在过去几年，尤其是在疫情的影响下，中国律所继续深化数字化市场营销改革，同时协调线上线下市场行为，探寻着符合律所实际的“最佳配方”，中国律所的市场营销也开始迈入个性化时代。
近年，逐渐成长起来的区域性律师事务所强化了市场投入。在做好各种“规定动作”的同时，他们也在积极思考能够实现“弯道超车”的个性化传播手段。
“在打造律所品牌方面，天衡有多项长期坚持的实践。其中一项是率先在本地区设立以律所品牌建设为核心目标的专业市场部门，大大提升了事务所的品牌知晓度、认可度、美誉度。”
- 林楚雄，福建天衡联合
福建天衡联合律师事务所执行主任林楚雄律师告诉ALB，天衡对市场营销保持一定的关注与投入，每年市场营销费用预算一般为年收入的千分之三到五左右，在一些特殊年份，比例会高些，总体投入呈逐年增长态势。
天衡定位为东部沿海暨海西地区大型高端商事律师事务所，过去二十几年来，一直保持福建综合实力、业务创收首位。
林楚雄律师介绍道， 回首天衡的发展历程，律所立足福建，以福建客户为主要服务对象，努力保持厦门总部优势，积极将福州办公室发展为次总部。各办公室基于当地经济发展特点，有针对性地不断提高对国有企业集团、大型民企、政府机构的服务能力。
“在业务上，除了在争议解决、投资并购等传统领域持续精细深耕外，天衡还擅长根据不同时期市场热点，顺应政策导向、经济结构调整带来的变化，预先研究、开发相应法律服务产品，形成专业特色和领先优势。” 林楚雄律师说。
例如，在20世纪90年代中期房地产行业迅速发展时，天衡即推出房地产开发全程法律服务；在国务院提出“放管服”改革后，天衡立即组织研究，为政府部门提供行政审批事项改革专项法律服务，助力优化营商环境；天衡还率先在国内将党内法规研究运用到国有企业合规建设中，并形成专著；在数字经济兴起时推出数字经济合规经营问题专题研究系列成果。
在服务上，天衡利用事务所一体化管理和团队化服务优势，充分调动资源，满足客户综合性需求。
“未来，天衡将采取措施，提升信息化、数据化水平，提高律师工作效率，使其在竞争中保持优势；适度加大市场投入，加强律所品牌、专业和律师的宣传，帮助市场、客户更加精准选择。” 林楚雄律师说。
总部设立于“小城”佛山的广东方图律师事务所管理合伙人何俊律师告诉ALB：“方图的市场营销费用比例占据律所创收的7-10%左右，近几年一直在逐年增长。”
何俊律师介绍道，在市场营销方面，方图每年都会在公众号编辑原创文章，进行网站维护、视频拍摄、举办多场次的方图有约沙龙活动、定制“方小图”周边礼品、编辑和印刷“道方图说”杂志、出版方图的专业书籍、参加专业领域的论坛或展会、赞助专业领域内的协会活动、周年庆典或公开日活动等方面进行支出，每年会在年初做好初步的预算。
“方图从成立之初就有非常清晰的市场定位。” 何俊律师说。
作为一家知识产权领域的精品律所，在客户方面，方图一直践行的是大客户战略，以各个不同行业内龙头企业为目标客户。在业务特色方面，方图一直专注于知识产权维权诉讼领域的疑难复杂案件。方图形成了“调查+诉讼（高判赔）+执行”的产品闭环特色，帮助客户深层次治理侵权；在服务特点上，方图注重以团队协作的方式及时响应客户的需求、穷尽所有合法路径力求解决客户的需求，以及提供极致的细节体验超出客户的需求。
何俊律师说：“方图所采取的市场手段主要是案件口碑传播以及培训讲课。打造超出客户预期的优秀案例，解决客户的深度需求，是方图目前主要的市场手段。”
“此外，方图也会在一些协会举办的讲座、在方图公开课、方图有约等活动上进行经验分享，这也是吸引目标客户的一种有效市场手段。”何律师补充道。
随着法律服务市场的发展和竞争的日益加剧，市场上的积极参与者都会增加市场部门的投入，上海正策律师事务所也不例外。正策执行主任陆虹屹律师告诉ALB，律所的市场投入占全年营收的1%-2%，并有逐年上升之势。
“正策的市场定位及市场推广与事务所的宗旨息息相关。” 陆虹屹律师说。
正策秉持“专业主义为本，客户价值优先”的理念，不断强化其在长三角地区高端商事法律服务的水准。
事务所目前的境内分所主要集中在长三角，这里有着丰富的商业样本，各种行业、形态和规模的市场主体，它们都是正策服务的对象。而长三角地区得天独厚的商业活力和经济关系紧密联动，使得该地区拥有了浑然天成的商业文化。
此外，“正策的律师们踏实稳健，勤劳务实，对待专业精益求精，对待服务一丝不苟。在树立品牌形象，向市场展现自我的时候讲求诚信，注重品质。因此正策进行市场推广的时候多结合专业，凸显专业能力并迎合市场需求，为客户提供挑选和检验法律服务的机会。” 陆虹屹律师说。
例如，事务所会在自媒体平台持续发布案例分析、新法解读和热点关注，从内容上体现专业性，也会参与行业媒体的专业沙龙以增加曝光度，便于被更多潜在客户“看到”。
提升品牌美誉度
天衡、方图和正策也都是较早关注打造律所品牌的律师事务所。
