Sales are the name of the game for any marketing activity. Unfortunately, PR and media relations have for too long been relegated to the “finding” side of the finding and choosing equation. “Raise your awareness so you can be more easily found then work on your sales and presentation skills so you will be chosen,” is the typical refrain.

It does not have to be that way. PR and media relations initiatives do not have to – and should not – be implemented solely to raise “awareness” or generate “exposure.” Frankly, the market is just too cluttered for such limited campaigns.

Messenger credibility is a far greater an asset to a law firm then an outlet’s circulation figures or the law firms ability to generate “ink” for the sake of “awareness and “exposure” alone.

First, there are too many firms competing (implementing general marketing initiatives) for the same mind share to have simple awareness building create the same effect it did in the market just a few years ago. Remember, three or four years ago, very few firms were doing the type of marketing so many firms are now (advertising, PR, web sites, sales training, etc.). Mature firms that were successful with these now-old models are no longer finding the same return on investment given the marketing flood created by all of their competitors.

Second, there are too many information channels these days for a firm to dominate any one channel. For firms with media relations campaigns where the goal is simply to provide “awareness” or “exposure,” typically by implementing a third-party commentary (or “thought leadership”) campaign about issues in a much larger story, the impact such exposure has in the market is minimal and, again, the return on investment, small.

The Myth of Exposure:

This is because of the nature of “exposure” and its relation to law firms. Publicity “exposure” is generally meaningless to law firms, because they are professional organizations that are selling expertise as their product, not cans of soup. “Exposure” is not necessarily valuable because it is not necessarily relevant. How many of the Wall Street Journal’s one million-plus readers every day have the check-signing authority and need to hire attorneys on behalf of their companies? The number is certainly a much smaller percentage then have the ability to go buy a consumer product (or stock) for their own use based on favorable “exposure” a product received in the same issue.

Put another way, the Wall Street Journal is not important to law firms as a marketing vehicle because it is read by more than one million people everyday, it is read by one million people every day and is an important marketing vehicle to law firms because it has a reputation of credibility with sophisticated business people (purchasers of high-end legal services).

Messenger credibility is a far greater an asset to a law firm then an outlet’s circulation figures or the law firms ability to generate “ink” for the sake of “awareness and “exposure” alone.

Indeed, placing stories in credible media outlets and delivering firm messages through third-party editorial endorsement is crucial, but PR is certainly not only that. It is, in fact, much more: it is helping to achieve business objectives through the effective use of credible communications strategies and tactics. For instance, beyond achieving favorable publicity, an effective PR campaign can and should help create demand for a service, improve talent recruitment, increase employee retention, and protect a firm’s reputation in times of crisis.

A firm’s success depends on how clients perceive its services and its lawyers. It is not enough that the lawyers are smart and come from the best schools, etc. What’s important is that they effectively communicate their skills at solving their clients’ problems (benefits over features). And what is more important than even that, is how the firm goes about selling its intangible asset (reputation) and creating and maintaining the emotional bond with clients (trust) – and doing both in a way that is solid and believable (credible).

The Right Results Matter:

Getting results means getting the right results. Some PR firms employ a “dial and smile” mentality to media relations and they can be quite good at achieving coverage for clients. But purchasers should demand more than coverage alone. They should demand that their media relations results mean more than ink and ego boosts.

How is that done? By creating effective messages: asking a lot of questions and drilling down to the essence of what is important.

So, dontt just dive in. Begin a project by gaining a thorough understanding of your business in that area. Identify and evaluate relevant challenges and opportunities, analyze key constituents or stakeholders, and confirm your firm’s existing corporate brand identity. Thus, before any PR program is undertaken, ask the following questions:

• Where have we stood out?
• Are our clients’ perceptions of our service in this area positive?
• Are they accurate?
• Do the claims we make about our service/skills have integrity; can they be fulfilled?
• How do we demonstrate these skills; what are some examples of our work in this area?
• Why did we solve our clients’ problems the way we did vs. some other way, and what was the benefit to our client in our approach?
• Why would other companies in similar situations benefit?

Armed with this information it becomes easy to craft a media relations strategy that properly targets a receptive audience and communicates a powerful message: “we solved this problem so we can solve yours.”

Beyond Reach & Repetition:

If PR activity should pursue sales as a goal of the campaign, than it is necessary to communicate the legal and business expertise the firm, and especially members of the firm, can bring to bear on clients’ and prospects’ problems. Unfortunately, choosing a reach and repetition PR strategy to achieve that goal is akin to selecting a screwdriver to hammer a nail.

Reach and repetition is an extremely effective – and necessary – advertising strategy. An ad, of course, is what you say about yourself, so to create impact for that message it is necessary to repeat it over and over again. But PR is delivered through a medium – it is what someone one else says about you and, therefore, carries the weight of the medium’s credibility as a third-party imprimatur of your services and expertise. But squandering an outlets’ credibility and significance by focusing solely on placing short quotes in multiple-column articles that otherwise have nothing to do with you is wasteful.

With the right messages, and properly identified targets, PR is much more time consuming than it is difficult. Resources, therefore, should be focused to achieve more in-depth coverage where placements are characterized by a theme and contain your firm’s unique perspective and vision.

Credibility and significance (quality) will always out-weigh reach and repetition (quantity).

After all, quantity can (and should) be manufactured. Create meaningful placements and advertise them. Distribute them to both internal and external audiences. The end result of a solid strategic earned media campaign is not getting the placement in the target publication. The end result is marketing that placement by reprinting and sharing it with the firm’s stakeholders. Doing so leverages the prestige of the publication and the significance of the placement for ultimate effect.

The bottom-line? A properly designed PR campaign should turn “awareness” into opportunity and make your firm’s media placements resonate as resources for clients and prospects.