After 30 years in the legal advertising business, we’ve worked hard to perfect TV ad placement and buying strategy to get our lawyers the best response rates in the market. Numbers, after all, are easy to track and tweak.

However, where advertising for attorneys gets complicated is in the messaging component. While our clients are often tempted to repeat traditional tactics they’ve seen dominating the airwaves, such as speed-and-greed talk, faked testimonials, and a hyper-focus on the size of firms and settlements, Network Affiliates now steers lawyers away from these communication strategies.

Why? Because they don’t work anymore. There are simply too many law firms shouting out brand messages that are too similar, too firm-focused and too overwhelming to victims in need of authentic legal advice. The legal TV advertising marketplace has become commoditized and generalized, which in turn has led to more TV viewers tuning out altogether, either by changing the channel or skipping over commercials.

TV Creative using the victim’s perspective

The key, we’ve learned, is refocusing efforts on crafting a marketing message that works a little differently, that causes viewers to stop in their tracks, and that paddles against the current of traditional legal advertising on television.

One way to begin to hone your message —the brand “story” that makes your firm stand out among the competition— is to ask three questions of your current advertising campaign, message and approach:

1. Who is the best person to tell your story?

In the past, many law firms have used a spokesperson or top attorney with a big personality and big cases behind him or her to “sell” the practice’s qualifications. However, if this person does not appear authentic and chest-thumbs too much on the firm’s greatness and not enough on solving a victim’s problem, it’s going to be a hard sell. We call this the “it’s not about you” reminder: Ads that emphasize lawyers rather than the benefits they provide to a potential client will ultimately fail in delivering quality cases.

To counteract this common advertising practice, it might be time to rethink who tells your story, what your story really communicates to a victim, and whether or not a spokesperson is even necessary. Can you “show” your brand through a personal story, animated character, real-life reenactment, or some other fresh messaging approach?

2. Is your story believable?

This is a real problem on TV today—people don’t actually believe what they’re watching and hearing because lawyers have used too many tricks to try to convince viewers to call right now. For example, we often see attorneys staging actors as real client testimonials. This used to work until people started reading the fine print and taking note of the unethical use of actors to misrepresent cases.

Is this the way to build trust with potential clients? We don’t think so, and neither do duped viewers, who thanks to the Internet and social media, can now call out dishonest lawyers and advertising practices for all the world to see. The point of this illustration is to help you examine the “believable-ability” of your advertising message. Are you using illusions when you could express your firm’s value in a more authentic way that might in turn bring you more reliable cases and clients? It’s something to consider.

3. Are you telling a new story?

One of the biggest downfalls in legal advertising is a majority of lawyers are saying the same thing in the same format. Most put lawyers, settlements and testimonials—themselves—first. What if you flipped that practice and started building a new message around what a victim might be feeling right now, what a victim might need from a lawyer, what questions a victim might have, or what expectations you could set for a victim?

There are countless creative ways to convey a new and memorable message to your audiences. As the legal advertising landscape is flooded, lawyers may have to swim upstream to say something differently and really stand out. This is your chance to develop an ad that’s a little out of the box, a little more provocative—something that makes a victim stop and think—or at least not change the channel.

It’s always an opportune time to tune in to how your commercials come across. If your law practice is not connecting with potential clients in an audience-focused, authentic and unique way, you can’t expect quality results. Let’s try taking a new perspective: the victim’s.

Talk to viewers like you’d talk to a jury

Would you talk to a jury the way your TV ads talk to the pubic? It’s a question worth considering the next time you take a critical look at the success of your television advertising campaign—and quality of cases it yields.

Much like a jury must be convinced by a compelling argument—a real story with real human connection—so too must viewers of TV advertising be convinced about the authenticity of a law firm’s “story.”

Surprisingly, a majority of the legal commercials on TV today don’t take this simple approach. In fact, they do many of things you would never think to do in a courtroom, such as:

• Talk about yourself (or your lawyers) instead of the case at hand—people with legitimate legal difficulties.
• Scream louder than the other lawyer, instead of calmly, rationally explaining the evidence on behalf of your client.
• Default to generalizations, which lose the jury’s attention, rather than specifics, which “sell” the story and make a lasting impact.
• Focus on the end result—the big money, the number of cases won—rather than people’s universal “pain points.”
• Skimp on the presentation of critical “evidence”—the images and visual aids that tell might tell 1,000 words in one picture.

Thinking about the parallel between advertising audiences and juries is a metaphor meant to help you reflect on how your legal firm is asking for cases. If you spend time creating a high-quality, well-researched and strategic argument (TV messaging), your case will be that much more convincing.

