Integrity Marketing

Marketing Tips from the Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend! Seahawks or Broncos? Let the score predictions begin!

Besides watching the big game, meeting up with family and friends, and munching on football-shaped snacks ... let's focus on the important stuff. That's right, the ads. Be honest, part of the reason you'll be tuning in on Sunday is to catch the overly-hyped, overly-priced commercials that go for a cool $4 million.

In estate planning and elder law marketing, we aren't even in the ball park for this level of advertising.  But nonetheless, we can take a lesson or two from Super Bowl marketing strategies. Bloomberg's Businessweek offers "Ten Marketing Rules From Super Bowl Ads," and here are six of my favorites:

1. Put strategy first.  Creativity is good, yes. But you have to have some direction in what you are doing. Get a marketing plan in place to lay out the strategies for the year.
2. Be relevant. For the Super Bowl, ads are mainly humorous and fun because the audience watching is normally at their own football party having a good time. Be relevant to your audience. Speak to their needs and their environment. For example, from now until April 15th, Tax Planning is going to be on the minds of many of your clients. What information or services can you provide for them?
3. Keep it simple. Less is more! Keep your message simple and don't overwhelm your audience with too much information. Short messages are easier to remember.
4. Show, don’t tell. A picture says a thousand words! If you can't tell your audience everything about estate planning and elder law, show them something that they can understand at once. Maybe a photo of an aging couple or a blended family portrait. Use photos in your Social Media posts, blog posts and newsletters to illustrate your services.
5. Provoke thought. Sometimes you just need to ask a simple question to get your audience to set the ball in motion. Do you have a will? Have you established Powers of Attorney? Have you planned for long-term care?
6. Strike an emotional chord. Honestly, the best way to do this is to share a client testimony. Estate planning and elder law is all about planning for and protecting loved ones. People love success stories, and a true story can help others in the same situation find the answers they need.

Another rule I think you can relate to is taking risks. Paying $4 million for a Super Bowl ad is definitely a huge risk! And what about marketing risks for your law firm? For instance, it can be difficult to choose a marketing firm to best represent your practice. Watch the video below to see how IMS is different and what we bring to the playing field.

 

March Print Newsletter Deadline

The deadline for making edits to your March issue estate planning newsletter is February 5, and the articles we have scheduled for you are: Taming Transfer Taxes and The Future of Your Business.

To see the additional articles available for custom issue creation, download a preview of the newsletter article library.

If you would like assistance customizing your SELECT Print Newsletter, please feel free to contact me, April, at 877-352-2021 x82 for a quick walk-through. Be sure to have your message prepared and saved to your computer or network for easy access. Around 150 to 220 words.

March Animated & E-Newsletter Deadline

If you are not scheduled for a March print newsletter, please don't hesitate to submit your message for inclusion in your March electronic newsletter.

Turnkey Postage Rate Increase Notice

With the recent rate hike at the USPS, Turnkey Newsletter Postage will increase to 49 cents. Lean more about the rate increase, effective January 26, 2014.

Have a GREAT week!

— April

Marketing Pawspectives: Invite Clients to Leave a 5-Star Review!

Marketing Pawspectives: Insider Tips & Hints To Get Your Marketing Working for You
By Bandit – Office Dog

Woof! Welcome to my weekly column!

When I do a good job, like heel correctly or wait patiently by the car, I typically get a treat. When I impress the locals at the coffee shop with my nifty tricks, I get a compliment ("Good dog!"), a scratchin' and (most of the time) some table scraps.

More than likely, your clients have great things to say about you as an attorney. If you receive a formal "Thank You" or another sign of gratitude from a client you've done work for, take that opportunity to invite them to leave a formal review on your Google Business Page or Avvo Profile. 5-star reviews can land you a higher position in the local and organic search rankings than attorneys with no formal reviews.

Consider directly emailing happy clients a short "review request" (with links to click) to both your Avvo Profile and Google Business Page. If you need help, or don't know what your Avvo Profile or Google Business Page is, contact an IMS account manager via the new ticketing feature on our website: http://www.integritymarketingsolutions.com/submit-a-support-ticket/.

Quote of the Month for Social Media Sharing

This month's quote is: "Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve." — Benjamin Franklin

To use this month's inspirational quote, download one of the following graphics and share it to Facebook (along with a simple comment if you desire). You may also wish to share this graphic on other social platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest. It really is that simple to get social.

You may choose from three different color palettes: (follow the link, view the image, right-click and save; then share to your Facebook profile as your own!)

