an acronym has four letters or more and you can pronounce it, then you can use upper and lower case. But if it’s a company or product name, be guided by how they write it.

When acronyms are pronounced as words, like Unicef, leave out the article and refer to them as Unicef not “the Unicef”. Even though you might refer to them as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund when written in full.

Acronyms that have become words in their own right are written lower case:

  • radar (radio detection and ranging)
  • sonar (sound navigation and ranging)
  • scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus)
  • laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation)
  • modem (modulator-demodulator)

Abbreviations

Names of organisations are often abbreviated by using the first letter of each word. If you have an international audience, be aware that these can mean different things in different countries. For example, RAF. In the UK this stands for Royal Air Force, in South Africa it means Road Accident Fund.

Therefore, it’s best to write all words out once with the abbreviation in brackets the first time: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). But don’t use quotation marks for the letters in brackets. It’s often done in legal documents, but has no place in articles, on websites, in brochures, or other marketing material.

The contemporary style is to write acronyms and abbreviations without full stops.

  • ASAP/asap – as soon as possible
  • ADD – attention deficit disorder
  • ATM – automated teller machine
  • B&B – Bed and breakfast
  • CAPTCHA – completely automated public turing test to tell computers and humans apart
  • DOB – date of birth
  • DIY – do it yourself
  • DVD – digital versatile disc
  • ETA – estimated time of arrival
  • FAQ – frequently asked questions
  • GIF – graphics interchange format
  • ID – identification document
  • Inc – Incorporated
  • IQ – intelligence quotient
  • mph – miles per hour
  • NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • OTC – over the counter
  • Prof – Professor
  • PS – post script
  • St – street
  • SUV – sports utility vehicle
  • TBA – to be announced
  • UFO – unidentified flying object

Plurals

Just add an “s”:

  • Ts & Cs
  • DVDs
  • CVs
  • NGOs

Often people add an apostrophe before the “s”, but that’s wrong. Find out more about when to use apostrophes here.

©Andrea Paulsen

.

Compound nouns

A noun is a word used to identify people, places, or things. A compound noun has the same function but is made up of two or more words. It could be a noun plus another noun, or a noun plus a verb, adjective, adverb, or preposition, or a prepositional phrase. Or it can be a verb plus an adjective, adverb, or preposition. 

cat food

=

cat (noun) + food (noun)

homework

=

home (noun) + work (noun or verb)

swimming pool

=

swimming (verb) + pool (noun)

software

=

soft (adjective) + ware (noun)

onlooker

=

on (preposition) + looker (noun)

offspring

=

off (preposition) + spring (verb)

dry-cleaning

=

dry (adjective) + cleaning (verb)

drawback

=

draw (verb) + back (adverb)

mother-in-law

=

mother (noun) + in-law (prepositional phrase)

tennis shoe

=

tennis (noun) + shoe (noun)

The first part of the compound noun tells us the type or purpose; the second part specifies what the object or who the person is.

The first word describes or modifies the second word.

policeman

=

police (type) + man (who)

swimming pool

=

swimming (purpose) + pool (what)

A compound noun can be written as a single word, hyphenated, or as two words. Most of them are written as one word, but there are no rules. When it’s an established compound noun, your dictionary or spellcheck will provide guidance. But new compound nouns are continuously created – try writing them as one word and if that doesn’t read well, keep them as two words.

Pronunciation

There’s a difference between a compound noun and an adjective plus a noun. In a compound noun, the emphasis is usually on the first syllable.

A greenhouse is a place where you grow plants. (compound noun)

A green house is house that’s painted green. (adjective plus a noun)

©Andrea Paulsen

 

Why every company needs a writing style guide

A style guide, or “house style”, is the way your company presents written communications. This includes visual elements such as layout and font type. But also grammar and spelling, uniform ways of writing dates and words that have different spelling options, and much more.

It looks unprofessional and reflects badly on a company when clients receive emails and letters from various staff members and, bar the logo, you wouldn’t know they came from the same organisation. Because they all look different, with layout and font left to the various writers’ preferences.

What needs to be done?

The agency that designed your logo will have made recommendations on how it should be used on your building signage, printed material, your website, your email signature, corporate gifts – really on anything with your logo on it.

But it doesn’t stop there. Your writing style needs to be aligned, too. Collect a sample of every type of document you send out: letters, pitches, reports, newsletters, emails, etc.

A marketing professional can then assess the best style for each document: when to use which fonts and heading styles, what line spacing should be applied, etc.

