We are all familiar with the saying, "The lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client". It would be equally foolish, in law firm marketing, to not learn about and understand your competition. How can you possibly use legal marketing to your best advantage if you don't know what (and whom) you are up against? The importance of understanding your competition can not be overemphasized. Do the work now to learn about them or run the risk of underestimating them and learning via losing a big prospect later.

A crucial component of marketing for attorneys is to understand positioning. The first step to achieving positioning requires knowing and understanding your competition; specifically:

Names of law firms

Names of their partners

Which services they do and do not provide

How much they charge (per hour, any retainer size)

Who they target with their legal marketing efforts

Approximate annual revenues

Which law firm marketing techniques they use to find clients

Growth strategies

If this seems like a great deal of work, remember how absolutely imperative having this information is to your law firm's marketing success.

Other things you will need to know:

How they position themselves in the marketplace (elite, cheapest, biggest, highly-specialized, bi-lingual)

Their relative strengths and weaknesses

Do they have a reputation for settling out of court or litigate everything

Their win-loss record (if applicable)

Legal marketing does consist of a number of components; this is one that definitely deserves your time and attention. By studying and learning from your top competitors (especially the successful ones) you will reap many benefits. For instance, your research may reveal untapped areas in the current market or discovering benefits they don't (or can't) provide which your firm can. By studying others' law firm marketing techniques, you may find ways that you can better market your own firm; including ways to creatively package your services.

You will want to fully assess and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Remember, every company and every person has them; even you. It is just as important to know your own strengths and weaknesses as it is your competitors. The goal is to build your business around your natural strengths, while developing, delegating or outsourcing areas that are weak.

An important rule of legal marketing to keep in mind: Do not be intimidated by your competitors' strengths; you can always find ways to use their strengths against them. For example:

If they're bigger, you are smaller and specialized.

If they offer numerous services, you specialize in two areas and focus capturing a larger market share in those areas.

If they have beautiful, expensive offices, you charge less due to lower overhead.

If they have several associates, your client's receive the expertise of working directly with a partner without being double billed.

Your law firm's marketing efforts will be amply rewarded when you find creative ways to use your competitor's strengths against them.