Recently, By Aries had the opportunity to speak, sponsor, and attend the LMA Tech West x Southwest Conference, where thought leaders, general counsels, and marketing experts gathered to share invaluable insights on navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of legal marketing.
After three days of jam-packed content, networking, and idea sharing, we compiled our major takeaways from the sessions we attended, each with actionable insights for enhancing legal marketing strategy.
LMA Next Pre-Con: Unlocking Your Highest and Best Use: Strategies for Peak Legal Marketing Performance
Speaker: Robyn Addis from Legal Internet Solutions Incorporated
Robyn Addis highlighted the need for legal marketers to identify their “highest and best use” and to delegate tasks accordingly. Delegation empowers marketers to focus on high-impact activities.
Key Takeaway: Delegate routine tasks to concentrate on strategic initiatives. This approach allows marketers to maximize their impact on firm-wide objectives, strengthening the firm’s overall marketing effectiveness.
LMA Next Pre-Con: Building Human Connections: Online and IRL
Speakers: Holly Barocio from GrowthPlay and Jessica Aries from By Aries
In this session, Jessica Aries and Holly Barocio explained the importance of building human connections for business development. They highlighted some of the most common ways lawyers can deepen connections with three case studies: (1) when a lawyer gets a press opportunity, (2) when a lawyer is going to a networking event, and (3) when a lawyer is trying to get in contact with a hard to reach contact.
Key Takeaway: Building relationships starts with human connections. Law firm marketers are uniquely situated to help lawyers deepen relationships with key contacts to increase visibility and ensure long-term business development success.
SEO & Content Strategies to Drive ROI & New Client Development in the AI Age
Speakers: Sheri Collins from White & Case, Desire’e Martinelli from Esquire Interactive, LLC, and Jeff Lantz from Esquire Interactive, LLC
In this session, all three speakers highlighted their favorite AI tools and prompted attendees to rethink SEO in an AI-driven world. Emphasizing the importance of user-focused content, the session addressed ways to navigate SEO challenges posed by AI.
Key Takeaway: Adopt AI tools for SEO optimization but keep the focus on valuable, client-centric content. Legal marketers should ensure that content serves audience needs and aligns with SEO best practices to maintain visibility.
You’re Still Doing it Wrong: Tracking and Measuring ROI for Influencing Business Outcomes
Speakers: Robyn Addis from Legal Internet Solutions, Joe Giovannoli from 9Sail, Kevin Bosshardt from Saul Ewing, Scott Winter from Index.io
The panel discussed tracking firm objectives using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like client acquisition by channel and average fee per client. This focus on ROO provides a fuller picture of marketing success.
Key Takeaway: Emphasizing ROO metrics helps law firms evaluate the success of marketing efforts beyond just financial returns. This holistic view enables legal marketers to demonstrate how initiatives align with broader firm goals.
Stop Wondering if Lawyers Can Sell and Start Teaching Them How to Do It
Speakers: Debra Baker from GrowthPlay, Tasneem K. Khokha from GrowthPlay, and Dana Kantalis from Porter Hedges LLP
GrowthPlay’s sales assessment, which identifies six selling styles from Activators to Educators, offers a framework for tailoring business development training to individual lawyer strengths. Each one of the six selling styles shows up in most lawyers and indicates that all lawyers can sell but perhaps haven’t been introduced to the right approach for their selling style.
Key Takeaway: Equip lawyers with an understanding of their unique selling styles to enhance business development. Recognizing that lawyers approach sales differently enables marketers to tailor support and strategies for greater success.
Blending Data and Creativity: Curating Engaging Pitches that Win
Speakers: Shannon Lombardo from Saul Ewing LLP, Andrew Hutchinson from NEXL, and Shea Johnson from Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
In a hands-on workshop, we explored the art of crafting pitches that combine data with creative elements. Shannon Lombardo’s example—a custom-designed map used in a pitch for education services—illustrated the value of blending storytelling with data. We were then prompted to build our creative pitch using data and present this to the audience for consideration.
Key Takeaway: Infuse creativity into data-centric pitches to captivate clients. Tools like custom visuals can set your firm’s pitch apart, making it memorable and engaging.
AI and Legal Marketing Strategies: Leveraging Tech to Enhance Content from Proposals to Online Presence
Speakers: Vanessa Vines Petrea from Perkins Coie LLP, Josie Morgan from BoyarMiller, and Kaitlyn Groezinger from Writer
This session demonstrated how generative AI, specifically the Writer platform, can streamline business development by automating proposal generation and online presence management. We also learned how other firms are building custom LLMs or working with other tools to help them streamline the proposal and marketing processes.
Key Takeaway: Leveraging AI tools like Writer can significantly reduce manual workloads in proposal drafting and content creation. This frees up legal marketers to focus on strategic initiatives, improving both efficiency and client engagement.
Keynote – Impactful Leadership through Amplifying
Keynote Speaker: Rudhir Krishtel from Krishtel LLC
Rudhir Krishtel discussed impactful leadership through amplification, or the act of elevating others. Amplification strategies—like acknowledging contributions, promoting visibility, and facilitating connections—can transform a law firm’s internal culture.
Key Takeaway: Legal marketers can play a critical role in amplifying voices across the firm, especially from underrepresented groups. This approach not only builds a culture of collaboration but also enhances the firm’s reputation for inclusive leadership.
How to Use Google Analytics 4 and Google Looker Studio to Supercharge Marketing & ROI
Speakers: Desire’e Martinelli from Esquire Interactive LLC, Jeff Lantz from Esquire Interactive LLC, and Nathalie Daum from Dickinson Wright PLLC
This session walked us through creating Google Looker Studio dashboards for data visualization, an essential skill for legal marketers who want to present data accessibly. We learned the importance of simplifying data for strategic decision-making.
Key Takeaway: Creating custom dashboards allows legal marketers to clearly communicate insights. Well-designed data visualizations can help stakeholders understand key metrics, making it easier to drive data-driven decisions.
General Counsel Panel
Speakers: Erica Kelly Chee from Light & Wonder, Krystal Saab from Omni Retail Enterprises, Tara Young from Spearmint Energy, and Moderator: Keith Wewe from Content Pilot
In today’s high-stakes legal environment, forging authentic relationships is essential, particularly when engaging with general counsels. This panel stressed that relationship-building is a long-term commitment. One takeaway: Avoid being discouraged if business doesn’t materialize right away; patience can yield future opportunities.
**Key Takeaway**: Approach each connection genuinely, with a focus on long-term value rather than immediate returns. General counsels appreciate lawyers who treat relationships as investments, recognizing that opportunities often arise as their careers progress.
A Great Question from the Audience:
Josie Morgan from Boyar Miller asked the General Counsel Panel
Question: How do you feel about your law firms using AI to prepare legal work?
Responses ranged from curiosity to caution. As one GC put it, “If someone is verifying the information, then there’s room for it,” highlighting the importance of transparency and verification in AI-driven practices, while one said they terrified of legal counsel using AI in their legal work.
Key Takeaway: Law firms should discuss how they use AI with their clients in their legal work. They should take a careful approach, emphasizing the role of human oversight. Use AI tools selectively to support lawyers, not replace them, which can build confidence in its value among both internal teams and clients.
Final Thoughts from the Legal Marketing Tech Conference
The 2024 LMATWxSW conference provided actionable insights across AI, relationship-building, data visualization, and more. For legal marketers, the takeaway is clear: The future of legal marketing lies in a balance of strategic technology adoption, authentic client engagement, and creative presentation. Implementing these insights can help law firms not only keep pace but lead in today’s competitive landscape.