林楚雄律师说，在打造律所品牌方面，天衡有多项长期坚持的实践。“其中一项举措是率先在本地区设立以律所品牌建设为核心目标的专业市场部门。该部门长期组织、推动律师在各个业务领域展开研究、发表专业成果和公开授课，大大提升了事务所的品牌知晓度、认可度、美誉度。相比较各种具体做法，率先就律所品牌建设设置专业部门和专业队伍，是天衡在打造律所品牌方面行之有效的最佳实践。”
而方图则在品牌方面构建了一个立体的运营架构。
何俊律师介绍道，首先，方图在事务所的核心硬件——办公室建筑方面打造了与众不同的风格，包含了LOFT工业风加敦煌壁画、木刻对联、园林等元素，形成独有的方图建筑文化。
其次，方图以原创公众号“道方图说”文章输出的方式，吸引了很多律师同行、法官、法务对于律所的关注和认可，逐渐让行业内外对方图的业务能力有了比价高的认知程度。每年方图还会精选多篇高阅读量的文章，编辑印刷成精美的“道方图说”杂志，寄送给客户。
再者是自2016年以来，每年不间断举行“方图有约”线下沙龙，与律师同行，或者与企业法务在轻松的环境下讨论知识产权的维权难题，让大家互相交流经验和教训，从而得到知识、友情、美食等各方面的收获。
最后，为了更加凸显方图FUNTO有趣的文化特点，设计形成“方小图”的猫形象周边衍生品牌，并在此基础上设计了如杯子、手机支架、毛巾、行李牌、抱枕、剪纸、帆布拎袋、冰箱贴、床头灯、表情包等“方小图”礼品。由于形象呆萌可爱，这些礼品受到客户和同行圈的一致喜爱。
“正策的品牌建设、专业建设和规模建设一向三维一体化互动，在提升品牌影响力、认可度和美誉度上起到叠加增效的作用。同时，事务所各地办公室之间注重品牌共建和专业互动。”
- 陆虹屹，上海正策
在正策律师事务所，陆虹屹律师告诉ALB：“正策的品牌建设、专业建设和规模建设一向三维一体化互动。这在提升品牌影响力、认可度和美誉度上能起到叠加增效的作用。”
例如在事务所律师队伍逐渐壮大的过程中，事务所各地办公室之间注重品牌共建和专业互动。座落于江阴知识产权园区的正策江阴分所是以知识产权业务见长的特色分所。2021年，正策江阴所承办了扬子江知识产权峰会，这是江苏知识产权界的盛会，上海办公室强大的知识产权团队代表与品宣团队也奔赴江阴，参与从论坛筹备到专业分享再到客户维护的全过程。上海与江阴办公室紧密配合，发挥各自特长，成功通过峰会获得参会同行和客户的认可，提高了正策品牌在江苏法律服务市场的美誉度。
再例如上海办公室的银行与金融团队是由资深律师组成的成熟团队，该团队由于优质服务获得沪上全数消费金融牌照持有商的认可，后结合专业输出在知名业内媒体曝光，该团队的客户迅速覆盖全华东地区。
“总之以专业能力为基石，以客户需求为目标，在法律服务和市场推广中坚持职业操守和专业品格，就会获得更多客户的更多好评。”陆虹屹律师说。
个性化营销手段
市场策略之外，各家律所也分享了他们的个性化宣传心得。
在福建，天衡通过每年的客户开放日、专题沙龙、面向企业的培训讲座、协会活动、论文和专著，在市场上保持极高的活跃度。值得一提的是，天衡每年在年会上举办的“青年说”演讲比赛，不限主题，邀请客户和社会评委，丰富了天衡形象，提升了客户体验，获得了本地法律媒体“2022年度律所优秀品牌案例文化品牌影响力大奖”。
除了线下营销，天衡也积极布局线上宣传。
“天衡持续在新媒体特别是微信公众号上加强投入和建设，原创文章数量和质量在福建地区律所新媒体一直居于前列。” 林楚雄律师说。
“过去三年，因应疫情形势，天衡加强了线上宣传建设，除天衡官网及时新闻推送、公众号文章发布外，还将律师讲座、内部培训通过微信视频号、线上直播等方式进行分享和扩散。今年，天衡还将建设统一的线上庭审与直播间，便于律师执业与专业展示、传播。” 林律师说。
“方图所采取的个性化律所营销手段，主要是将营销与品牌推广进行有效结合。很多客户往往是关注了‘道方图说’公号对方图产生兴趣，之后参加‘方图有约’活动后形成长期的合作关系。”
- 何俊，广东方图
何俊律师指出，方图所采取的个性化律所营销手段，主要是将营销与品牌推广进行有效结合，让营销以润物细无声的方式进入客户的视野范围。从线上线下结合来看，很多客户往往是关注了“道方图说”公号对方图产生好奇和兴趣，之后在参加“方图有约”活动后大家成为很好的朋友，并形成长期的合作关系。
陆虹屹律师则告诉ALB，正策目前的线上推广平台主要有官方网站，微信公众号“正策法观”及同名微信视频号。
“事务所并没有过多开发宣传矩阵，但始终注重内容和呈现的质感。在做市场推广时，正策注重社会影响的覆盖面与正向性。”陆虹屹律师说。
2021年夏天，正策联合百度律临栏目连续两个月开展公益法律专业直播，对线上网友的法律问题给出免费但专业的解答，收效甚佳。
展望2023年，林楚雄律师说，天衡希望更有针对性地开展活动，加大争议解决、资本市场与证券、破产重整、知识产权、劳动与人力资源等专业领域的推广，持续获得重要客户的认可；同时继续重点关注企业合规、数据信息安全和新能源等领域的研究与服务推广。今年将更多参与各专业评级机构的评级活动，争取有更多天衡律师与专业获得市场认可，提升在市场的知名度。
