Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog

Laurie Lee Swoboda is providing a two-part guest blog appearance about Co-Op marketing campaigns. Read part two.

Cooperative Marketing (aka Co-Op Marketing) more specifically, Co-Op Marketing for Attorneys is a relatively unknown form of marketing, defined as a sharing arrangement in which law firms pool their resources and brand as one unit. These resources include their industry specialties, their physical time, their finances and other suitable collateral. Co-Op Marketing is a cost-effective technique for a group of firms to reach an entire community or niche market. This technique can assist smaller firms to acquire a significant market share of any niche market.

Co-Op Marketing for Attorneys includes six components: targeting a well-defined niche community, a marketing campaign that targets that niche community, identifying a group of legal firms that complement the niche, branding the Co-Op to identify with that niche, developing systems in which the progress of the Co-Op can be tracked, and creating a pre-determined monthly advertising budget based on the group’s financial resources.

I approach Co-Op Marketing for Attorneys from the standpoint of community enlightenment or a socially responsible marketing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_marketing) perspective.

Successful marketing in this day and age takes root by aiding a community, whether you are Johnson & Johnson targeting expectant mothers with their “Text4Baby Tips” text marketing campaign or a group of bankruptcy attorneys targeting victims of predatory lending through Co-Op Marketing. Reaching your target audience through a marketing campaign of support and useful advice devised to serve that community will ensure that your Co-Op efforts are successful. A win for that community and a win for the Co-Op.

A Co-Op Marketing campaign for attorneys advertising budget may include: internet marketing, print advertising, radio and/or television to direct mail. It should include speaking engagements, community events, newsletters, video, email campaigns, free eBooks and webinars. It must connect with the community (niche) through social sharing networks and community forums.

In case you're thinking your law firm is unable to take advantage of co-op marketing, you may want to reconsider. Co-op Marketing for Attorneys in this manner solidifies the Co-Op's brand, promotes good faith among the community, and as a result, the Co-Op will continue to retain clients and effortlessly strengthen the community they serve.

Have you attempted or completed a Co-Op advertising campaign? I would love to hear your experiences!

Author Bio: Laurie Lee Swoboda is a strategic, multi-talented internet marketing guru & web designer with an eye for marketing perfection. Even though her skill set is vast, she continues with her education to this day. While her primary expertise is developing groundbreaking marketing campaigns, she is a social media architect, brand identity guru, content creation wizard, blogger extraordinaire, business development fanatic and web design solution enthusiast. Read more at http://laurieknowsmarketing.com/.