When Personal Injury Law Firms Need an Outsourced Marketing Director

Marketing for personal injury law firms has become one of the most critical business functions. The injury law industry is one of the most competitive marketing environments. The concept of an outsourced marketing director is relatively new in business, and it is becoming more common for injury lawyers. There are many marketing management approaches that injury law firms take. Some outsource the entire marketing function to an agency, others have an internal committee, or they have a small in-house team that conducts their marketing activities. It is generally agreed upon that personal injury law firms must be active with their marketing to be competitive.

However, should more injury law firms seek an outsourced marketing director to gain a competitive advantage? In this blog post, I will explain what an outsourced marketing director is and why it could be worth exploring for your personal injury law firm.

What is an outsourced marketing director?

An outsourced marketing director is exactly as it sounds. You are hiring an executive-level marketing strategist as a freelance resource. This is an individual who you hire on a contractual basis and is not a direct employee of your firm. They are likely experienced in many facets of marketing and have a wealth of knowledge in specific marketing areas relative to your business. The key element is that they are not full-time for your business and have some defined elements of your marketing that they are responsible for.

Why should I use an outsourced marketing director?

Exploring the outsourcing of any business function can be challenging. It can be hard to rationalize paying for expertise that won’t be completely controlled by your business. However, it can make a lot of sense for skills like marketing. Some of the most common reasons for using an outsourced marketing director are as follows:

• Access to Talent – Finding excellent marketing talent is getting harder and harder; additionally, for a good outsourced marketing director’s level of ability, it would be near-impossible for most injury law firms to recruit and retain an individual with the skills that this person should have. Hiring them for a limited number of deliverables opens up a talent pool that is usually unavailable for all but the largest personal injury law firms.
• Cost Savings – Outsourced marketing directors allow you to get quality work that would cost you $150,000 or more in salary and benefits. However, you likely only need this person for specific expertise, such as digital strategy, SEO strategy, vendor management, or Google Ads management. Thus, you save money by only paying for what you need and getting more for what you pay for.
• Scalability – By outsourcing your marketing director, you can scale up as your firm grows. This is crucial for newer firms. You aren’t in a position to hire a marketing person full-time, let alone an experienced expert. Finding a skilled marketing director that can help your firm grow will allow you to get the talent you need and pay what you can at this moment in your firm’s growth cycle.
• Flexibility – Not all injury law firms need extra marketing muscle all the time. If you have a short-term marketing need now such as designing a marketing strategy for winter auto accidents, you can find an outsourced marketing director to complete that task and not have the long-term obligations of a regular employee relationship.
• Specific Expertise – You may be re-designing your website or about to hire a new digital agency. These are projects that need specific expertise that you don’t have in-house. A part-time marketing director would be an excellent resource to help you complete these projects with the best outcome possible.

What kinds of tasks can an outsourced marketing director do?

An experienced outsourced marketing director can do various things for your injury law firm. These people are at the top of their field, understand marketing intimately, and know strategies and tactics to grow your business. They will have different areas of expertise and understanding, but there are many aspects of your law firm’s marketing they can take on. Here are some things an outsourced marketing director can do for your injury law firm:

• SEO Strategy – They can help formalize your keyword research, topic plan, on-page optimization, link building, and all other elements of a successful SEO strategy. They can work with your internal team to produce content, produce it themselves, or help you find writers to build your SEO content.
• Website Analysis – They can audit your existing website and identify areas for improvement and areas that you are strong in. They can also provide the next steps based on this analysis to ensure your website is the best lead-generation tool it can be.
• Creative Strategy – Many outsourced marketing directors are former creative directors at marketing agencies. They can help you refine your creative positioning and branding.
• Digital Strategy – An experienced digital marketer is able to examine what elements of your digital strategy are strong, and which need to be enhanced to ensure your competitive in your market.
• Competitive Analysis – Many outsourced marketing directors have a background in business analysis and can explore your competitive landscape to help you identify areas of risk and areas of opportunity.
• Google Ads Management – This is slightly more in the weeds than what the average outsourced marketing director will do. However, it is so critical for injury law firms to have excellent Google Ads management that it makes sense finding an external resource to work with your internal team or independently on your Google Ads campaigns.

What are some signs my firm needs an outsourced marketing director?

This is a big challenge for personal injury law firms, understanding that you likely need external support for your marketing functions. There are some signs that an outsourced marketing director would be a great fit for your business such as:

• Marketing Performance Decline – This is a critical and obvious one. If your marketing performance has been declining or becoming more uncertain, some expert advice can be incredibly helpful.
• Staff Turnover – If your marketing department is experiencing staff turnover or unexpected employee departures, this can be a great way to ensure minimal disruption and give you time to find your next employee.
• Highly Specialized Project – If you are about to undertake a unique and specialized project like a new website, digital strategy development, rebranding your firm, or something that isn’t routine for your day-to-day marketing, bringing in an experienced marketing professional to lead this process is an excellent use of an outsourced marketing director.
• Team Mentorship – If your internal marketing team isn’t developing like you expected or like you are used to with the legal side of your practice, it could be a lack of relevant and quality mentorship. An experienced outsourced marketing director can help your team grow and evolve.
• Competitive Landscape Changes – If your region is experiencing increased competition from new entrants or an existing entrant is looking to grow, this is a zero-sum environment and immediately needs drastic strategy shifts to maintain your market share. Contacting a skilled marketing executive to help in this scenario can help minimize impacts on your business from this new competitive landscape.

About Rock Bound Marketing

Rock Bound Marketing is a marketing consultancy designed for injury law firms. With experience working directly for injury law firms, we understand what it takes to grow and gain new clients. We offer a variety of services designed for personal injury lawyers. Contact us today if you want to learn more about how we can help your injury law firm.