If you want to differentiate yourself from other lawyers, you first have to know what they are doing to market themselves. The bulk of your competition probably comes from local firms that offer similar practice areas to yours. But how much do you actually know about how your competition does business? Do some competitive research to learn who their clients are, any new accounts they’ve just received, new hires, the outcomes of recent cases, and any press releases and articles they’ve recently published.

Where Do You Find Competitors?

Too many lawyers just focus on the internet or in the yellow pages to find their competitor. Others pick out the top 3 largest and most well known firms in their cities and cite them. Rather than choosing who you see as your competitors, put yourself in your target audience’s mindset and look at who they are most likely to consider your competitors. To do that, you need to start an information file on other law firms. Here are some things to look for:

  1. Yellow Pages – Which firms in your area have the most prominent ads? Cut them out (or photocopy them).
  2. Google search – Search Google and Yahoo for your competitors with specific keywords such as [-insert state region/city-] [-insert practice area-] ["lawyer", "law firm", "attorney"] – like “Philadelphia Criminal Defense Attorney” or “California Tax Lawyer”. In addition to searching for your practice areas, think about how prospects describe their problems and try searching for those terms. For instance, if you’re a business lawyer, search for “starting a sole proprietorship” or “register a copyright” rather than “Business Transaction Law”. Which law firms show up in the regular listings? Which show up in the “sponsors” or “ads” section?
  3. Websites – Your competitors’ websites offer a wealth of information about recent news and events, verdicts, and press releases as well as upcoming speaking engagements, articles published and other interesting tidbits.
  4. Ads -Where are your competitors advertising? Whenever you see an ad in a publication, cut it out and add it to your information file.
  5. Marketing Materials – Get copies of your competitors’ brochures and marketing materials.
  6. Networking – What networking events are your competitors attending? What are they doing to promote themselves?
  7. Board Members – Lawyers often serve on the boards of charities and nonprofits. Make note of which lawyers are on which boards.
  8. Speaking Engagements – Some lawyers offer community seminars or teach a class at a local college. Can you attend a session?
  9. Location – If there are other law firms in your office building, make note of them. What do their offices look like? How friendly is their secretary? What kind of signage do they use?

Analyzing Your Competitors

Now that you’ve collected information on other law firms, it’s time to analyze the data. Here are some things to consider:

  1. Who are your primary competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How does your firm compare to theirs?
  2. What types of clients do they serve? What services do they offer? How do your services differ from theirs?
  3. How do they market themselves? Where are they marketing themselves (such as online, tv and radio, billboards, ads, publications, etc.)? How successful are they at bringing in new business?
  4. What resources do they have? Do they have any political affiliations or connections? Have they cultivated resources with journalists? Are they seen as an industry leader, for instance, because they regularly publish articles or books or speak? Do they conduct workshops, classes or teach at a local college?
  5. How well are they doing? Can you determine their financial stability or revenue? Have they issued any press releases about corporate growth? Have any major players left the firm recently? How big are they?
  6. What have they done lately? What recent accomplishments are they promoting in their marketing materials? What major clients are they working with? Have they announced any partnerships?
  7. What works well on their marketing materials and website? – What do you like about each? What makes sense to you? Do they look and sound professional? What would motivate someone to contact them?
  8. What are they doing wrong? – What’s not working with their marketing materials and website? Do their marketing materials meaningfully differentiate them from others? Is their website confusing? Is it interesting and helpful to read? Do all their links and features work as expected? Does the text still make sense if you substitute the name of another law firm? (If it does, it’s too generic.)

Analyzing your competitors will help you understand the legal competitive landscape. By looking at what other lawyers are doing, you can position your firm differently, thus standing out from the crowd.

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