(TRULY) TAKING MARKETING TO THE NEXT LEVEL: How the Composition of Law Firm Marketing Staffs Is Evolving.

• Author: Scalzi, Jennifer Johnson

When we begin a talent search for a client, we often hear that they want to "take it to the next level." But what does "next level" really mean? Is it just a buzzword that we deploy at conferences because it sounds good, or is there truly a "next level" marketer waiting in the wings?

Our response is yes, we do believe a next level exists. We believe the marketplace is yearning to attain more sophisticated levels within marketing and business development. We also believe that the marketplace is slightly ambivalent because it doesn't know what "it" will look like when we've reached this next level.

Then and Now

The legal marketplace has experienced important shifts over the last few decades. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw the first wave of professional marketers break down doors. These brave pioneers brought in corporate-like thinking and helped executive directors bring structure, process and strategy to law firms. Firm brands bolstered by sophisticated strategists and designers began looking a lot more like corporations. Then, technology and process management hit the industry like a tidal wave a few years later. Smart, forward-thinking firms capitalized on this and recruited marketing technology professionals to partner with information technology departments and began hiring more targeted business development managers with analytical and sales skills.

Now we're entering what we can consider the third wave in legal marketing. We are grappling with new issues, process improvement, pricing conundrums, big data (or a lack thereof) and an ever-contracting market. We need to look outside the boundaries for new business, and with that, we might be wise to look outside our boundaries for new talent or for new skills of our own.

What's in high demand? Marketing and business development professionals who understand clients; who can take a holistic view of clients, revenues, geographic disposition and firm culture; people who can systematically chart a strategy driving revenue growth, both new and organic; and people who can drive efficiencies within our marketing departments. These professionals will find their firms new clients and new market share without annoying existing clients and will bring law firms to the next level.

However, this is where the big question looms and some ambivalence begins: Do firms want what could very well be explosive growth? Do they want to blaze trails with their business strategy? If they do (and we think they...