Spotlight Branding - March 2021

Spotlight Branding - March 2021

MAR 2021 (800) 406-7229 SpotlightBranding.com

THE GAME-CHANGING MARKETING SOLUTION NO ONE ELSE KNOWS ABOUT Meet Our Baby: The Content Loop™

If you’ve done more than five minutes of research on marketing, you’ve probably heard that to succeed, you need to “build a funnel.” Marketing funnels are all the rage right now. Heck, I’ve even referenced them a few times in this newsletter! The idea is that you use your content, digital advertising, points of contact, and other marketing efforts to suck leads into the broad end of the metaphorical funnel and guide them to the bottomwhere they become consultations or clients. But this method has one huge problem — and my team has solved it. The issue is that marketing funnels end. When you use the funnel method, your goal is to gather leads and turn them into consultations. But once they’ve booked with you … then what? The funnel method says, “You’re on your own, sucker!” It’s up to you to figure out how to close, nurture, retain, and upsell those clients going forward. The funnel is no longer useful. In my view, this traditional method is incomplete. Most marketing companies don’t see this — or if they do, they just don’t care. That’s because they’re focused on the top

of the funnel. These big companies are just interested in helping you generate leads and turning them into clients. Once they’ve hit that metric, they’re out! This might sound nice (they’re doing their job, right?), but what it means is that the long-term success of your business doesn’t matter to them. But it matters to us. I care howmany clients the firms I work with bring in, AND I care howmany they keep. Looking at the marketing funnel, my team knew there must be a better, more holistic marketing solution. So, we sat down and came up with a revolutionary strategy that helps law firms not only win clients but also retain them, nurture them, and keep them engaged. We call it The Content Loop™. For our clients, we build loops, not funnels. So, what is The Content Loop™? The idea behind our proven process is pretty simple: The loop closes the end of the funnel so clients no longer “fall out” after you schedule them for the first time. Basically, we took the end of the funnel and stretched it around to connect with the top. We can create a loop

for you by putting out content consistently, including blogs, videos, social media posts, e-newsletters, and website updates. This flow of content creates ongoing touch points with your network — the leads, referrals, referral sources, clients, colleagues, strategic relationships, family, and friends moving inside the loop. When you keep up the flow, it keeps your brand top of mind and builds up your reputation over time so no lead, referral, or opportunity is missed. We diversify this content and blast it out on all of the common channels so your marketing efforts reach everyone in your network: avid readers, video junkies, and social media surfers. Over time, you’ll inevitably become a familiar, trusted brand. When you build loops instead of funnels (or let us build them for you), it’s impossible for your network to forget who you are and what you do. This method is proven to lower churn and strengthen relationships. We’ve tailored it specifically for law firms and perfected it over time. At this point, I’m confident it’s the best system on the market for lawyers. Helping our clients retain THEIR clients is integral to what we do. Your success is our success. This is so vital to Spotlight Branding’s ethos that we created a proprietary process to make it happen and gave it a pun-tastic name. (The Content Loop™ keeps your clients “in the loop” — get it?) If you’re still building funnels or if you haven’t let us leverage your loop’s full potential, you’re stuck in the past. It’s time to call my team up and ask, “Hey — how about you build me a loop?”

–Marc Cerniglia

SpotlightBranding.com

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CLIENT SUCCESS STORY: CLARK.LAW

Chris Clark opened Clark.Law in September 2016, and it has been growing ever since. When his old firm didn’t have much of an online presence, Chris made sure that having a premium online brand was at the top of his priority list. After doing his research, he chose us. He started as a true solo, with his wife working as a part-time paralegal. (As a side note, Chris’s wife has since gone on to win a seat in the North Carolina House!) But even as a solo, Chris wanted to convey to current and potential clients that he had 15-plus years of sophisticated business and intellectual-property experience with entrepreneurs, major universities, and Fortune 500 companies. He had a clear vision,

and Spotlight Branding helped him bring it to life with website, e-newsletter, blog, and social media services. Since working with us, we have helped Chris grow to a seven-person team with continuous revenue increases in each year since the firm opened. WANT MORE REFERRALS AND BETTER CLIENTS? Visit SpotlightBranding.com/NL to schedule a call!