1. Navy: http://blog.estateplanningpartners.com/images/0114Quote1_Benjamin-Franklin.jpg
2. Gold: http://blog.estateplanningpartners.com/images/0114Quote2_Benjamin-Franklin.jpg
3. Burgundy: http://blog.estateplanningpartners.com/images/0114Quote5_Benjamin-Franklin.jpg

If you have a quote you would like to submit for consideration, feel free to pass it along to me, April at [email protected].

National Handwriting Day

Did you know today is National Handwriting Day? That's right, each year on January 23 we celebrate the simplicity of pen and paper. Although not an officially recognized "national" holiday, the date was selected in honor of John Hancock's birthday.

Whether it's a "thank you" note to a client, a love letter to someone special, lunch box notes to your children or lasting letters written to your family, there's something special in your own hand writing that can't be duplicated.

Did you know your team at IMS can create custom stationery sets for your firm? How about adding a customized "thank you" card to that stationery set? Contact James at 877-352-2021, ext. 80 for a quote.

Have a wonderful week!

April

Do Newsletters Really Work? Survey Says - YES!

Have you ever wondered if your law firm newsletter really works? Is it really an essential part of your marketing? More importantly, does it bring in new business?

You are not alone if you have doubts about certain areas of your marketing efforts.  Sometimes even us marketers wonder if what we are doing is having any impact at all. There are a lot of moving parts, numerous technology updates, and the rules are always changing.

But I have some good news! Newsletters DO work. In fact, our own company e-newsletter is one of our biggest lead generators. And our monthly print newsletter results in several inquiries as well.

So how do we know these marketing efforts are paying off? Well, for starters - we ask! It's up to us to find out how our potential clients are finding us. And for our print newsletter, we have a designated phone number used for that campaign only, which offers an easy way to track those leads.

But it's not just our company that is having success with newsletters. Our clients are proof that this stuff really does work:

"By the way, a workshop attendee who wasn’t interested in meeting with us but who had been receiving our newsletters just called to make an appointment.  She told us that she kept getting the newsletter and it convinced her to come to see us.  Awesome!"  

-  Attorney Philip Rosen, IMS Essential Client

So if you really want to know how your marketing efforts are panning out, be sure to ask your new clients how they found you.  Maybe it was through a Google search, resulting from meticulous search engine optimization. Or maybe they found you on Facebook and started reading your shared blog posts. They could have actually been on the fence with who to use for their estate planning or elder law needs, but since they kept getting that newsletter they were reminded of what services you offered.

Eventually all of these things pay off, so don't count them out! An integrated marketing system uses all of your resources most efficiently to maximize your opportunities. Find out more about our marketing system -- the Essential Solution®.

Design Trends for 2014

Can you believe it’s 2014 already? I still can’t. I’m really excited for what is in store for this year – especially in terms of design!  Here are 10 design trends that I think will really take off in 2014:

1| Edited Color Schemes

Monochromatic is in! Color palettes using only one or two colors will definitely be taking over the design world in 2014. Many designs are going even more dramatic – only black and white or black and white with just hints of a color. This is a great technique for adding emphasis to specific elements.

2| Black & White Logos

Simplified color palettes are making their way into logo design, too. As a rule of thumb, if a logo doesn’t work in black and white, it isn’t a good logo. Why not leave it in black and white for an overall chic, monochromatic palette?

3| Personal Portraits

We already encourage our clients to send us personal portraits to include on their About Us webpages. I predict that these portraits are going to take greater precedence in 2014. Your potential clients want a personal, human connection with you! Show them that you’re the professional, confident attorney we all know you to be. (Need tips on taking a great portrait? Check out this blog post!)

4| Photos with Filters

With the exploding popularity of apps like Instagram, it is no wonder that modified photos are becoming more and more popular in design. Of course, filters just for the sake of filters are never a good idea. But when they compliment your brand message, carefully selected filters can be a great addition!

5| No More Sidebar

Web design is trending towards a simpler, cleaner aesthetic resulting in less complicated page layouts. This means no more sidebars for a lot of websites, giving more attention and focus to one message at a time.

6| Great Typography

Today there are more fonts available for web use than ever before, which is encouraging designers to be a little more creative with their font choices and typographic treatments on the web. In this blog post, I talked a little more about Typography 101. Be on the lookout for more exciting uses of type online.

7| Video Integration

Just as there are new techniques for working with type, the evolution of HTML 5 coding has allowed for new ways to integrate video into websites. Video is also increasingly being used instead of text in some cases. Did you know IMS offers video services? Learn more about those here.

