The evolution of advertising in the legal sector

The legal sector has been slow to realise the power of social media and the audience it can attract, but that is rapidly changing. The challenge now is to ensure that the content is relevant, stimulating and thought provoking. Our client Taylor Vinters, for example, makes great efforts to speak clients' language and this translates down into the firms social media activity. They avoid quoting case law and try to explain what the law means to the sector or organisation rather than serving it up verbatim.

There is no point in talking about everything to everyone through every channel, as you simply won't engage with the right audience – or have the budget. The other challenge is to ensure you have a consistent and timely message that is delivered throughout the firm – internal promotion of any campaign is as important as the external message. Of course, the biggest challenge remains the same: ensuring that you deliver what you say you can across the entire business and at every touch point.

The type of advertising and channel used can affect a brand's personality in a dramatic way. It can be seen as too premium, too expensive, too ‘big for me’. It can also be seen as the opposite – too low-market, too cheap, too small. Messaging is essential but needs to be deployed with the right personality. You can say a lot more and utilise more channels if you understand the brand's personality.

Defining the brand's personality is pivotal, both internally and externally. It is the key element that people engage with. Brand is about how clients feel about us, not what we think about ourselves. Our clients are people and, as such, make buying decisions based on trust. Trust comes from meeting and beating expectations.

Building a brand has become more and more important in the legal sector – it defines who you are and explains why a client might want to work with you. Consistency in your messages and the brand’s persona is critical in a world where consumers make buying choices based upon trust. If the brand's messages are inconsistent and confused, all that will be achieved is a diluted message, confusion in the marketplace and a lack of trust which will ultimately push clients and prospective clients away.

It is important to understand that a brand must not change its personality depending on its audience. It must simply adjust its volume. Therefore, by keeping things centralised, this volume can be controlled depending on the audience, both in terms of sector and geographical location.

My top tips for legal firms would be:

Understand the power of a brand – it's not just about what's on top of your letterhead, but how your clients feel about your firm;

Understand your audience – both internally and externally, and make sure you are delivering a consistent message;

Know what you want to say and who you want to say it to - you cannot tell everyone everything;

Focus your resources in the same way – pick what you want to promote and keep focused on these activities throughout the year (don't be side-tracked by ad-hoc requests).

Demonstrate return on investment to your firm - lawyers like facts and figures and actual results.

Robin Bryant is managing director of Mobas.