Succeed in Business With the Right Strategies

2. Market to Convert Leads. You need marketing that generates quality leads and a sales process that converts those leads to customers for your business. This is much easier said than done, and I get that. The fundamental items your business needs are: • Lead generation of quality prospects • A customer-relationship-management system that allows you to keep track of, nurture, and follow up with leads • A sales process that includes long-term nurture and follow-up as well as the ability to close a deal These are only the minimum requirements, so make sure you have them all. 3. Create Systems and Processes. Businesses don’t scale when they don’t have any systems in place. “Ask the entrepreneur” is not a system, and if you have to do it all, your business will max out very quickly. If you are not a systems and processes person, hire one. A competent person in this position will be your right hand and help you scale. 4. Keep Employees Happy. If your employees are happy, they will do a better job serving your customers. If

your customers are happy because your employees are serving them well, then they will refer more, spend more, and stay with you longer. This will make you happy because you will turn a larger profit. By contrast, it costs three times an employee’s monthly compensation to hire, onboard, and train their replacement — minimum . Few things hurt more than high turnover. 5. Play the Long Game. Win wars, not battles. Sacrifice today for tomorrow. Don’t make emotional decisions in business. Build systems, track everything, and nurture relationships. 6. Be the CEO. Invest in the skills required to become the leader you need today and, especially, tomorrow. Learn to delegate and let go of any role that “nobody can do as well as me,” because that’s how you become what’s holding your company back. Once you become comfortable with these six fundamental areas, you’ll move your business and yourself in the right direction. Being great at the boring stuff wins business, and that’s how you can afford the life of your dreams.

Remember the musical, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”? Ralph Macchio goes from the mailroom to the boardroom by not accomplishing anything in his career other than kissing up to the right people. But, for entrepreneurs, kissing up to the boss won’t help much! If you want to succeed without really trying when you’re running the show, you need to focus on these six things instead. 1. Retain and Maintain Customers. How much money do you lose each month in customer churn? What about employee churn? This is a big issue and a major reason businesses don’t scale. Check out the book “Stop Losing Customers’’ by Shaun Buck. A section dedicated to calculating churn discusses why it matters for your business and how you can save a massive amount of money once you know the number and work to lower it.

More Referrals. Better Clients. Higher ROI.

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FRUSTRATED THAT YOUR CAMPAIGN ‘ISN’T WORKING’? BOOST YOUR RESULTS WITH THE THIRD LAW OF CONTENT MARKETING

For the last two months, we’ve introduced you to two of the four laws of content marketing. In January, we talked about how “content is king” and explained why content is more vital now than ever. Then we explained why “focusing on people, not search engines” is key if you want to win over clients. That brings us to the third law of content marketing: shared success. Content doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and neither does your in-house content creator or the marketing agency you hired. That’s why this law teaches that simply creating content isn’t enough. In order to find marketing success, you need to share responsibility for that content and its impact on the world. Let us give you an example. Here at Spotlight Branding, we create compelling blog posts, social media posts, email newsletters, and videos for our clients. It’s fantastic content, but we can’t make it succeed by ourselves. If you don’t give us a list of your contacts (in other words, if you don’t share some of the responsibility), that content won’t go anywhere, and its impact will be minimal. Viral content is a rare exception to this rule.

your network and investing in adjacent marketing campaigns. When you share the effort on the back end, you also share the ultimate success!

This idea of “shared success” might not sound sexy, but the results are undeniable. Content marketing is an interplay. It enhances your whole brand. Each piece of your content plays off of your network, engagement, other pieces of content, and other marketing initiatives. To put this law of content marketing to work, stop asking, “Is my content marketing campaign working?” and start asking these questions instead: • How is this content marketing campaign helping or hurting my other campaigns? • What can I do to share the responsibility for this campaign in order to share in its success? That brings us to one last question: How do you measure success? In next month’s issue, we’ll explain it all (including the mistakes you’re probably making) with the fourth law of content marketing.

