Last quarter, managing partners and firms across the country sat down and established goals for 2024. Increased revenue, additional practice areas, more cases, and for many- establish or add to their marketing teams. Establishing or adding to your marketing team is not as linear as hiring a legal team member. In the last decade the marketing industry has doubled their titles and split responsibilities. It can be difficult to know background, skill set, or even position to look for with how marketing jobs are set up now. In a recent Marketing Round Table “Building a Dynamic Marketing Team” and interviewing marketers that hold these positions were our focus. Below are positions that you may want to consider, adjacent job titles, and skills to look for as you build your marketing team.
1. Public Relations Director
a.k.a: Communications Director/Coordinator/Specialist
An exceptional writer, story teller, and oftentimes orator. If you are looking to strengthen your media relations and have additional appearances on local news channels, blogs, and podcasts hiring a public relations specialist may be your next hire. These marketers are outstanding at creating and maintaining relationships. This skillset proves well if you would like your firm to become more involved in your community beyond donations. Someone in PR is able to find organizations to partner with that align with your firm’s values, establish the relationship, tell the story, and get that story out to the masses. They will demand consistency from your brand and look for ways to further your brands recognition. They may also play a large role in your referral and B2B marketing. This person may have a degree in communications, be a member of organizations in the area, and possess the warm bubbly personality you expect in marketers.
2. Client Services Director
At Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers our Director of Client Services was hired primarily in a receptionist role. We quickly noticed how well she paid attention to clients and began delegating additional duties related to client services. Ty, our now Director of Client Services, can speak towards nearly any client that calls our office. She knows if their little ones are in soccer, the business they just opened, or if they had a bad day- and what to do about it. She sends our systemized gifts to all clients as well as unique gifts to our VIPs for their birthdays. Clients first become familiar with her when she sends a “Welcome to the Firm!” box filled with a handwritten note from Ty, resources and goodies. At 6 months they receive an email from Ty reminding them that she wants to make sure they are happy with our service and asks them to fill out a satisfaction survey. Like most personnel in client services Ty is meticulous, diligent, and possibly the most empathetic person in the office. This person may have previously been an executive assistant or similar role. It is possible that you have someone with these skills currently in your office and they need the title/promotion of Director of Client Services.
3. Social Media Specialist
With emerging platforms, this role is becoming more and more essential to businesses. For those looking to meet intakes, clients, and their community “where” they are, I have found social media to be the easiest way to do that. A social media specialist has to be good at producing “snackable” content, formatting it for multiple platforms, and building advertisements to get that content to the communities that should see it. This hire will know how to analyze and interpret large sets of data and adjust campaigns as necessary. They will oftentimes be familiar with basic graphic design and video editing tools. This person will have to consistently learn new social media trends and should have, or obtain, certifications through Facebook, HubSpot, American Marketing Association, or other credible organizations.
4. Creative Coordinator
a.k.a Graphic Design Artist, Visual Communicator
I remember hiring our Creative Coordinator and thinking that there may not be enough work to get her through the week. I wish I could show you our Creative Coordinators project list; it is stacked. Creative Coordinators are usually highly skilled in the Adobe Suite- graphic design, photography, and videography. What makes these artists stand out is their ability to tell a story visually. Janaye, our Creative Coordinator, shoots and edits our educational webinars and client testimonials- two of our most important sets of videos. She is also excellent at producing various types of long form and “snackable” content- brochures, reports, podcasts, newsletters, e-blasts, etc. She does an outstanding job of marrying written and visual content into one comprehensive resource. There are both degrees and certifications for this role. However, I have found that many are self –taught.
5. Chief Marketing Officer
a.k.a Marketing Director/Strategist
When hiring this position, take your time. This is the position that leads your marketing department, its team members and controls how many phone calls are coming in for new cases. At this level, a new hire may not have experience in legal marketing- that’s ok. Having a resume working within multiple industries can work to your benefit as marketers draw inspiration from everywhere. This person is obligated to “big picture” thinking- assessing today’s key performance indicators and planning for the next year or two. Negotiation and decision making skills are necessary as they should be a part of vendor hiring and media buys. They need to be able to set up and follow a budget which includes being able to measure ROI. Usually, Marketing Directors have a background in one sect of marketing but have taken it upon themselves to learn several. In my office, I have done each of my team members jobs- they just do it much better than me. I do encourage, but not require, formal training for this position. Marketing is the psychology of the business world and the theories learned in my bachelors and masters programs have been vital to the strategies I create for Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers today.
Unlike marketing directors, a marketing coordinator or assistant may primarily execute your marketing vision and strategy instead of having their own. If you are looking to make your first marketing hire, a marketing coordinator may be a good place to start. They will often have a few years of marketing experience behind them and can easily ascend to lead your marketing department.
Note that the descriptions above are fluid. I have seen Marketing Directors that have never seen the inside of a textbook lead their company to millions. Khia, a Public Relations Director from Fasig | Brooks, handles a lot of our client services tasks.
A word of caution for hiring your next marketer- ensure who and what you hire aligns with your firm. There have been too many instances where a marketer was brought into a company and their expertise was incongruent with what leadership envisioned. Imagine your goal being public relations and community partnerships and you hire a digital marketer skilled in search engine optimization.
If you have questions about your next marketing hire Jim or I are always happy to talk to you about it.
Happy hiring!
Cassidy Lewis
Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers
Chief Marketing Officer
CLewis @cooperhurley.com
757-333-3333
