Of all the ways to collect competitive data, our network of successful attorneys consistently relies on competitive market analyses and media audits to identify valuable information and to make effective budget decisions.
These proven approaches are essential to any legal practice, but especially critical to:
- Longtime advertisers facing new competition
- Young attorneys or new law firms looking to break into a market
- All firms seeking greater Share of Voice (SOV)
But what are market analyses and media audits, exactly? How do you know if your law firm needs one?
What Is a Competitive Market Analysis?
A competitive market analysis provides a clear overview of the legal advertising activity happening within a designated market area (DMA) — both yours and your competitors’.
Among other things, a market analysis will reveal:
- Share of Voice (SOV) for all legal advertisers in a market
- Market shifts and new entrants to the legal vertical
- Who the top spenders are
- How much they spend per month and per year
- Where they’re placing ads
- What their creative looks like and what their messaging sounds like
The very fact that this competitive information is available comes as a huge surprise to many lawyers who aren’t familiar with top marketing resources such as Nielsen TV and Audio Ratings, Strata Analytics, and Kantar Media—the world’s largest data, insights, and consulting company.
Each of these marketing resources requires a significant capital investment—one that rarely makes sense for a law firm to make. Thankfully, our client roster enjoys access to these powerful tools via the Network, which includes the expert analysis of a dedicated account manager and a team of experienced media planners and buyers.
If you’re a current advertiser, the “competitive” part of a competitive marketing analysis will also reveal:
- How much you’re spending relative to competitors
- How your creative, messaging, and branding differ from competitors
- Where your advertising overlaps with competitors; and much more
Side note: so far, we’ve only talked about television, but it’s also valuable to perform a competitive market analysis on digital properties (e.g. website, social media, PPC, etc.) to see how your brand compares online.
What Is a Media Audit?
A media audit is a comprehensive analysis of an entire advertising campaign. For example, a media audit might ask:
- Are there television programs or dayparts that would be a better fit for your strategy (i.e. produce better results)?
- Are you running spots of different lengths? Is there a better combination of five, 10, 15, 30, and 60-second spots that would improve your reach, frequency, and ROI?
- Did the station deliver what you paid for? Did the programming deliver the ratings negotiated?
The information discovered in these audits has helped many law firms realize real savings or turn the tide in a competitive market. What’s more, a media audit can be performed again and again to optimize results and increase your return on investment.
Television advertising dollars are finite. A media audit can help you make sure you’re investing each dollar in the most efficient way.
More importantly, there’s an art to media audits, and not everyone approaches them the same way.
Information is your best investment tool in an increasingly competitive legal landscape.
But if you’re doing it right, attorney marketing is about making strategic investment decisions based on data and reliable analysis. You too can grow your marketing investment with superior media analytics.
Network Affiliates is an attorney marketing agency headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado. For nearly 40 years, we’ve been providing exclusive media partnerships and superior marketing services to elite attorneys around the world.
To learn more about Network Affiliates or to schedule a free competitive market analysis and/or media audit call 888-461-1016 or fill out this quick contact form and we’ll get in touch with you.