The Analytical Legal Marketer - An Interview With William McLaughlin

My latest guest on the Marketing Tales Show joined me all the way from Bangkok, Thailand. In 2009, this Pennsylvania native withered away in a cubicle in the capital building in Harrisburg, PA, working "the most boring job you'd ever hope to have" and thought to himself: "I need to get out of the U.S.," packed his bags, hopped on a plane to Southeast Asia, traveled the region, and ultimately settled in The Big Mango because of its rural and likewise metropolitan appeal.Meet William McLaughlin, Markets Manager at KPMG Law, Asia Pacific, and Managing Member of BD Roundtable, a platform for legal marketers to come together, find resources bounce ideas off each other either virtually or in person. William initially worked for a research department at a local university but then ended up falling into a job at Baker McKenzie, an international law firm headquartered in Chi-town, with offices located in Bangkok.He got that job through a connection he made with a kid years prior at a summer camp in Pennsylvania, who just so happened to be the exiting BD Rep at Baker McKenzie, who was kind enough to put William's CV in front of the hiring manager. "A week later, I was doing a Chambers submission," he recalls. He liked the gig so much that he stayed on for over three years, learning everything he could about legal marketing through research and building connections with other legal marketers.He particularly enjoys legal marketing because every day is different, and the skills he developed so far are transferable to any industry. "One day, I'm planning a big conference, another day I'm editing the website, another day I'm training lawyers on how to do business development, so it keeps you on your toes, it keeps you busy," William says. He's particularly fond of the tech side of marketing and figuring out the visitor's journey by analyzing analytics. Analytics, according to William, forms the backbone of an effective legal marketing strategy. He stresses the importance of understanding user interactions with the website, identifying well-performing content, and optimizing for better engagement. Personalization emerged as a key theme, with William advocating for more authentic imagery and content that resonates with the clientele.One of the things he noticed website visitors do when they read an article on a page is navigate to the lawyer's profile who authored it. That led him to move the lawyer profile more front and center and made them more engaging by simply adding a video with the lawyer giving a brief introduction about themselves. If you'd like to learn more about his journey and insights, don't miss out on this episode of the Marketing Tales show.And if you're ready to dive into the fascinating world of legal marketing analytics, feel free to connect with William on LinkedIn or check out the BD Roundtable page. Until next time. ✌️#marketing #podcast #marketingtalesshow