Missouri Lawyers Media has announced that Firesign was voted a top winner in three categories for its 2022 Reader Ranking Awards. This is the fourth year in a row the agency was honored for all three categories for legal marketing: Best Public Relations Agency, Best Website Design, and Best Law Firms Business Development/Coaching Services.

Voted on by Missouri Lawyer Media readers, the Reader Ranking Awards celebrate the businesses and organizations that support and enhance the work of attorneys.

Our team is extremely grateful to our clients for entrusting our team to bring light and warmth to legal marketing in Missouri, the Midwest and beyond.

As the strange year that was 2021 comes to an end, it’s worth taking one more look at some marketing advice that could keep you off the proverbial naughty list in 2022.

With no offense meant to Kris Kringle, it’s not the big man’s perception that matters: It’s how you connect with the clients, prospects and referral sources that matter most. Strive to avoid these major missteps – or, in the spirit of the season, the legal marketing lumps of coal:

Lump of Coal 1: Digital Disconnect

Eighty-four percent of law firms plan to spend more on digital in 2022. If you are among them, are you spending more in social media, paid search, organic search and digital advertising, only to drive traffic to a dead-end website? Learn more about law firm budget trends for 2022.

Lump of Coal 2: Boring Biographies

Lawyer bios pack a powerful branding punch because of their high use: A vast majority of C-suite executives and in-house counsel rank them among the top tools for law firm screening. Is your bio relevant, persuasive and memorable, or is it just a recitation of your resume? From the photo to the narrative and beyond, here’s how to maximize your bio ROI.

Lump of Coal 3: Telling, Not Showing

It’s one thing to say you’re the best solution to a potential client’s problem. It’s quite another to show that you are through evidence – case studies, testimonials, third-party endorsements and more. How well do you back up your brand? Learn the four types of evidence your website needs – and while you’re at it, how to write case studies that connect.

Lump of Coal 4: One-Size-Fits-All Branding

Law firms with well-defined positioning close more clients, get more referrals, and enjoy up to 20 percent fee premiums. Yet so many law firms sell themselves short with dysfunctional brands that, while trying to please everyone, stand out to no one. This article provides the basics on branding – and describes the main ways law firms mess it up.

Just getting started on branding? Check out the themes that generate the most referrals, and consider where you sit among the four types of legal practices.

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On behalf of all of us at Firesign, thank you for reading our work this year. We always welcome your questions, comments and ideas, and we certainly welcome the opportunity to serve your firm, too.

Best wishes this holiday season and beyond.

Glowing

We are proud to share that Firesign earned a 2021 Platinum MarCom Award for the category of Team Achievement. The MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding work by marketing and communication professionals; this year’s content drew more than 6,000 entries from 41 countries.

Firesign was one of just 17 organizations to be recognized a Platinum winner in the new Team Achievement category. The agency was honored for successful results achieved for clients and significant growth during economic uncertainty. (Not to mention the early arrival of a baby, multiple quarantines with toddlers and viral variants.)

This comes on the heels of our “three-peat” winning every marketing category in Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Reader Rankings: Best PR Firm, Best Website Design Agency and Best Business Development Coaching.

Thank you to the friends and colleagues who have supported us along the way, and most of all, thank you to the clients who trust us with their brands and communications.

Growing

We are excited about our new expanded team, which has allowed us to expand our service offerings for law firms and legal industry service providers. Together, we build credibility and clientele for legal industry clients through:

• Brand Identity
• Websites
• Content
• Credentials
• Social Media
• Searchability

Several of our new additions have specific legal industry experience, including a former paralegal and a reporter who covered the legal beat. All share our commitment to bring warmth and light to legal marketing.

This year, we welcomed:

• Sky Morrell, designer
• Jessica Shumaker, content specialist
• Kate Ross, account coordinator
• Kate Lee Leibsle, account manager

They join the leadership team of Katie Hollar Barnard, CEO; Amy Nouri, vice president; and Katie McNeil, creative director.

We would love to put our new capabilities and bench depth to work for you in 2022. (And we will try to limit the number of Katies and Kates moving forward.)

All the best to you and yours this Thanksgiving and beyond.

Team Firesign

The Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals (AMCP) recently selected Firesign Legal Marketing as an award recipient in its dotCOMM Awards 2020 competition. Firesign was recognized as a Platinum winner, the top award, in the category “Website | Legal” for client Wickham James Strategies’ website.

dotCOMM Awards is an international competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication administered by AMCP, “one of the largest, oldest and most respected evaluators of creative work in the marketing and communication industry.”

There were over 2,000 entries from the United States and other countries in this years’ competition with approximately 14 percent winning Platinum, 18 percent winning Gold, and 5 percent named Honorable Mention.

Click here to learn more about dotCOMM awards, and view a full list of Platinum winners available here.