By Harlan Schillinger.
Of course there are opportunities for your firm to advertise on TV even though you have a minimal budget. The key is maximizing your investment by not spreading it too thin.
While your firm may not be able to compete with the top spenders in the market on a limited budget, you can still enjoy success on TV by using strategic tactics that help you own share in the market.
One way of getting the most out of your limited advertising spend is to try to dominate one station in your market. Big spenders have the luxury of being able to spend lots of money on many stations so they can reach as many people as possible in their market. A firm with a minimal budget could advertise on one demographically targeted station.
Focusing on one station can maximize the amount of times a specific audience will see your ad, while maintaining a lower overall spend. While your firm may be missing people who watch programs on other stations, you will secure a decent share of voice in one part of the TV market.
Similarly, your firm can also try and dominate certain programs that your target audience watches. Selecting a targeted demo and reaching them frequently via specific shows, helps to give the impression of market dominance within those programs.
Some firms that spend a lot of money on advertising many practice areas to many different people have lots of calls to sort through that oftentimes don’t make sense for the firms. By selecting specific programs to advertise on, your firm can focus its message and media dollars to try and maximize your investment.
Smaller budgets force you to focus your media spend on areas that generate results. Tracking those results is paramount to the success of limited spend. By advertising with a minimal budget, your firm will learn how to live lean and how to employ clever marketing tactics to drive your law firm’s business.
Harlan Schillinger is a 34-year veteran of the advertising industry who joined Network Affiliates Inc. in 1985 to their lead attorney marketing efforts. He evaluates lawyer advertising, confidentially and constructively. Network Affiliates has been in the lawyer marketing business since 1981 and currently represents over 90 law firms around the country.
