This article was first published by The Barrister magazine.
Why should your chambers devote time and resource to professional PR services at a time when marketing budgets are being heaving scrutinised or even cut? Is there any place for PR in a word still ravaged by Covid?
Unlike law firms where PR is generally seen to be an essential element of the marketing mix, barristers’ business development has traditionally focused on building relations with solicitors through social and training events; this has been severely curtailed by the pandemic and there can be little doubt that professional rapport is not so easily established by way of a Zoom drinks party.
With this in mind, the new year could be the time for your chambers to consider PR as a way to support business development and ensure that relationships and reputations are maintained and enhanced. Arguably, the Bar has never needed PR more than it will do in the coming months and years.
What do we mean by PR?
Public relations is a frequently misunderstood term but in a nutshell PR involves relaying information to an organisation’s key audiences in order to shape a positive profile. PR aims may vary over time but generally, the intention will be to build good media relations (i.e. so you are thought of favourably), enhance reputation and grow goodwill (so that clients choose you, expanding business and improving revenues) and even to communicate sympathetically through a crisis in order to defuse issues.
How do we do PR?
While the remit of PR has expanded massively over the last decade or so thanks to the explosion of digital media, traditional PR involves securing media coverage in target publications or via interviews on broadcast media. As highly prized as a profile in The Times law pages or an interview on Sky News may be, in the age of the 24-hour news cycle there is a multitude of media opportunities available, some of which may be more relevant to the audience you are trying to reach.
Bear in mind that some practice areas lend themselves to generating PR more easily than others. There is a perennial media interest in cases which have a human interest angle: divorce, defamation (just think of the endless pages devoted to the recent Johnny Depp libel case!), discrimination, employment and anything involving serious wealth. Despite this, barristers operating in less juicy areas should still be able to gain valuable media exposure and you don’t necessarily need a PR expert to help you with this. While they may not boast the massive circulation figures of a national newspaper, trade titles are often hugely influential within the sectors they operate. For example, a barrister specialising in construction could look to target Construction News and Building both of which have professional & legal pages which need to be filled with insightful comment from legal experts and other professionals.
While a piece of media coverage is valuable as a standalone piece, a good PR strategy will ensure that PR effort is utilised as fully as possibly by recycling and re-using content across multiple platforms to ensure that it reaches as wide an audience as possible. If you have expressed a strong opinion or given an insight that no one else has on a current theme, your content is more likely to be re-shared and it could even be spotted by a journalist who could contact the author for a comment thereby leading to more media opportunities.
Although digital platforms have enabled individuals to self-publish, placing stories in the press – a key role of PR – is still important. If anything, the credibility provided by such a third-party endorsement is even more valuable in today’s content-heavy world.
On the other hand, a proliferation of content means that quality pieces can fail to make the impact they deserve or end up being wasted effort if not placed appropriately. A strategic PR professional who is working to an agreed strategy can do much to ensure content gains traction with the right audiences for chambers.
What can good PR achieve for chambers?
Much as chambers are a collection of individual professionals who have chosen to work together, when it comes to PR there is symbiotic relationship between the individuals and the entity. Building a great brand for your set depends on positioning your barristers as highly competent specialists in their fields who are going to give a great client experience to those who instruct them and for whom they are acting. Contrast the positive effect of a set being known collectively as the home of brilliant experts who win cases with the negative effect of an individual in that set being disciplined for professional misconduct.
Perhaps the only chambers which could claim to be a “household name” is Matrix. But this brand recognition came at the price. Set up at the turn of the Millennium, Matrix attracted media interest and controversy in equal measure given its focus on the (then) new area of human rights and the varied characters who joined it, demonstrating the symbiosis between high profile barristers and a well-regarded set.
There are three broad reasons chambers need good PR. First, to win work you need to stand out in a crowded market – why instruct a QC at these chambers and not the one next door? Good PR can help to build the profile of individuals and increase credibility in them as leaders of their field. This is a virtuous circle reflecting well on chambers if it becomes known as a set where particular experts practice.
Second, great PR can really help boost morale and help cement a collegiate atmosphere. People feel good being part of an admired centre of excellence and consequently should perform better. Finally, attracting the right talent, be that at the pupillage stage or beyond is always a challenge. A chambers widely known for excellence will have the pick of the brightest and best.
The challenges facing the criminal bar are different to those faced by civil sets and their PR strategies will need to vary accordingly. For example, being seen to get involved in campaigning for legal reforms could enhance the reputation of chambers and could also garner media coverage for individuals as radicals and thought leaders.
For junior counsel at the start of their careers, investing in their personal brand will be crucial to the success of their practice and future ambitions and PR is key, as we have seen. If chambers can be supportive in this then it is likely to engender loyalty.
As with solicitors, rankings in legal directories are possibly the major marketing concern of many barristers. Using PR to raise awareness of individual barristers in the market will help to improve directory rankings. Links to online pieces of press coverage can even be used to enhance directory submissions.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) should also be a key consideration. If barristers in chambers are regularly writing articles which are published online and in the press, this will help with SEO not just for the individual but also chambers. My clients often report a spike in website traffic following a successful press campaign. Given that Accenture estimate that 94% of B2B purchasers conduct some kind of web research before making a purchase, your online presence shouldn’t be underestimated. A steady stream of content will build trust and reassurance. In sharp contrast, a prospective purchaser faced with outdated content may assume that a set of chambers is out of touch and look elsewhere.
Finally, not one that people often want to anticipate, but important – crisis management. If your chambers has a good media profile and has worked to build the goodwill in its brand it will be much easier to manage something going wrong. Good media connections and a positive reputation are a superb hedge against a crisis. At a more macro level, a well-focused PR strategy aides resilience and insulates against the negative impact on reputation which may otherwise result from bad coverage in the future.
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Need some help with PR? Feel free to drop me an email to arrange a 30 minute complimentary call or take a look at some of the packages I offer law firms, accountancy practices and other b2b businesses.