8| Large “Hero” Areas Instead of Sliders

Based on the research I’ve been doing, it looks like sliders are on the decline. Instead, large areas called “hero” areas are taking precedence. These hero areas combine the header area (where the logo and navigation usually are) with the area just below that (where the slider would normally be) to create a more open, clean design. Don’t worry, all the information that was in a slider can still be on the website! Removing the animation removes any distraction from the information you are providing, which is really where you want their focus to be in the first place.

9| Flat Design

The term “flat design” refers to a design aesthetic with simpler colors and shapes, and very few gradients or techniques that make objects look three-dimensional. Originally, the gradients and three-dimensional look was adopted to help users understand what various apps and buttons were for. For example, the original iBook app by Apple featured an icon that looked like a real bookshelf. But by now, users know what the app is for, and such a literal icon is no longer necessary.

10| Mobile-First Design

Responsive websites are more popular than ever! And their popularity is just going to keep on growing. I think the best thing about them is that you no longer have to worry about keeping your information updated on multiple sites. Now just one amazing site will look and function great on any device your potential client might be using. But responsive sites are designed and built quite differently from desktop-only sites. Responsive sites must be designed with the smallest device (usually a smartphone) in mind first, and then build up from there. The result is some fantastic-looking websites. And now you can get one too! Stay tuned for more details on our new Essentials 2.0 program that will include a mobile-first, responsive web design!

So, what do you think? Which of these emerging trends are you most excited about? Personally, I can’t wait to experiment with all of them!

 

Reference: Turner, Amber Leigh “10 Web design trends you can expect to see in 2014.” The Next Web, December 29, 2013.

What Google Giveth … Google Can Taketh Away!

Making sure your website shows up on Google’s Page One for organic search is one of the most important aspects of online marketing. After all, Google still commands the highest percentage of all online searches. However, beware; Google is not in the business of promoting your business – at least not for free! In fact, they are constantly changing the rules with stealthy algorithm updates and penalties that keep even the specialists like our team here at IMS on their toes.

When you rely on Google’s organic search rank to drive traffic to your website, a sudden drop can seriously impact your business … as one of our clients recently learned!

Here is what happened: after literally years enjoying top of Page One status, our client’s website abruptly fell … not just to position two or page two, or three, or four … No, the website in question fell completely off the map! Almost overnight. Boom! Just. Like. That. From Page One, to Nowheresville almost overnight.

So, the IMS detective team went to work.

We scoured performance reports to try to pinpoint the exact moment this happened, so we could start looking for anything “different.” We ran the website through our automated code-checker, looking to see whether some errant code had somehow passed under our radar. Then, we ran the site through our automated grader, checking for any errors that might cause a Google penalty. We maintain these automated programs because they give us an objectivity that human eyes lack.

To our frustration, we found nothing that would have caused this type of dramatic change. We actually were hoping that we had made some grievous error that we could quickly fix and make everything right again for our client … but it was not so.

We checked to make sure Google was still indexing the site, then we checked the site’s ranking on Yahoo! and Bing. While those search engines do not account for a large slice of online search, their algorithm rules are very similar to Google’s. Even more frustrating, the site was still showing up at the top of Page One on both Yahoo! and Bing – which told us that we were definitely dealing with a “Google problem.”

We scoured Google’s webmaster blogs, and the blogs of other experts … searching for a clue. And found nothing that would explain our client’s dilemma, nor fix it.

Grasping at straws, and knowing this was a “Google problem,” I thought perhaps we should look at the client’s Google accounts. And finally, a picture started to develop.

Somehow, without realizing it, the client had mistakenly created three different business profiles in Google Places for Business. Duplicate business profiles (or “pages”) are a red flag to Google for possible scam artists creating fake identities. To compound the problem, in one of the profiles the law firm was not listed as a “law firm” but rather as an assisted living facility. We don’t know how that happened, we did not even have the log-ins for that listing. The client was not sure how it happened , either, and had to guess at what the possible log-ins might be. The best we can guess is that someone started making a profile, checked the wrong boxes, and probably abandoned the process not realizing it had been saved.

The good news is that we were able to delete the duplicates, correct the profile information, link the proper profile to the client’s website and Google responded almost immediately. The client’s website went from “oblivion” to page 5. While this was a huge and rapid improvement, and it did confirm our detective work … the client still has a long road back to the top of Page One. Google will be waiting for “proof” that the firm is who they say they are.

Take-Aways from this story:

1. Be very careful when creating your business profile on Google, protect your log-ins and if you get confused, call us before you make a serious mistake!
2. Having a committed, knowledgeable team of experts can mean the difference between complete Google failure and success … and they can pull your hiney out of the fire, even if you put it there yourself!
3. An AdWords campaign would have been a great tool to have in place in this situation. Should your website fall off of Google’s Page One for whatever reason – including a simple algorithm update – an AdWords campaign can ensure you still get the traffic you need to continue generating leads.

