Monday 13 May 2013

The Importance of Strategic Legal PR

If you 'do' PR, then you should make sure you do so in way which is strategic... That's the wisdom of today's post.

"Why?" I hear you ask - "Surely all PR is good PR". Well, yes... and no. Media coverage is a huge part of the PR skillset, of course, but if the aim is simply to 'get coverage' then you may actually be doing yourself a disservice.

All law firms should know what their key messages are. Key messages are the grounding for the associations they want their key audiences to make when they think or read about the firm. They can be as simple as:

"Niche North Yorkshire firm that offers strategic employment law support to businesses with 10 - 30 employees within a 10 mile radius of York"

Key audiences are the people the firm want to engage with. They will typically include clients, potential clients, referrers and business influencers. Law firms should identify their key audiences and then make sure their PR activities are relevant to, and connect with these audiences.

For example, there would be little point in the above firm (which is invented, of course) securing a feature on 'bringing an employment tribunal against your employer'. Such an article would be on entirely the wrong topic, would be in front of the wrong audiences, and would give the impression that the firm specialises in employment law for employees.

Of course, this is a throwaway example and wouldn't happen in real life.

However - next time you ask your marketing manager or PR firm to write a release, or next time they approach you with a suggestion for an article - just think about your key messages and audiences and ascertain whether the action proposed is appropriate...

By Victoria Moffatt

For more information about mapping your key messages and audiences, and planning strategic legal PR for your law firm, contact us at info@lexrexcommunications.com.




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