The third installment of a three-part series on talent and culture by Calibrate Legal, this blog takes a look at the importance of data as a tool that helps marketers drive change. You can also look back at their two previous blogs, focused on the 7 signs of an innovative marketing leader and the 5 keys to a legal professional’s career satisfaction.
By Jennifer Johnson Scalzi & Kathryn Whitaker:
Legal marketers are change agents. On the heels of closing several client projects and attending industry conferences over the last few weeks, our hunch is confirmed. Though the law firm ship turns slowly, marketing and business development professionals are at the wheel.
The decision-making process in law firms has changed over the last decade. Successful marketing departments are replacing gut instincts and suspicions with metrics and measurements – quickly gaining a strategic advantage as they measure and showcase efficiency and top and bottom line contribution.
Here are 3 ways data-related initiatives help marketers drive change:
Optimize Investments
Marketing leaders are using data to improve transparency around the firm’s investments. Ensuring investments are optimized to deliver results applies not only to direct expenses like marketing technology, events, or sponsorships but also to the services the department delivers. With many of our clients, determining the ROI of marketing starts with people. Talent is routinely one of the largest investments a firm makes in marketing and business development; what is each team member spending time on? Recently we have seen clients use time tracking and analysis to justify adding a team member, to defend instituting guidelines around lawyer requests of marketing research projects, and to showcase one practice group taking a disproportionate amount of the proposal team’s time.
Maximize Influence
Earning the trust of lawyers starts by delivering quality, consistent service and work product. Being responsive, smart, and efficient are table stakes. Once that foundation is obtained, strengthening your individual reputation as well as that of the department requires maximizing your influence. This can be done by leveraging data. When marketing leaders are designing metrics and KPIs, implementing dashboards and scorecards, and aligning the department’s work with firm goals and plans, they are proving value in a language lawyers respect. Armed with data to drive their recommendations and decisions, these professionals earn their seat and voice at the management committee table. Examples of how marketers have used data to maximize their influence include an analysis of time and opportunity lost due to CRM data quality, identifying key website KPIs beyond egocentric analytics such as number of bio views, and automation of email marketing campaigns for lead generation.
Report on Performance
Sustainable law firm growth requires marketing and business development. Marketing leaders are increasingly measuring the direct impact the department has on revenue growth. Beyond volume of proposals and win rates, mature and sophisticated performance reporting includes the specific contribution of marketing to profitability. We see this most evidently in the rise of marketing operations leaders – professionals who cut across existing department and firmwide boundaries to drive performance and build a strong organizational culture. The marketing operations discipline, long-used in the corporate world, applies technical and analytical abilities to the traditional marketing skillset, allowing for critical insights around results and value. Effectively measuring and showcasing the department’s work and its contribution to the firm’s success is imperative.
Data-driven projects and initiatives can drive change in law firms. It’s not easy and thus not for the faint of heart, but those who embrace their role as change agents will be the ones to continue advancing the profession.
Thanks, Jennifer and Kathryn for your insightful and practical commentary. You can explore additional ways that CMOs drive change using data driven approaches in Intapp’s point of view on the Modern Chief Marketing Officer.