I was lucky enough to spend my Friday afternoon attending the “Ask Us Anything - CMBDO Panel” which was led by Stefanie Marrone, an entrepreneur and a powerhouse in the NYC social media marketing world for professional service firms. Throughout this panel, Kevin Iredell (CMO Lowenstein Sandler), Jessica Grayson (CBDO Phillips Nizer), Trish Lilley (CMBDO Stroock), and Michelle Martinez Reyes (Chief Relations Officer Kelley Kronenberg), answered top questions on industry trends, hiring and retention, career development, and marketing priorities.

I recently joined the Passle team here in the U.S. and am new to the legal marketing world. For me, it was fascinating to hear what their marketing and business development priorities have been over the past 12 months given the pandemic. The adjustments that have had to be made were eye-opening. To quote Stephanie, to be successful both during and after a pandemic, “Be flexible and keep pivoting!”

It’s been our experience here at Passle that law firms are divided into two groups, those who earn the fees (lawyers) and those that enable them to earn the fees (business development, marketing, communications, knowledge management etc). It was great to hear the insights from these leading CMOs in what has been a challenging time for all of us.

(If you want to watch for yourself, the webinar video recording is above) Here are a few of my key takeaways from the webinar:

• Never has creativity and resilience been more crucial. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box but do so strategically and with good judgment. Kevin Iredell explained that once they came up with a creative idea (video series, podcast series, etc.), he would predict the metrics and the return of investment before even deciding to execute.  And then he would measure the success and communicate that with leadership.
• Digital transformation is happening.  Lawyers' expert presence online through thought leadership is more important than ever. Jessica Grayson mentioned that this was their key marketing strategy in 2021 at Phillips Nizer - and it was a successful one at that.
• Authenticity is key! Kevin Iredell’s firm, Lowenstein Sandler, takes a personal approach to their online presence and their social media by highlighting their attorneys in a genuine and authentic manner.  

In conclusion, this panel was a great way to hear about industry insights from the marketing perspective through an open forum. I will absolutely continue to attend these webinars to further my knowledge.  Thanks, Stefanie for organizing!