If you want quality cases—the kind that lead to stronger results, better relationships and more referrals—you must ask for them in a quality way through your advertising approach. That might require ignoring a majority of today’s legal ads and creating your own signature message, or systemically breaking down some current ads as how-tos on what not to do.

Legal advertising that asks for quick, cheap cases might bring short-term gain, but it is also guaranteed to deliver short-term clients and relationships, as well as to short-change consumers about what your law firm really has to offer.

Like all the strongest legal arguments, it takes a more strategic approach to acquire more valuable, higher-quality cases and clients. Again, think of it like talking to a jury in a courtroom:

• Research what the other lawyer (competing law firm in your space) is doing.
• Focus on explaining the undeniable evidence (your legal brand’s differentiators and story).
• Connect with decision-making jury members (potential clients) by linking experiences they might have had to the ones you’re presenting.
• Appeal to your jury (advertising audience) through emotion and empathy—the places from which all long-term relationships start.
• Help your jury (viewers) see beyond outcomes and settlements to the real community service of law.

As lawyers, sometimes it’s easiest to understand advertising strategy in the context of the courtroom. Next time you question the quality of cases your TV messaging yields, ask first: Who is your jury?

It’s not a stretch to group 95% of all legal commercials aired today in the same category: “It’s all about me.” Too often we see TV ads—even from some of largest firms spending the most money in a given market—that focus almost exclusively on the lawyer or law firm.

Want your legal advertising to stand out among the crowd? Get out of the 95% and into the 5%.

Some of the most successful campaigns in the legal space today flip the egocentric “It’s all about me” ads of the past completely upside down – focusing instead on the victim.

An Animated Ad Twist

The animated commercial below is a prime example of how we helped one firm shift from a message lost in the masses to a new asset that places them solidly in that golden 5%.

These clever and creative commercials thoughtfully reposition real-life legal dilemmas through emotional scenarios that immediately connect with victims. Not only do these impactful “it’s all about you” ads drive new leads and phone calls, they also take the pressure off lawyers to squeeze an entire “biography” into a 30- or 60-second commercial.

It works because viewers are caught off guard. They’re used to tuning out serious legal ads that misuse shock value and scare tactics while also missing an opportunity to talk directly to victims about real problems. This animated ad grabs attention through entertaining visuals and an engaging voiceover while ultimately positioning the law firm as a viable ally when dealing with cynicism and questions about insurance companies.

This is just one example of an ad that’s cutting through the clutter. There are endless ways a marketing and advertising firm can help spin your message away from your lawyers—and toward your potential clients. However all of these modern twists on legal advertising have three essential elements in common:

The 3 Essential Elements of Legal Advertising

1. They are born out of research.

The smartest advertising commercials and campaigns in the legal marketplace today are positioned squarely against the competition. These ads stand out not only because of their victim-positioned messaging, but because they’re saying something differently than every other law firm in the region.

You can’t prove your new creative will work unless you’ve surveyed what commercials are already playing in your market, which firms are using what messaging and how the current leaders are making their mark. The most effectual contemporary ads are the most deeply researched.

2. The production stands out.

Whether your advertising firm is helping you design fresh, eye-catching animation, setting up live action in a studio or onsite, or choosing believable talent that will authenticate your message, stay focused on production.

Don’t get so blindside by crafty creative that you skimp on how that commercial is produced—and therefore viewed and digested by your target audiences. Remember, television is a predominately visual medium. Commercials that create a buzz are the ones that trigger a psychological reaction in a crisp, clear and graphic way.

3. They ask for what they want.

Traditional legal ads might tell a whole story about a law practice’s background, big settlements and go-getting lawyers. But often they leave the viewer in the lurch about connecting all the dots: “Oh, they’re a big, proven firm so I should call them about my legal issue.” While it might sound like an intuitive conclusion, this is simply too much of a jump for a passive viewing audience.

Victims watching TV need direct, engaging and authoritative messages that quickly tap into a problem they’re wresting with right now—and need to solve fast. The most productive ads simply ask for what they want—and what they want a victim to do—through a compelling story line and a complementary call to action.

In an aggressively competitive atmosphere like the legal industry, attorneys need to leverage everything in their power to stand out from the pack. And a TV commercial—made by a third party laser-focused on production—is still one of the most dominant and far-reaching forms of paid media to do just that.

