Business development: cutting through the virtual noise

• Understand clients’ favourability towards your firm.
• Use insights to pick tactics that cut through competitors’ ‘noise’.

The last 16 months have cemented the trend towards virtual business development and marketing across the legal industry. Lockdown led to convergence on digital channels, creating a significant amount of ‘noise’ as firms focused on similar tactics in light of reduced routes to market. Events, seminars, and roundtables have all been undertaken exclusively on Zoom or similar for many months. Though it now seems likely that some in-person events could return later this year, a significant share of marketing and business development activity will likely remain virtual in the short term. The conundrum may therefore persist: how to cut through the noise to reach target clients when everyone is using near-identical approaches?

Understanding client favourability

Many will have reflected on this issue during lockdown in light of imperatives to drive brand recognition, boost reputation, develop