There are many ways to respond when someone asks the age-old DC question, “What do you do?” However, what you should never do is reply with the dreaded “just” phrase.
“When you say, ‘I’m just marketing’... talk about shooting yourself in the foot,” says Nicole Steckman, marketing manager at Bryan Cave’s DC Office.
Instead, you should be ready to respond with a “personal headline” describing how you make your lawyers’ lives easier and create value for the firm. The ultimate goal is to become a trusted advisor to your attorneys and your attorneys’ clients.
Steckman, speaking to the Future Leaders Shared Interest Group on January 26, 2017, shared tips and advice for legal marketers to demonstrate their value internally and externally.
Defining Your Personal Value Proposition
According to Steckman, your personal value proposition does three main things:
- Explains relevancy
- Delivers quantifiable value
- Conveys unique differentiation
Steckman has made it easy to determine your value proposition – just fill in the blanks: “I [verb] [target market/companies] [problem solved].” It is the central message that describes how you create value for those you work with. Your response may vary slightly depending on your audience (your peers versus your internal clients).
Legal marketers who are prepared to sell themselves will be perceived as more than just a cost center by attorneys and more than just the person behind the registration desk at events by firm clients.
Furthermore, legal marketers should underscore their personal headline/elevator pitch by providing specific evidence that demonstrates what they do. For instance, you can quickly describe an interesting project you are working, an article you recently wrote, or an event you participated in.
Communicating Your Value Proposition and Brand
Funneling your personal value proposition through social media, blogs, newsletters, videos, and more will deliver your brand to your peers, your colleagues, and your clients through multiple channels. Chances are you already do much of this, so it’s really about taking the next step to more purposeful personal branding.
Steckman suggests projecting your unique thought leadership by live tweeting events, keeping your team updated on your successes (she says there is nothing wrong with “patting yourself on the back”), and networking at events and within organizations that interest you.
Whatever you do, it must to be authentic to you, Steckman says. Personal branding combines your unique value proposition with your individual communication strategy.
Key Takeaway
We all get on the elevator with a colleague and respond to “How’s it going?” with “It’s going,” or “Just living the dream.” It’s important to seize these opportunities to make an impression by having a personalized sound bite ready to go. Your sound bite can be a recent personal or professional achievement (e.g., election to a board position, running a marathon) or a special project you’re working on at work or at home (e.g., a firm-wide initiative you’re undertaking or a new recipe you’ve been developing).
Throughout the process of developing your unique value proposition, you can maximize your results by focusing on what makes you unique, being authentic, communicating your brand to the right people, and having a sound bite that is revealing and interesting.
By Scott Pacheco, Communications Specialist, Lerch, Early & Brewer, Chtd., for the January/February 2017 issue of Capital Ideas.