Are you a personal injury law firm looking to enhance your marketing strategies? In today’s competitive landscape, having a strong marketing presence is crucial for success. However, hiring a full-time marketing director may not always be feasible or cost-effective. This is where a fractional marketing director comes into play. In this blog post, we will explore the concept of a fractional marketing director and discuss whether it fits your personal injury law firm. So, if you want to boost your marketing efforts without breaking the bank, keep reading to find out if a fractional marketing director is the solution you’ve been searching for.
What is a fractional marketing director?
A fractional marketing director is a seasoned marketing professional hired part-time to oversee and execute various marketing activities for your personal injury law firm. They take on a “fraction” of your marketing function. Depending on the size and needs of your firm, they can take charge of your digital strategy, manage Google Ads campaigns, and handle significant marketing projects that require specialized expertise. This arrangement is particularly beneficial for smaller personal injury law firms that do not have the resources or need for a full-time marketer. By engaging a fractional marketing director, these firms can access high-quality marketing talent that aligns with their specific requirements without incurring the costs associated with a full-time employee.
What kinds of tasks do fractional marketing directors do at an injury law firm?
Fractional marketers can be hired to do all kinds of tasks for your personal injury law firm. Some of the most common examples are as follows:
- Vendor Management – Handling your media partners or agency partners is incredibly time-consuming. Additionally, if you’re a Managing Partner of an injury law firm, there’s an honest discussion about whether you have the marketing expertise to get the most out of these partners. A fractional marketing director understands media planning, agency relationships, and the current best practices to ensure you get the best return on investment from your vendors. This time-consuming task will also free you up to do other more beneficial law firm management tasks.
- Google Ads – The largest expense in a personal injury law firm’s marketing budget is Google Ads. Something so critical to success needs in-house expertise. The challenge is that expert Google Ads Managers can command salaries as high as $100,000 annually in Canada. Most injury law firms likely don’t have the marketing budget or a complex enough Google Account to attract a true expert in Google Ads management. A fractional marketing director is a great option to get an in-house-like approach to your Google Ads and expertise in managing your campaign.
- Web Design Project Management – Your website is your most important channel for converting potential customers into clients. However, when you meet with your web developer or web agency, your injury law firm needs expertise on your side of the table to get an excellent website for your business. A fractional marketing director is a great resource to bring on for the project term.
- Creative Direction – Advertising creative is critical to building and maintaining your brand. Having creative that resonates with victims and their families and positions your injury law firm as the group that will understand, advocate, and get them the settlement they deserve is crucial. Bringing in a fractional marketing director when you refresh your creative will allow you to get the best creative possible.
- Agency Selection – Many personal injury law firms use marketing agencies for their expertise. However, are they delivering the best performance possible for your business? or how do you know which agency to pick? A fractional marketing director can evaluate your existing agency partners’ performance and help you understand how to get the best from them. Additionally, a fractional marketing director can help run a request for proposal (RFP) process and help you pick the best agency for your needs.
- Digital Strategy – A fractional marketing director can offload the complex and constantly changing world of digital marketing from your firm. Whether it is search engine optimization, social media advertising, social media community management, or email marketing, a fractional marketing director can provide expertise on approaching these marketing channels best.
- Competitive Analysis – Personal injury law is one of the most competitive industries in Canada. Many injury law firms do not spend much time analyzing what their competitors are doing, and they miss out on great ideas and potential clients. Additionally, competitive analysis is best done by somebody not directly in your organization. The internal biases are too great. A fractional marketing director is a great person to examine the competitive landscape and your injury law firm’s place in the competitive ecosystem.
- Class Action Lawsuit Media Launches – Class action lawsuits are unpredictable and unplanned for most injury lawyers. You don’t know when they’ll happen or how fast you have to react. A fractional marketing director can come in and manage the media launch, press releases, advertising campaigns, and overall positioning of your firm as the lead firm for a class action. Additionally, once certified, they can expertly execute the agreed-upon publication plan. This allows for class actions to run smoother and be less of a laborious process for your injury law firm.
- Innovation – Whether utilizing a new case management system, client intake system, or any innovative changes for your law firm. A fractional marketing director is a great way to get organizational buy-in fast and help you move your injury law firm forward with efficiencies fast.
How does a fractional marketing director work with my existing team?
If your injury law firm possesses an existing proficient internal marketing team, a fractional marketing director can serve as a valuable addition, complementing and augmenting the resources and expertise already at your disposal. If you have identified areas within your marketing strategy that could be improved, a fractional marketing director can elevate your team’s knowledge and proficiency in those domains. Furthermore, your team may have identified areas where additional support is desired, and a fractional marketing director can provide assistance in those aspects. With their extensive experience and aptitude in collaborating with internal teams, a fractional marketing director can offer mentorship and training to enhance your internal marketing capabilities.
How does a fractional marketing director work with my agency?
Many personal injury law firms outsource their entire marketing function to a full-service marketing agency. Then a managing partner or a marketing committee meets with the agency periodically to approve direction and understand what is happening. I no longer believe this is a great way to approach injury law marketing. Injury law marketing is too competitive and challenging to meet periodically with your advertising agency and determine what direction you should take. Additionally, I believe that marketing is a business discipline that requires some internal expertise for your injury law firm to achieve their goals.
Thus, if you have outsourced your entire marketing function to a marketing agency, that is fine, and your firm can hire a fractional marketing director to ensure that your marketing is working on a more granular level. Additionally, they can be available to your agency more often than you or the marketing committee when opportunities present themselves. Your agency will likely thank you for having more expertise available to discuss marketing opportunities.
Rock Bound Marketing as a fractional marketing director
Rock Bound Marketing is a Canadian-based marketing consultancy for personal injury law firms. I have experience working with personal injury law firms in Canada and understand the marketing challenges these firms face. If you want to understand your marketing and get more clients, contact me today to discuss how I can help your business in a fractional marketing director capacity.
