SURVEY

A deep dive on the impact of COVID-19 in the legal marketing industry

In May 2020, KHS People conducted the survey "Legal Marketing Peer Check in: how are you doing" for legal marketing professionals. The purpose was to see how things were going for our industry at that point in time.

In October 2020, we conducted a follow up survey, which covers topics requested by you. It is a COVID-specific survey and does a deep dive on four areas:

1. The response by your firm to COVID
2. Salary and other employment-related changes as a result of COVID
3. Working from home options your firms are making available
4. Your overall health as it relates to your current working hours and circumstances

Marketers responded with candid insights, sentiments, and feedback. The demographics of the respondents included marketers from all firm sizes, marketers of all levels, and marketers across all the US.

Below is the story that was told. 

The response by firms to Covid

• ​​Firms have done well by their marketers. 90% of respondents said they were happy with how their firm responded: 51% said they were “mostly happy” and 39% said they were “very happy”. 

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• Firms have been supportive of their marketers. 88% of respondents said they felt supported when asked how supportive their firm had been of them balancing their professional and personal lives while working from home: 34% felt “mostly supported” and 54% felt “very supported”.

• Positive sentiments. The most common sentiments shared by respondents about how their firm had dealt with or reacted to Covid were:​ ​

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​- Dedicated and frequent communication

- Speed of virtual set-up

- Personal safety

- Empathy

- Limited layoffs for many

- Strong support for parents

- Flexibility



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Marketers are being effective, despite seeing fewer dollars

A lot more work is being done

• Input of hours. 47% of marketers are working between 5-15 more hours each week

• What work is being done? A​long with ‘protecting our base’ as being a key priority, a focus on pursuing new business and new market share was re-emerging: 
  • 57% strategic pursuits & new business
  • 57% RFPs / proposals
    

These activities were previously not a core focus. Ten months into the pandemic, firms are now re-focusing on their longer-term goals and pursuits.

The dollars are tight. 
Being effective with fewer dollars is 'the Covid way'. 

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• Individual salary reductions. 39% of respondents have had a salary reduction since the start of Covid. 33% said their marketing teams have experienced bonus freezes.

• Marketing budget cuts. 46% of respondents shared that their firms had opted out of sponsorships. 34% said that all in-person events had of course been opted out of. (Some had pivoted to virtual events, and some of the bigger costs associated with hosting an in-person event had been saved instead.)


• Discretionary spending cuts. 23% shared that all non-essential travel for both business and client meetings had been cut. 11% cut costs relating to conferences, retreats and firm dinners. 9% said entertainment costs were cut. 8% said all advertising was cut. 5% said membership renewals were halted.​

• Limited new marketers to alleviate the workload. 49% of teams have had hiring freezes. 

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• ​The new normal poses a burnout risk to the industry. 47% of respondents said that they were experiencing feelings of burn out. Another 30% said they are feeling "somewhat" burnt out, but they have more to give. That is, 77% of marketers - almost 3 in 4 - are either at, or approaching, burn out.

Solutions for our industry

Respondents shared that 49% of their marketing teams had experienced salary freezes this year. Another 33% said their team had experienced bonus freezes. A further 28% reported promotion freezes. These were the tried-and-true methods of reward for our marketers pre-Covid. During Covid (and perhaps post-Covid), team leaders must find new ways to keep their marketers and their marketing teams high-functioning, despite having to do more, with fewer people and fewer dollars. 

Consider these solutions for temporary relief during Covid:

• Give permission for a break. Your team needs your acknowledgement and permission to use their PTO or to take mental health days. Without this express endorsement, they are unlikely to take days off because of fear of being judged negatively if they do.

• Lead by example. If team leaders are working around the clock, not looking after their physical and mental health, and not respecting boundaries whilst working from home, the team doesn't feel empowered to do the same. 

• What is your plan for alleviating your team now (and in 2021)? An open dialogue helps just about any situation. Team leaders should communicate their knowledge and understanding about this issue to their team, and - together - suggest solutions. Individual marketers may very likely have different 'fixes' for the current workload issues; it will be different for everyone. 

• Reallocate the work. Marketers don't typically shy away from the opportunity to upskill. Speak to each member of your team about their true capacity and work hours to make decisions about any reallocation.

• Be professionally vulnerable. Encourage your team to share with you about what is going on for them and what they may need as a result of their own personal circumstances. To read more on this, visit our recent blog where CMO's share on this very issue.

• Seek other perspectives. If team members are at a loss on how to solve this issue, seek the support and perspective of industry peers. Simply sharing and listening how others have dealt with similar issues is a powerful thing. New ideas and solutions will start to unfold as you learn from others.

Working from home options

Most marketers reported that their firms are still undecided on return-to-work policies. This sentiment is in keeping with the overwhelming positive response that firms have shown to their entire staff in responding to safety issues amidst the global pandemic. 

Post-Covid projections

​27% of marketers reported that their firms will allow their professional staff - including marketing and BD professionals - the option to work from home post-Covid.

We will continue to monitor this as flexibility and a remote work environment have forced a huge change upon the legal professional in 2020. For further discussion on working from home, read more in our May survey which elaborates on the data received on this issue.

Thank you

To all of the respondents who took some time out of their busy day to provide their input, thank you. It has allowed for truly meaningful results.  

Contact us to dive deeper into these issues, or to give us your take on this issues; we love to listen. 

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This Covid-specific survey showed us how the legal marketing industry navigated the challenges of 2020. We can learn from these findings, and team leaders can preempt some of these issues for 2021. 
 
- Kate Harry Shipham