Reaching a big, broad audience, however, is not enough these days. To distinguish your law firm, your message must be the opposite: narrow and differentiated. Your strategy must be precise and data-driven. And your TV advertising must be thoughtfully and consistently integrated with other attentively supported marketing platforms.

Today top-quality TV production is not just about attorneys looking good on the screen. That’s no longer enough to make an impact, to stand out or to be remembered. Pushing through crowded airwaves, contemporary TV commercial production requires:

• a careful balance of smart, singular creative
• pinpointed, long-term strategy
• scheduled, multi-platform integration

Staying top of mind is, well, just a little more complicated these days. To get a better handle on how much TV production has changed, it’s helpful to break it down into three tactics.

Creative: Make sure your TV commercial is different—in the right ways.

We’re all familiar with “talking head” TV commercials. The stiff and staged client testimonials. The overly dramatic reenactments set to disjointed music. Over time, response tracking has shown that these types of legal commercials just don’t work. You can’t get away with cutting corners when it comes to television advertising.

The most effective creative starts with a strong, individualized message, backed up with high-quality sound, talent and editing. While there are plenty of “magic bullets” waiting to come to fruition, uncovering a creative message that will help your law firm stand out on screen starts with knowing who you are.

• Can you articulate your top three points of differentiation as a legal team?
• What makes your firm the most unique choice in your legal market?
• Going head-to-head with the competition, why would a client choose you?
• Speaking of those clients, what are your three biggest audience “buckets”?

Knowing your audience and capitalizing on exclusive brand attributes is the fastest path to standing out in a space cluttered with noise. How you get there can take many exciting forms, and that’s why it pays to work with a qualified creative team.

Your next commercial could be a clever spot that’s uncharacteristically funny and catches viewers off guard—in a memorable way. Or a real-life incident cinematically slowed down to an emotional moment that connects with an audience, lingering and linking undeniably back to your law firm’s brand.

A smart, savvy TV production team will only help craft a message that emphasizes your distinct legal brand, but will make sure that message is designed for TV, with the right actors, music, lighting and editing features to ensure your firm looks and sounds “different,” in the right ways.

Strategy: Determine where and when to place your quality TV commercial

Once you’ve nailed brilliant creative and produced a high-quality TV commercial, don’t let a beautiful commercial woo you into overlooking where and when to place the spot to reach the largest and most targeted audiences.

Again, this is not an effort law firms can tackle alone. Placing commercials on TV today requires serious strategy—mostly likely more than your office has on its radar. It’s best left to legal media-buying experts who know your specialized industry, competition and market, not to mention helpful ways to bring added value to a TV campaign—and giving you more bang for your buck.

Here are just a few of the ways the best legal TV commercials end up being viewed by the right audiences, at the right time.

• Top media teams research the tastes and habits of your specific client base and build a media plan to match them
• Expert media buyers help your firm determine appropriate levels of spending and whether to focus commercials around certain events, seasons or other factors related to your legal brand
• Dedicated TV media consultants have access to industry research, data and tools that can uncover everything from how a competitor’s commercial performed in the same market, to what airtime slots will best suit your business and maximize your ad dollars

Integration: Ensure a consistent, complementary message across platforms

One of the biggest changes in producing effective quality TV commercials is integrating them properly with other marketing channels, using each avenue to strategically reinforce your brand. Attorneys can’t just create an A+ ad and send it into the netherworld.

Today everything is connected. People have more touch points than ever. It’s all on 24/7. And because of that, clients often aren’t even aware of where they’ve interacted with different legal brands.

Ask that question on your next client survey. Most people won’t be able to pinpoint where they remember encountering your brand, but if you are running your advertising campaign effectively, it won’t matter. Because the same message you have on TV will extend in some tangential way to your website, and coordinate with your latest email blast, and orchestrate aptly with your social media presence.

We call this critical integration “multi-platform.” That means your “paid” media (primarily TV, radio and print advertising, developed by a third-party) complement messaging and campaigns you run through your “owned” media (marketing delivered on digital channels that your law firm creates, owns and controls). To ensure these platforms are working synergistically, you’ll need to address questions like these:

• How does your TV creative translate to your legal website, social media and other owned media?
• Does the look and feel of your commercial creative match your owned media properties?
• Does your larger umbrella brand positioning appear consistently in your law firm’s digital and physical assets?

Like most things in law, TV production is digested best when broken down to its most fundamental elements. While the complexity of creating effective advertising has increased, your stress as an attorney doesn’t have to. Making your mark on TV (and beyond) takes one part dynamic creative, one part smart strategy and one part intelligent integration. It all adds up, and it’s all within reach.