A Rube Goldberg Machine is an overly-complicated chain reaction program, kind of like the one in the opening sequence of ‘Back to the Future’.
A lot of law firm marketing programs look just like that: half-formed marketing strategies, untested hypotheses, unknown results. When it comes to marketing their practices, most law firm owners rely almost exclusively on referral marketing, and just hope that it keeps working. Literally everything else is left up to chance.
Maybe a Rube Goldberg Machine is the kinder, gentler way to describe it. But, it’s more like they’re throwing shit against the wall, to see what sticks.
And, you can bet your ass that those overly-complicated marketing programs you’ve designed, aren’t particularly inviting to your potential clients, either – who have to wade through the morass. Legal consumers, like all consumers in the convenience economy, most highly prize engagement and speed above all else.
So, as 2022 draws to a close, and if your law firm marketing program seems less like a program, and more like a mess, you can still take some small steps to launching something better in 2023. But, it will require you to be thoughtful about what you’re doing, and to get granular about the processes you build, as you try to place yourself in the shoes of your clients.
It’s possible to generate an effective marketing plan that features helpful automations; you just have to put the time in . . . and put away the duct tape.
(As it turns out, everything is not fixable with duct tape.)