Call James, at 877-352-2021 ext. 80, to learn more about Google AdWords management. 

Don't Be a Wally! Avoid the Wrong Fonts

Are you guilty of using the wrong fonts?

What are the wrong fonts?

Don't waste another moment using the wrong font! The next time you need a brochure, business card, magazine / newspaper advertisement or stationery set, contact your team at IMS. We have an excellent team of designers, and one in particular – Emma – has an affinity for typography and making connections through the use of fonts.

 

- April

Pantone Color of the Year 2014: Radiant Orchid

Recently, the design world has been busy reacting (both positively and negatively) to the announcement of the Pantone color of the year for 2014. I know, I know - it doesn’t sound like very exciting news. But in the design world, it’s sort of like when Apple announces the release of the newest iPhone. People are anxious to find out what the newest trend will be that year. The Pantone color of the year for 2014 is Radiant Orchid.

What is Pantone?

Pantone LLC is considered the worldwide authority on color. But to understand the impact the Pantone Matching System (PMS) has, especially in the design world, a quick explanation of the printing system is required.

When projects are printed on a press, the paper runs through 4 plates each coated with one color of ink: cyan, magenta, yellow or black. The layered inks create the desired colors. This color mode is called CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK). Check out this example of printing this purple in CMYK.

The downside of printing in CMYK is that there’s no guarantee that a color will print exactly the same every time. That’s where the Pantone Matching System (PMS) comes into play. Pantone swatches provide designers, printers, and other manufacturers a standard so that the colors are produced exactly the same every time. PMS colors are also great for projects that only require one or two colors. The paper can then run through only one plate per PMS color instead of all 4 CMYK plates.

Ok, Back to Radiant Orchid.

Pantone’s color influence extends way beyond just the world of graphic design. Interior designers, fashion designers, presentations designers, and pretty much anyone working in any type of creative capacity take note of the Pantone color of the year. Get ready to see pinks and purples all over the place – in the new spring clothes hitting the racks, in the home decorating magazines, and maybe in the packaging redesign of your favorite products. On their website, Pantone provides color standards for many industries – a downloadable swatch for graphic designers, a fabric swatch for home and fashion designers, paper swatches for interior designers, and a plastic chip for manufacturers.

What does this mean for you?

Consider adding some Radiant Orchid to your marketing materials! Is your website starting to feel a little old and stale? Think about a redesign to freshen it up! Take a look at these color palettes for some inspiration. Even purple can be professional!

Want more information on CMYK vs. PMS printing processes? I thought this article from The Printer was very helpful: http://the-printer.net/cmyk-vs-pms.

January Marketing Plan for Your Law Firm

This may be your first full week back in the office after the holidays, so it would be an understatement to say that your list of to-do's is, well, huge. I am right there with you!

If you didn't get to your 2014 Marketing Plan before the New Year, January is still an ideal time to set the stage for the year ahead with a plan for your practice.  In fact, you should evaluate your marketing each month as the year rolls along, making changes as needed and documenting results.

Here are some questions to ponder while you devise your marketing plan:

• First of all, what is your marketing budget for the year? If you are not sure, we can come back to this at the end of the list when you've got your goals set.
• What changes have you made in your practice, or will make this month, that need to be reflected on your marketing materials and tools (i.e. website, newsletters etc.)? Did you move? Have any staff changes? Add or remove practice areas?
• What goals would you like to set for the month and the year? Monthly workshops? Adding new email list subscribers? Generating new leads from your website?
• Is your website content up-to-date? Do you need to rewrite any pages or add/remove content?
• Do you need to freshen up your branding for 2014? What about your website, how old is it? You may be due for a tune-up with the latest technology to give you an edge in the online market.
• Will you be doing any print or electronic campaigns this month? What about for the rest of the year?
• Is your Social Media and Blog being maintained daily? What resources can you allocate to these efforts (i.e. delegating to current staff, taking on the task yourself, or hiring it out)?
• Will you or your staff be attending any training or conferences this year?
• So, now that you've got your goals set -- what is your marketing budget for the year? You made need to adjust your initial number to accommodate the outcome you are striving for.

If you are having a hard time getting your marketing plan created, please do not hesitate to consult with your IMS Team. Once you have a plan in place, be sure to review it monthly to stay on track for the year. To help you along the way, we'll be offering monthly marketing plan advice on the IMS blog.

Until next month, good luck and let's start the year off right!

-Brandi