Reaching your ideal client and selling your legal services are at the heart of all of your marketing activities. But not all marketing strategies are the same.
Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-client (B2C) marketing tactics will depend on a number of factors.
Understanding how to market a B2B law firm differently than a B2C law firm addresses the unique needs of your practice while providing better results from your marketing efforts.
Understanding B2B Markets
Business-to-business markets have distinct ways of providing information that supports a prospect’s need when making a purchasing decision. Decisions in the B2B marketplace aren’t made based on emotions.
Instead, B2B prospects are more interested in the specific features of your services. Return on investment, quality management, and output are more critical to the B2B prospect than they may be in a business-to-client market.
The level of investment is typically higher in a B2B transaction, which makes prospective clients take more time in making their final decision. As a result, the entire sales process can be more complex.
There will also be many more points of contact between your law firm and your prospective B2B client. Events and presentations are used when demonstrating the benefits and value of your legal services.
Reaching Clients With B2C Marketing
Law firms that market directly to individuals must take a different approach. In this area, the individual prospect makes the final decision to purchase.
Your law firm’s marketing messages reach B2C clients through the use of mass distribution. This includes traditional advertising alongside content, email, and direct marketing methods.
Like B2B, B2C prospects can be nurtured over time through the use of follow-up campaigns, online and offline events, and other strategies. But these prospects make decisions based on emotional and need-driven desires.
When marketing directly to prospective clients, your marketing message must resonate on a personal level. You must demonstrate the value of your services in relation to the immediate and personal needs of your audience.
Putting Marketing Fundamentals in Place
Successful marketing is a result of understanding the needs of prospective clients. More importantly, your law firm must match those needs with the services you provide.
Marketing messages must demonstrate the benefits and features of your services in a way that’s aligned with the concerns of B2B and B2C clients.
B2B marketing messages need to emphasize data, logic, and financial benefits that reflect the value of your services. These messages may appeal to the desires of the organization as a whole, but it should always be backed by clear and logical support.
When marketing to B2C audiences, an emphasis on results will give you a greater return on your efforts.
Highlight all of the benefits that your services provide and the ways in which a prospect’s life will be made easier through the purchase of your services.
All markets have specific pain points, questions, and concerns that come up repeatedly. By remaining focused on those first, your marketing campaigns will grow your law firm more quickly and consistently.
Is your law firm a B2B or B2C firm? What strategies have worked for your practice, and which ones have failed? Let us know in the comments below.
Knowing how to market a B2B law firm differently than a B2C law firm creates a more efficient marketing strategy that reaches your target audience and leads them to choose your law firm over its competitors.
