Lots of lawyers and law firms want to grow their law practice. They might wonder why one lawyer or law firm has grown their practice and they have not. What lots of lawyers and law firms opt to do is try to figure out what the other lawyer or law firm is doing. From a marketing perspective, what is their obvious strategy? What techniques are they employing? The thought then is that they will replicate it as a marketing strategy and experience the same results.

Thie line of thinking of some lawyers and law firms is replication. What works for this other lawyer or law firm must have success for them.

Practically speaking, this is often folly for several reasons. First, what another lawyer or law firm is doing is not always obvious from the surface. In other words, unless this lawyer or law firm is telling you exactly what they are doing down to all the smallest details and the implementation, you likely do not know exactly what they are doing.

So, you might try to replicate (or imitate) what this lawyer or law firm is doing. But the reality is you will likely end up doing it differently in some shape, matter, or form. You might do something different in a big picture sense or it might be different as you get into the small details or the implementation. Thus, complete replication is almost always impossible.

Second, what a lot of lawyers and law firms miss is that the first attorney or law firm to do something almost always obtains the greatest rewards. For example, lawyers and law firms that got into the phone book first, billboards first, or online marketing first often reaped the greatest rewards. But those that came after, even if they had a roughly similar strategy, likely did not come into the market with the freshness of the first one there.

Third, marketing strategies are often about timing. In one time, place, or area of the law, a particular marketing strategy might work great for a lawyer or law firm. But in another time, place and/or area of the law, that marketing strategy might not work with the same results.

In the end, a lawyer or law might be able to pull bits and pieces from what other lawyers and law firms are doing to develop a coherent marketing strategy. But replication is generally not a formula for success.

Instead of trying to replicate or imitate, what can you do differently from a marketing perspective? What can you do what other lawyers and law firms are not doing. This is what most lawyers and law firms should think about exploring.

If you have any thoughts, feel free to share them below.