That is my takeaway from the "Advertising and Marketing on the Internet" conference held June 14 in Chicago. But that is also an opportunity.

There are so few law firms running banner ads and using permission email marketing, it is easy to stand out.  Online marketing is a vast unclaimed territory of targeted messages, high response rates, and no clutter from other law firms.  Now is the time for innovative law firms to get all over the Web and make an impact with little effort.

To be sure, some law firms are running banner ads (more about that in a minute).  However, most law firms are sticking to the established marketing methods -- seminars, public relations, Web sites, printed newsletters, print advertising, and printed collateral material.  There is nothing wrong with these approaches.  It's just that a lot of law firms are already using them.  Clients may start to get the "been there, done that" feeling. 

Meanwhile, the Net beckons with the following benefits:

• Banner ads DO have a branding effect, according to speaker Brian Hieggelke, CEO & President of Newcity.com, a print and online publisher.  When a prospective client  merely sees a law firm's banner, it reiterates the brand in the viewer's mind.

• Email is the "killer application" on the Web, according to Robbin Zeff, President of the Zeff Group, which organized the conference.  Unlike a banner ad, you can explain complex concepts in an email; you can include a text link to your Web site; and you can include pictures and videos in an email.

Banner Ads 
Some law firms are claiming their online turf.  Earlier in 2000, Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison caused a minor uproar when it ran banner ads on a web site designed for associates and law students, and the banner appeared beside the text descriptions of other law firms.  The publicity about the tempest alone was worth the cost of the banner.

"We've been running three advertising banners on www.lawoffice.com for the past three months. Our results thus far have been mixed. We've increased the number of our Web page visitors by roughly 40% (per month) and are receiving about 5 case submissions (per week)... yet we're still waiting for a truly substantive case to come along," said T.J. Saye, Marketing Director of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard in Chicago and Waukegan.

Sam Lucas, Webmaster of www.lawyerscenter.com in Texas, says his law firm banner advertisers are a happy lot.  "Every advertiser has renewed their commitment more than once, and several have doubled and tripled their banner advertising commitment," he said.  "To give an example on June 15, I placed a banner for a law firm.  They signed their first client from the banner on June 23rd…and three more within the next month."

It occurs to me that banner ads are well suited for Internet executives, whom law firms are so eagerly targeting.  Wouldn't you like that executive to see your banner?  Now, suppose the executive clicked on your banner and was whisked to your law firm's  e-commerce Web page.  This is the kind of traffic you want.

There are several advantages to Web advertising over offline ("print") advertising.  You can count the number of times your banner is viewed.  You can also count the number of times visitors click on your banner ("click-throughs").  Offline publications cannot offer this.

Permission Email Marketing
Permission email marketing may be even better than banner advertising, because of the higher response rate.  While the average banner ad gets a .5% to 1% click-through rate, permission emails get a 5% to 15% response rate, according to Ken Wruk, Founder of Yesmail.com.  Other benefits include a lower cost than banner ads and more rapid results than direct mail.

Permission email marketing is a relatively new medium.  Companies like YesMail.com collect the email addresses of consumers who have given their permission to receive promotional messages and other information targeted to their interests.

Accordingly, a real estate lawyer could send an informational email to landlords and property management companies. (This presumes that all ethical rules regarding direct mail have been complied with.) A trusts and estates lawyer could send a message to small business owners (who have succession plans to deal with). There are lots of possibilities. Plus it's NEW. I don't know of many law firms that are doing this yet. It is a way to break out of the clutter.

Email marketing is gaining influence among law firms, according to Jennifer Campbell, Vice President, Integrity Marketing Solutions. "So far, we have had excellent results from our email marketing. Bottom line: our attorneys like it, their clients like it, and it seems to be very cost-effective in terms of building site traffic, as well as building new business."

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