对于方图而言，2022年尾律所迎来新的合伙人团队。因此2023年主要推广目标在于实现对现有客户的深度开发，以及依托新合伙人的涉外服务能力，拓展涉外知识产权服务市场。
谈及下一步的市场计划，陆虹屹律师则指出，近年来正策的市场布局紧扣专业布局和全国战略，事务所使用推广手段时以珍惜品牌专业形象，严格品质管理和彰显服务价值为根本，宁缺毋滥。
“2023年，我们将丰富市场营销方式，但仍然严格把控平台筛选和内容选择。与此同时，事务所品牌建设与律所专业建设深度互动，将品牌影响力逐步推向全国。” 陆律师展望道。
SPREADING THE WORD
Chinese law firms have entered a new era of personalized marketing by building on digital marketing that accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic curbs. They now coordinate online and offline marketing activities to come up with the best approach.
In recent years, the growing regional law firms have strengthened their market input. While trying traditional marketing strategies, they are also actively thinking about novel methods to better tell their own stories and personalities.
"One of our initiatives is to establish a marketing department for law firm brand building in the local area. This department has It enhanced the law firm's brand awareness, recognition, and reputation.”
- Lin Chuxiong, Tenet & Partners
Lin Chuxiong, Tenet & Partners’ executive director, tells ALB that the law firm pays close attention to marketing. The annual marketing budget is about 0.3 to 0.5 percent of annual revenue, with a higher proportion in certain years. Overall, marketing investment has increased annually.
Tenet & Partners is positioned as a large-scale high-end commercial law firm located in China’s eastern coastal area. Over the past two decades, it ranked first in terms of its comprehensive strength and business income in Fujian. While it strives to maintain the advantages of its headquarters in Xiamen, the firm is actively developing its Fuzhou office as a branch. The firm’s main clients include state-owned enterprise groups, large private enterprises, and government agencies, and it is doing its best to attract more.
“In terms of business, Tenet & Partners keeps focusing on traditional areas such as dispute resolution as well as mergers and acquisitions. We also develop corresponding legal service products based on market trends, policy guidance and economic structural adjustments,” says Lin.
