Flo Recruit recently hosted a webinar panel of law firm marketing and recruiting experts to discuss recruitment marketing to today's top talent. We compiled advice from the panelists and audience submissions into a takeaway list! Check it out below, following context on the webinar event.
The Expert Panel
With top law students and lateral talent inundated with information from various firms and headhunters, it's crucial for firms to stand out and attract candidates who are the best long-term fits. Given that many marketing departments primarily focus on client projects, this poses additional challenges for recruiting teams with limited resources.
Our panel discussion centered on strategies for collaboration between marketing and recruiting to effectively attract top talent through an authentic, unique brand message and multiple marketing channels.
The panel featured:
- Lauren Mas, Brand & Communications Senior Manager, Global Attorney Recruiting, Latham & Watkins
- Ren Wagner, Director of Internal Communications, Vinson & Elkins
- Elizabeth Greiner, Freelance Marketer & Former BigLaw Recruiter
- Hannah Kelly, Director of Product Marketing, Flo Recruit (Moderator)
With a live audience of over 100 law firm recruiting and marketing professionals, we invited attendees to share their top marketing ideas and strategies that have enhanced their recruitment efforts. Our panelists also revealed their own success stories.
We’re excited to share the curated list of recommendations that emerged from our discussion!
Takeaway Tip List: Recruitment Marketing
- Conduct an internal survey or individual interviews about your law firm’s core values, culture, and unique identity to refresh your brand story.
- Avoid leaning on universal descriptors, like “lifestyle firm,” in your brand messaging, as they don’t add differentiation.
- Inform firm leaders about your recruitment marketing projects and goals to gain support from those who can encourage broad participation. Focus on the highest level influencers first.
- Lean into new lateral partners and associates, as they may have fresh ideas and be excited to participate in recruitment marketing.
- Give public recognition and thanks (even holiday thank-you gifts) to attorneys who participate heavily in recruiting marketing to ensure their contributions are celebrated.
- Educate the firm on the brand story and messaging that you create, like with an internal training series, so that the message is cohesive among attorneys networking with and interviewing candidates.
- Bring your firm’s unique brand message into organic content, like summer associate “day in the life” videos or articles, for maximum engagement. Storytelling and authenticity are key.
- Focus on digital! In today’s interconnected world, recruitment marketing must be primarily conducted online to effectively reach international candidates. The vast majority of job seekers are utilizing a digital platform.
- Create educational social media posts that allow students to get a deeper understanding into the work as well as the people at our firm. Our panelists recommend Linkedin and Instagram.
- Invest in video content for maximum engagement. User-generated content is the lowest lift and brings authenticity.
- Have recruiters and others utilize their personal LinkedIn profiles to share and post. Often, personal accounts get more engagement than official firm accounts.
- Market specific offices/regions through more personalized content with attorneys and staff in those areas.
- To expand summer program awareness in new regions, focus on one school relationship at a time.
- Offer law student recruiting events that give concrete value to attendees, like interview tips or resume workshops.
- Consider developing brand awareness with pre-law students through programs like Forage virtual internships.
- Lean on summer associates as brand ambassadors at their schools. Hire 1Ls to maximize impact, so students can spread the word to rising-2L classmates early.
- Upgrade your firm's brand presence on Forward, where 15,000+ top law students research firms, register for recruiting events, apply to jobs and interview.
- Share firm news/victories/deals both internally and externally. Wins serve as relevant content for clients and candidates.
- Host a dedicated meeting for search firm partners to update headhunters on your brand messaging and differentiators, to help get the right information to lateral talent.
- Don’t forget to market your referral program internally, like sharing bonus amounts and making it easy for attorneys to submit referrals.
- Take advantage of generative AI platforms like ChatGPT to help with brainstorming, content creation, and research.
In Conclusion
If you’re in the foundations phase, consider these strategies to build awareness and lay a strong groundwork for your recruitment marketing. Once you have the basics covered, you can elevate your game with expert tips that will help refine your approach and take your recruitment marketing to the next level!
Stay tuned for more recruitment marketing advice from Flo Recruit Forward.