To really level up your campaign, you need to share that responsibility continuously. That means taking the initiative to continue growing

FEATURED EPISODE THE VERY BEST EPISODES OF ‘THE LAW FIRM MARKETING MINUTE’ PODCAST

RESOURCE OF THE MONTH

‘Center Stage’ PUTTING LAWYERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

If you’re looking for more great resources to drive your business forward, take a look at this episode from our industry‑leading podcast “The Law Firm Marketing Minute.” “THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT BUILDING A LAW FIRMWEBSITE” LFMM 347 How long does it take to build a great law firm website? How much should it cost? There are a lot of misconceptions and misguided expectations out there. This episode of “The Law Firm Marketing Minute” aims to set the record straight. If you want More Referrals, Better Clients, and Higher ROI on all your marketing, call us today at 800-406-7229 to schedule a consultation! Listen to this episode and find more at SpotlightBranding.com/lfmm and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, or over a dozen other platforms!

Earlier this year, Spotlight Branding launched a new podcast, “Center Stage”! Unlike our other podcast, “The Law Firm Marketing Minute,” which provides short bits of marketing knowledge and inspiration, “Center Stage” provides in-depth interviews with attorneys and other industry experts to help take your law firm to the next level! Several episodes are already live, and you can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more! Subscribe today and learn how various people just like you have overcome the same challenges you face when running your law firm. Additionally, we’re always looking for guests! If you or someone you know would be a great guest for the show, go to SpotlightBranding.com/Center-Stage-Guest and fill out the form!

Want more great tools for your law firm? Visit SpotlightBranding.com/rotm

SpotlightBranding.com

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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

9624 Bailey Rd., Suite 270 Cornelius, NC 28031

(800) 406-7229 SpotlightBranding.com

THIS ISSUE INSIDE 1

Move Over Marketing Funnels — There’s a New Game in Town! Client Success Story Succeed in Business With the Right Strategies Boost Your Struggling Campaign With the Third Law of Content Marketing Spotlight Branding’s Industry-Leading Podcast Resource of the Month Why Every Lawyer Should Have a Podcast

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It’s Never Too Late to Start a Podcast

3 REASONS TO PRESS RECORD TODAY

2021 is the year of the podcast. So was 2020. And 2019. And 2018. Podcasting has been hot for so long that if your firm doesn’t have a show, you might think you missed the boat. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. If podcasts are still “in,” that means people are still listening to them, loving them, and hunting for new ones to try. Your show could be the next big thing. Not convinced yet? Here are three reasons to press record today. 1. Starting a podcast has never been easier. If you’ve been putting off starting a podcast because you don’t know how or think it’s too difficult, we have news for you — podcasting is easy! You don’t need fancy equipment or deep pockets. Websites like BuzzSprout and LibSyn will let you upload your audio and immediately distribute it to outlets like Spotify and the App Store. To simplify

the process even more, our team here at Spotlight Branding is rolling out our very own podcast service in 2021. If you reach out to us now, you can get in on the ground floor.

the episodes on your website and social media will lend your firm gravitas and impress visitors.

3. You can use your show to grow your network.

A podcast is the ultimate networking tool, especially if you do interviews! Offer those coveted slots to your clients as a perk, hand them out to referral partners to build those relationships, or send invitations to the lawyers, potential partners, and celebrities you’d love to meet. You may need to send a lot of invites, but in the end, you’ll win the numbers game and fatten your list of connections.

Will you have an interview-based show, or will you be speaking on an issue for the duration of the episode?

So, what are you waiting for? Get going before the window closes!

2. Every episode will elevate your credibility. Every piece of content you put out positions you as the expert in your field, and that includes podcast episodes. You can monologue about cases, interview clients, or talk shop with your legal buddies — it doesn’t matter! Simply having

If you want to start a show for your firm or take your existing podcast to the next level, contact us today at SpotlightBranding.com for more information. Be part of our 2021 podcast service rollout!

More Referrals. Better Clients. Higher ROI.

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