For example, when the real estate industry was rapidly developing in the mid-1990s, Tenet & Partners launched one-stop legal services for real estate industry.
After the State Council proposed the "streamlining administration and delegating power" reform, the firm immediately organized research and provided legal services to help optimize the business environment.
Tenet & Partners was also among the first batch of law firms in China to apply party regulations to compliance construction in state-owned enterprises and has produced specialized publications on the topic.
When the digital economy emerged, Tenet & Partners’ launched a series of research articles on compliance issues in digital economy operations.
On the service end, Tenet & Partners is mobilizing resources to meet client's needs based on its integrated management team.
“In the future, Tenet & Partners will take measures to enhance informatization and digitalization as well as improve work efficiency to maintain its competitive advantage. We will also moderately increase investment to strengthen the promotion of the law firm's brand, expertise, and lawyers. This helps the market and clients to make more accurate choices," says Lin.
Down in the economic hub of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Funto Law Firm’s marketing campaign covers traditional media to video and private gatherings.
"Funto's marketing expenses account for about 7 to 10 percent of the law firm's revenue, and it has been increasing year by year recently," says He Jun, managing partner.
He explains that Funto publishes articles, updates the website, shoots videos, and hosts salons every year.
The law firm also customizes peripheral gifts, prints magazines and professional books, participates in forums and exhibitions, as well as hosts anniversary celebrations and other events. The law firm will prepare a preliminary budget at the beginning of each year for these expenses.
"Funto had a very clear market positioning since its inception," says He.
As a boutique intellectual property firm located in the small city of Foshan, Funto has always implemented its strategy to serve big clients, targeting leading enterprises in different industries. Funto focuses on IPR protection and litigation cases. It has developed its characteristic of "investigation + litigation + execution," which helps clients address infringement comprehensively. In addition, Funto responds to client needs timely through team cooperation by using all legal methods.
"Funto’s main marketing methods are word-of-mouth promotion through outstanding cases and offering training lectures. It is Funto’s main way to create excellent cases that exceed clients’ expectations," says He.
"In addition, Funto also shares its experience at lectures held by associations, Funto open classes, Funto salons, and other events. This is also an effective way to attract target clients," He adds.
With the development of the legal services market and increasing competition, law firms are increasing their investment in marketing, and Shanghai-based Joint-Win Partners is no exception.
Lu Hongyi, Joint-Win’s executive director, tells ALB that the firm's marketing expenses account for 1 to 2 percent of its annual revenue, and it has been increasing year by year.
"The market positioning and promotion are closely related to the firm's purpose," says Lu.
Joint-Win Partners adheres to the principle of "professionalism oriented, client value first" and continuously strengthens its high-end commercial legal services in the Yangtze River Delta region.
The firm's domestic branches are all within the YRD region, which has a rich variety of companies, and various industries, and size and scale. All of them are its target clients. The unique commercial vitality of the region constitutes a great advantage of the firm.
Meanwhile, “Joint-Win Partners’ lawyers are pragmatic, diligent, and dedicated to excellence in their profession. In building the brand image, they value integrity and quality. Our firm always highlights our capabilities and caters to market demands when it conducts marketing promotions. We aim to give clients opportunities to select legal services," says Lu.
For example, Joint-Win Partners keeps publishing case analyses, interpretations of new laws and regulations, and hot-topic discussions on online platforms. It also participates in industry media's professional salons to increase exposure.
Building brands
Tenet & Partners, Funto and Joint-Win Partners are among the first generation of firms paying attention to building their brands.
"One of these initiatives is to establish a marketing department for law firm brand building in the local area,” Lin of Tenet & Partners says.
“This department has been promoting professional lawyers to conduct research, publish professional articles, and deliver public lectures in various business fields. It enhances the law firm's brand awareness, recognition, and reputation. Compared with other specific practices, it is the most effective practice for Tenet & Partners to establish a professional department and team for the law firm brand,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Funto has built a comprehensive operational structure for its brand.
He says that Funto has created a unique office style with distinctive architectural features. It incorporates elements such as LOFT industrial style, Dunhuang murals, woodcarving couplets, and gardens, among other touches. They are emblematic of Funto’s culture.
Funto also attracted the recognition of lawyers, judges, and legal professionals through its original articles on its WeChat account, Dao Fang Tu Shuo. This brings industry recognition to Funto’s business capabilities. Each year, Funto also selects highly read online articles it published and prints them in a magazine as gift for clients.
