Stepping up to the CMO role.

• Author: Navarre, Jayne
• Position: Chief marketing officer

Does your law firm need a chief marketing officer, or would some other role be sufficient to the marketing task?

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If a law firm is not ready to think and operate strategically, it doesn't need a senior strategic marketing executive--a chief marketer--for an in-house role. It's that simple. Although operating at a strategic level is most desirable, a firm needs to fully understand what that looks like before it can be implemented properly. To understand the strategic level, one can look to the maturation process of marketing in law firms. Not until the law firm has advanced past the third level is it necessary to employ a truly strategic in-house marketing professional to move the ball forward. Let's look more closely at this maturation process:

Level One: The firm's marketing efforts are typically unfocused. There is no effort to measure success beyond the simple completion of task. Activity is scatter-shot and emphasis is placed on directory listings, tombstone or one-off advertisements, mass mailings to announce a new partner and simple client entertainments such as lunch, a ball game or an open house. Activities have little pre-planning or follow up. Web sites are basic and static. The level-one firm is heavily invested in community and civic sponsorships, yet it has no organized plans or goals for involvement. Efforts to relate or track these activities to new business leads are non-existent.

Level Two: At this level a firm steps up its efforts by moving into a promotional mind-set where marketing is tasked with gaining specific exposure for the firm. The value of marketing is measured by the increased perception of the firm's position in the marketplace. Numbers such as how many newsletters sent, seminars hosted, brochures distributed or Web pages visited measure success. And while marketing efforts may be more proactive, marketers are not yet considered an integral part of the business.

This firm recognizes the relationship between marketing and new business development and an emphasis on selling appears. Firms might engage a speaker to address business development at a partner retreat and may support coaching for a few senior attorneys; however, participants are selected politically rather than strategically.

The first firm-wide marketing plan usually appears in this phase. Lacking any in-house senior marketing executive, the level-two firm hires a consultant to create the marketing plan. Unfortunately, the plan...