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The biggest marketing mistake firms make is waiting too long to get serious about it. But knowing you need to do something is different than knowing what to do. That’s where Erika Steinberg comes in. As founder of CMO2go, she works with firms struggling to decide whether they need a plan or a person, and whether a person should be in-house, fractional or at an agency. We asked her how to choose between all these options.
—Interview by Emily Kelchen, edited by Bianca Prieto
Photo credit: Carolyn Simpson of Doublevision Photographers
What's the moment most firms realize marketing can't be a side project anymore?
Early on in the life of a law firm, partners take on a good deal of the business functions, including leading marketing. Once a firm wants to grow a specific practice, open a new office, or position itself for a certain kind of client, the managing partner doing this on the side stops being sustainable. There's simply too much time required on top of everything else that partner is already carrying.
So what’s the next step?
It's all about the firm’s goals. I've worked with smaller firms that were clear on their priorities and were ready to work with marketing and business development professionals to achieve them, and with larger firms where the managing partner was still sitting in on meetings to review website updates. (Although I’m happy to say that soon stopped.)
Because being too hands-on is bad?
Leading marketing isn’t just approving artwork or copy; it’s also bringing along the other partners and showing why that direction makes sense for the firm or reflects the firm well in the market.
Less day-to-day, more big picture.
Right. Caring about your firm’s marketing is a good thing, but there are unproductive ways to go about it. Engaging in random acts of marketing is not the answer–it may feel like movement but if it’s not rooted in a plan or strategy, it’s really just motion.
Okay, so let’s say a firm decides it’s time to bring someone in to get the partners out of the day-to-day details and craft a larger narrative. Walk me through how that firm should decide between hiring in-house, going fractional or hiring an agency. What questions should firm leaders ask themselves?
I'd start with these questions before looking at a single resume or proposal:
What do we need someone to do? Do we need someone to create a plan or strategy for us, or someone to execute? Or both?
Is this an ongoing need or for a period of time? If the latter, what’s the anticipated time frame?
Do we have the internal capacity to manage and train someone, or do we need someone who can walk in and get to work?
What's our budget?
Agencies are strong at deliverables like websites, campaigns and design work. In-house hires build deep institutional knowledge over time. Fractional leadership gives you senior-level strategy and execution without the cost or the ramp-up time of a full-time hire (spoiler–this is the gap a lot of midsize firms are sitting in).
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When does hiring a fractional marketer make more sense than bringing someone in full-time?
Fractional makes sense when a firm needs senior-level thinking and execution but doesn't have enough volume of work to justify a full-time salary, or when they're covering a gap, whether that's a parental leave, a search for a permanent hire or a specific initiative that needs to get done and done well.
It's a mistake when a firm actually has full-time work but keeps stretching a fractional relationship to avoid making a real hiring decision. Fractional support should bridge you to something, whether that's a permanent hire or a clear long-term plan. If a firm is using fractional as a permanent way to avoid ever building real marketing infrastructure, that's usually a sign something bigger needs to be addressed.
What's the single biggest way partners unintentionally sabotage a new marketing hire or initiative?
Treating marketing as an order-taking function instead of a strategic one.
Partners will bring in a talented marketer and then hand them a to-do list. "Write this alert." "Update this bio." "Make us a brochure." All of that is real work, but if that's all a marketer is asked to do, the firm never gets access to the strategic thinking they're paying for. Instead, partners can talk to the marketing/business development professional about the problem they’d like to solve. The answer may not be a new brochure!
If you’re investing in someone who can do senior-level work, make sure they have the time, access and authority to deliver that for you.
And let’s flip that question around too. If you are a firm leader looking at different marketing proposals, what’s something that sounds impressive but is actually a waste of money?
A visual identity update, without a broader message or strategy behind it.
A new logo, new colors and a cool new website feel like progress because they are visible and exciting, and partners love seeing something tangible. But if there's no clarity underneath it about who the firm is, who the firm is trying to reach or what it's actually trying to accomplish, this can end up being a very expensive coat of paint.
Bonus Round: What’s something currently on your radar that’s shaping how you’re thinking and working right now?
How to grow my business in a way that benefits my team, my clients and my community. I attended a panel discussion recently and heard how companies like Danone, Spare Food, Eileen Fisher and The Walker Group are doing this, and it gave me a lot to consider. I’d like to grow CMO2go and work with more law firms, and do so in a way that allows my team and me to support each other and our communities. The opportunities really are endless!
Raise The Bar’s Take
The firms that handle marketing well aren't the ones spending the most; they're the ones unafraid of looking at the big picture. Decide what you actually need (a strategist, an executor or both) before you hire anyone. Give that person real access to firm leadership instead of a to-do list. And if "fractional" has quietly become your permanent marketing department, that's not a budget-friendly hack; it's a sign you're avoiding a bigger decision about what your firm actually wants to be.
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Raise the Bar is written and curated by Emily Kelchen, edited by Bianca Prieto.