Since 2016, Funto held the Funto Salon offline event each year, where lawyers and corporate legal professionals can discuss IPR protection topics. They share experiences and lessons, meet friends, and enjoy food.
In addition, Funto highlights its firm culture by creating a brand featuring the Fang Xiao Tu cat image. Based on this brand, Funto has designed various products such as cups, phone holders, towels, luggage tags, pillows, paper cuttings, canvas tote bags, fridge magnets, bedside lamps, and emoticons. Due to the image of the cat, these products are popular among clients and colleagues in the industry.
“Joint-Win Partners has always integrated the brand building, professional development, and scale expansion of the law firm. Its offices in different cities also focus on jointly building the brand.”
- Lu Hongyi, Joint-Win
In Shanghai, Joint-Win Partners has always integrated the brand building, professional development, and scale expansion of the law firm, which can have a multiplier effect on enhancing the firm's brand influence, recognition, and reputation, shares Lu.
As the firm's lawyer team is growing, its offices in different cities focus on jointly building the brand. Lu shares a story. Joint-Win Partners has a strong IP team in its Shanghai office, while its Jiangyin branch, located in the Jiangyin IP Industrial Park, also focuses on the IP business.
In 2021, Joint-Win’s Jiangyin office hosted the Yangtze River Intellectual Property Summit, and lawyers and the marketing team focused on the IP sectors in Shanghai all went to Jiangyin and was involved in the entire process from forum preparation to knowledge sharing and client maintenance. The Shanghai and Jiangyin offices worked closely, leveraging their respective strengths.
"We earn more positive reviews from clients by building up professional capabilities and meeting client’s needs, while maintaining professional ethics and standards in the industry," Lu summarizes.
Personalized marketing methods
In addition to existing marketing strategies, law firms also share with ALB their personalized promotion experience.
For example, Tenet & Partners remains active with its annual open days, salons, training seminars for corporate clients, associations, as well as legal paper and book publishment. Worth mentioning is the Youth Talks speech contest held at the firm's annual meeting.
With a variety of topics, it enhances Tenet & Partners’ image and improves the client experience. It also won the Legal Vision 2022 Law Firm Outstanding Branding Case Award.
In addition to offline marketing, Tenet & Partners also actively expanding its online presence. "We continue to invest in new media platforms, especially for our WeChat public accounts. The firm's original articles have consistently ranked among the top by quantity and quality in the Fujian legal industry," says Lin.
"Over the past three years, Tenet & Partners strengthened its online promotion efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from news updates on our website and WeChat account, we also share lawyer lectures and internal training through WeChat video channel and online streaming. We plan to launch a streaming platform this year to show how our lawyers work to help clients,” says Lin.
“Funto combines marketing with brand promotion. Many clients often become interested in Funto after following our WeChat account, then became our partners in activities hosted by Funto.”
- He Jun, Funto Law Firm
He points out that Funto combines marketing with brand promotion. Many clients often become interested in Funto after following the Dao Fang Tu Shuo WeChat account. Then, they meet new friends and partners in activities hosted by Funto.
As for Joint-Win Partners, its existing online promotion platforms include its website, WeChat account Zheng Ce Fa Guan as well as a WeChat video channel sharing the same name.
"We do not focus on the quantity of promotion, rather, we keep an eye on the quality of content. Joint-Win Partners always look for the right target to cover," says Lu.
For example, in the summer of 2021, Joint-Win Partners partnered with Baidu Lvlin to conduct live broadcasts for two consecutive months to provide legal services to online users for free, which achieved remarkable success.
Looking ahead to 2023, Lin hopes Tenet & Partners will initiate more activities and increase promotion in areas such as dispute resolution, capital markets and securities, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property, and human resources. Meanwhile, the firm needs to continue to focus on research and promotion in fields such as corporate compliance, data security, and new energy. Tenet & Partners will also participate in more professional rating agency activities this year to gain more recognition from the market and enhance its visibility.
Funto welcomed new partners at the end of 2022. Therefore, the main promotion goal in 2023 is to explore more business opportunities with existing clients as well as expand the foreign-related intellectual property service market based on the new partners’ foreign-related service capabilities.
In recent years, Joint-Win Partners' marketing strategy closely followed its business layout and strategy. The firm cherishes its professional image and strictly manages the service quality when it conducts brand promotion.
"In 2023, we will enrich our marketing methods, but still pay attention to the platform and content. In addition, the firm will synergize brand building and professional development to improve brand awareness across the whole country," says Lu.