In addition, you need rules on spelling and grammar. Here are a few examples:

  • How to write and abbreviate your company’s name
  • Capitalisation of words unique to your industry or your company that would usually not be capitalised in the English language
  • The type of bullets and punctuation to be used for lists
  • Whether to write abbreviations with or without full stops
  • How to write dates and time (18h00 or 18:00 or 6 pm)
  • Which way to spell words that have alternative spelling options (judgment or judgement; focused or focussed, etc)
  • How to write numbers, when to use italics, and more…

The key is consistency

Once your house style is in place, communicate it to everyone – and make it non-negotiable. It must be used and applied to all your communications: inhouse and to clients. And that includes newsletters, brochures, and your website.

Another important issue when it comes to writing marketing material is your firm’s tone of voice: Your own, distinctive writing style. Of course, it may depend on your industry and target audience as to how formal or casual this should be.

The design elements, your house style, and your organisation’s tone of voice are all part of your corporate identity. These are important for every company, regardless of its size. Even if you’re just starting out, if you position yourself in the market from the outset with these elements in place, it’s easier to transition smoothly into becoming a bigger company.

© Andrea Paulsen

Marketing in times of uncertainty

Beginning of last year, I recommended to start the year with a marketing plan. But the year turned out so different to anything we could have imagined, and many marketing plans and ideas were shelved. Some for good reason. With reduced income, the marketing budget also shrinks. But the bigger problem was that nobody knew what would work in our constantly changing world. So, many of us did the best we could with what we had; others had a “wait and see” approach.

The tumultuous year of 2020 presented us with unprecedented crises and challenges. It was a year of constant change, of learning new ways to do business amidst ongoing uncertainty. We were stretched to the limit in our ability to cope and to overcome.

But we’ve learnt to adjust, to improvise, to innovate, to work remotely, and to meet online. Many of us have learnt more in the past 10 months than we have in the past 10 years. And many of us were probably surprised by our resilience in the year that was.

My take-away from 2020: The only thing we can be sure of is that uncertainty is going to be our new way of life. How we operate our businesses and how we market our services will have to remain flexible. But:

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein

Marketing in 2021

A new year – a fresh start?

Although we’re still in a season of uncertainty, it’s time to get your marketing back on track if you want to retain and grow your client base. As David Ogilvy, one of the advertising greats of our time, said:

“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you’re doing, but nobody else does.”

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of business survival. You’ve got to have a marketing strategy to promote your brand. If your budget is limited, prioritise digital because that’s where you’ll get the most bang for your buck.

Expand your digital presence

The most cost-effective way to get you message out is via social media and email.

Keep in touch with your existing client base through regular updates. They need reassurance of your ongoing availability to deliver your services. Prospective clients also need to see your consistent presence to develop confidence in your ability to provide continuity of service.

  • Your website. Your website is your No 1 priority. It’s your calling card. If you haven’t got one, get one. If you have one, refresh the design if the look is outdated. Replace existing content with updated information and upload new items regularly.
  • Social media. People are more active on social media than ever. You can’t afford not to be seen. Have a schedule for regular posts of newsworthy information, and posts around holidays and other events.
  • Newsletters. Write articles that you can send out in an email newsletter, post on your website and on social media, and submit to relevant publications. One article gets multiple exposures – that’s time well-spent.
  • Brochures, pitch templates, emailers. Update design and content. Email is your main method of direct communication with clients.
  • Webinars. Seminars used to be a good place to provide valuable information and network with clients. The same can be done online, just differently.

Ensure what you put out is presented in a professional manner with a consistent brand identity and voice. Your messaging cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach. Be discerning in what you send out. Quality over quantity. Customise, personalise, and follow up.

Marketing is not only done by marketing people. We advise on the way forward, put a marketing plan in place, and do the groundwork by preparing your marketing tools. Telephonic follow-up by the people who provide the service you’re offering is crucial. People do business with people, not companies.

The right mindset

We’re not alone in how we experience living and working in our changed reality. How we deal with people, whether clients, suppliers, or staff, is more important than ever.

  • Focus on what you can do, not on restrictions and limitations.
  • Be flexible and open to suggestions. Do things differently.
  • Be solution-oriented. See how you can fix a situation, not who’s to blame for what went wrong.
  • Cooperate with others. Focus on what you have in common not on what divides you.
  • Be supportive, encourage rather than criticise. Kindness and understanding will go a long way. People rise to expectations given half a chance.
  • Be patient with others. We’re all still finding our bearings in our new way of life.

A last thought

Yes, you still need a marketing plan. When things change, adjust your plan. If your marketing activities last year didn’t give you the desired results, be bold and try something new.

 “When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there.”
Zig Ziglar

 © Andrea Paulsen