First4Lawyers in the Media - September 2022
The results from our market research are in, and work is well underway on our upcoming whitepaper – but that doesn’t mean we’ve been completely quiet on the media front.
Just last month, our head of marketing Andy Cullwick had a letter published in the Law Society Gazette following the results of the Legal Services Consumer Panel’s annual tracker survey.
Customer satisfaction remains high, but almost half of consumers – 43% up from 30% - are now shopping around when it comes to legal services, it found.
Andy wrote: “It is welcome news that consumers feel they have choice…but it does beg the question of how many firms have been rejected during this research phase and why.
“That’s why investing in effective marketing is crucial.
“You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, and these days whether that’s good or bad is determined by your online presence.”
Andy’s monthly column for Insurance Claims continues to provide insight and advice into what remains an unpredictable market at present.
Results from our annual ‘State of the Market’ survey – the focus of June’s blog – showed the overall mood is one of resilience, however.
July’s blog looked at TV advertising which has seen a dramatic slump in recent years – largely down to the significant investment required.
While viewing figures have declined somewhat, millions of us do still tune in for an average three hours per day and Andy predicts we will be seeing more adverts in the future, not less.
He says: “Recent years have seen significant changes in the way businesses can buy TV airtime, not only reflecting the way it is consumed but also how audiences are targeted.
“A lot of the on-demand TV players have non-skippable adverts. We are also starting to see more examples of ads being integrated into the programming, for example on rolling news channels where you will often see news content running during the ad breaks to keep viewers engaged.
“I anticipate that we will see a change in the length of adverts, with more 5-10 second ads. We may even see more following an announcement by Ofcom that it may extend the time and frequency allowed for ad breaks on public broadcasting channels, bringing it more in line with streaming giants.
“I think there will be increasing personalisation, either to make the ad more relevant to the audience or to reflect live events.
“Product or service placement is also still evolving, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see subtle brand building. For example, someone in a soap discussing an accident at the same time as a bus passing by with a law firm advertised on the side.”
Andy’s third and final column this quarter was a ‘jargon buster’ explaining some of the most commonly used terms in digital marketing. Are there any you think we’ve missed? Email [email protected].
