3 Ways to Make Your Firm More Visible
Elizabeth Harr
Managing Partner at Hinge, Brand Strategy and Growth Expert for Professional Services Firms | Author and Self-Publisher of Children's Books
Apart from the market leaders and a handful of niche luminaries, most professional services firms aren’t well known in their universe of potential clients. When we ask firms and their clients how visible they are in the marketplace, the results are pretty dismal—less than 15% are considered “highly visible.”
Low visibility creates a challenge for firms that want to thrive. While generating additional work from existing clients can be relatively easy, creating a dependable flow of new clients can be more challenging. There are a variety of reasons for this. You might experience some or all of the following at your firm:
Ineffective marketing
Over-reliance on referrals
Over-reliance on in-person networking
A seller-doer business model that restricts business development time
Lack of a well-known industry expert
Poor business development materials
A website that doesn’t communicate the firm’s sophistication
A single signature service overshadowing other services
Lack of differentiation
A sea of competitors
The list above is by no means exhaustive. Firms have found endless ways to minimize their visibility. But this list does hint at some solutions. So let’s consider three of the best ways to boost your firm’s visibility.
3 Ways to Make Your Firm More Visible
There are no quick fixes that will suddenly expose your business to large new audiences. You can, however, start laying the foundation for a more prominent firm today. Let’s explore three of the most effective ways to start building visibility.
Turn your experts into thought leaders. Your experts are your most valuable marketing resource. And most firms woefully undervalue them in this respect. When you create a firm of Visible Experts®, you create a direct channel for buyers to experience your expertise firsthand. Encourage your experts to write blog posts, speak at events, and present webinars on topics your audience cares about. In fact, firm leadership should go further and actively support and incentivize these activities. Often, individual experts can reach more new people more easily than a “faceless” firm, so each one multiplies your visibility. This builds trust, elevates your firm’s reputation and establishes a reliable source of new business opportunities.
Be a good partner. When it comes to building your audience, you don’t have to go it alone. Collaborating with a non-competing organization or trade association gives you access to their audience—and a tacit endorsement. You can collaborate in a variety of ways. Mutually beneficial activities like co-hosting webinars, conducting joint research, or cross-promoting content can significantly expand your reach and deliver a reliable flow of new business opportunities. You can also sponsor a partner’s events and exhibit or speak at trade shows and conferences.
Build a website that sucks… in a ton of new prospects. Your website is the first place a prospect goes to size you up, so it must inspire confidence. It’s got to both look great and differentiate you. An important way a site kindles trust is by showcasing your expertise. But it can be so much more than a credibility builder. It can attract and nurture new audiences, too. A proven way to attract new visitors is to regularly publish expert educational content on a blog. Some firms also have a library of more in-depth thought leadership content. By incorporating modern SEO and AI search techniques, you can help people researching business problems with tools like Google, ChatGPT and Copilot to discover your expert writing and videos. Over time, they begin to see you as an authority on the problems you solve. Eventually, when they need to hire a firm, you are the first one that comes to mind. And don’t worry. This strategy still works, even in a world where clicks from Google are in decline.
These strategies aren't just discrete items on a to-do list. They're a powerful, interconnected system for solving the visibility puzzle. Your newly minted thought leaders can co-present webinars with your strategic partners, and all that amazing content can live on your powerhouse website, attracting new prospects while you sleep. Stop letting your competitors get all the attention. It's time to start building a firm that’s impossible to ignore.
Happy marketing!
Liz
P.S. — Need help with your visibility? Hinge’s Visible Expert and Visible Firm programs are designed to raise your business to new heights of prominence.