| Call me a contrarian, but I have found through surveys | | | | Ads are considered to be a less cost-effective |
| and other research that today you cannot rely upon | | | | medium for building awareness of you. Jennifer Gehrt |
| advertising alone to build your legal practice. As Al and | | | | and Colleen Moffitt, in Strategic Public Relations: 10 |
| Laura Ries write in The Fall of Advertising and the | | | | Principles To Harness the Power of PR, give an |
| Rise of PR, "Yesterday it was advertising...Today it's | | | | example of their PR firm placing a news article for a |
| PR." PR, or public relations, refers to media placement | | | | client in the Wall Street Journal for $18,000 in PR labor. |
| and press releases which is generally considered to be | | | | An ad of the same size in that publication would have |
| part of a good marketing plan. So what is the problem | | | | cost about $99,300. The news article has more |
| with advertising? What is not the problem? | | | | credibility and costs lots less. |
| The problem is that advertising acts more as | | | | Ads that let people know you exist, like a Yellow |
| "cheerleader," according to Al Ries, than as an | | | | Pages ad, are likewise insufficient unless |
| educational and relationship-creation source. That is, | | | | - Prospects see it |
| once your brand is well-known to the public, ads can | | | | - They resonate to it |
| help reinforce you as an expert and the benefits you | | | | - They feel really motivated to take an extra step to |
| provide. However, ads simply are not capable of | | | | search for you online to learn more |
| creating that credible and necessary knowledge of | | | | - They see follow-up marketing very shortly afterward |
| who you are and why you are the trusted problem | | | | that piques their interest and fills in their desired details. |
| solver of choice. Why? | | | | In this information-clogged world wherein people are |
| Ads have limitations. They can present only simple, | | | | overwhelmed by it and too often have sound-bit |
| straight-forward information. But what prospects need | | | | attention levels, whatever you put before your target |
| to know about you and your practice is complex. Ads | | | | audience has to grab them immediately. It has to |
| do not let prospects get to know you. They do not | | | | quickly and interestingly fill in the prospect-centric details |
| detail how you understand your prospects' problems. | | | | to keep them attending. |
| They can provide education but only indirectly, through | | | | You have to get your message across as fast, easily, |
| offering a free article or report, where a more direct | | | | and magnetically as possible. While ads can reinforce |
| means would likely be more productive. They are | | | | your message once you have it out there in its |
| inadequate for creating trust. Furthermore, ads have | | | | entirety, they cannot effectively, efficiently, and |
| the taint of being "ads," written by you (not about you | | | | completely create it in the first place. |
| by a third party) and are paid for by you. | | | | |