Legal Marketing Consulting for the Business-Savvy Attorney | Knapp Marketing
Where solid business strategy and smart marketing ideas converge.

Amy Knapp

amy@knappmarketing.com
Amy Knapp is a business development and marketing consultant with over 20 years of experience in the professional services sector. She has served as a senior marketing strategist and a communications professional, and is an experienced facilitator and expert in legal services marketing.
Over the past several years, Amy’s projects have included re-branding and business development campaigns for mid-size and Am Law 200 law firms. Her work has included web repositioning, national advertising, firm-wide marketing plan development, practice-group specific business development campaigns, RFPs and proposals. Other projects have included the introduction of E-Z Pass to New Jersey highways and the introduction of high-end food retailer Dean & DeLuca to the D.C. market. Graduating from Westminster College with degrees in Political Science and Writing, she went to work for Daniel J. Edelman, one of the world’s largest PR firms. Amy also directed a consulting firm where she focused on public presentations and community-wide information campaigns, including the first electronic town meetings and served as speechwriter for the President of the National Association of Homebuilders. Amy is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.
Niche Practice Development

Identifying and Defining the Perfect Niche Leads to Nationwide Recognition

Client: Our client left an Am Law 50 firm with a vision: he wanted to combine the sophistication of a large organization with the personalized service of a small firm. From his previous work with large firms he had already established a strong reputation as a litigator in federal investigations, and he had also begun to develop a passion for and a client base in online business, including online gaming.

Need: This attorney wanted to identify a niche practice which would allow him to capitalize on his twin strengths: representing clients both in internet-related businesses and those facing federal government enforcement actions. The niche needed to set the new law firm apart from the crowded competitive marketplace while still giving it room to grow and expand well into the future.

Result: Through competitive and industry analysis and our intensive Needs Assessment process, Knapp identified Online Gaming as a viable niche. Although the choice initially appeared hyper-focused, it proved prescient: over the past eight years both the online gaming industry and this law firm’s clientele have grown exponentially. Knapp supported the client as he became a major thought leader in this area: a frequent speaker at industry conferences and in the mass media, he has also authored numerous articles, and the law firm website now hosts a seminal legal blog on the law pertaining to online gaming. With the expansion of the industry, the law firm’s practice grew to encompass ancillary areas important to online gaming clients: data privacy and cyber security, affiliate advertising and internet marketing, and payment processing. Knapp has further supported the firm’s efforts by helping to create a trade association for leaders in the iGaming industry. Our client has now received national recognition six years in a row in the prestigious Chambers USA rankings for his Gaming practice, and the law firm which began eight years ago with just one person now boasts 12 attorneys and a multimillion dollar practice.

Eye-Catching and Client-Centric: Brand Strategy, Web and Collateral

Client: Our client is a Chicago-based boutique IP firm entirely focused on the industries of food, drugs, beverages, cosmetics and nutraceuticals. Their client base is accustomed to bright, juicy marketing completely unlike the kinds of materials traditionally produced for law firms.

Need: These attorneys needed to stake their claim with a dramatic online presence and eye catching materials to distribute at the many industry conferences where they frequently present. They needed to transform their law firm’s brand into a visually arresting expression of their immersion in and complete comprehension of their clients’ marketplace and challenges.

Result: Taking our cue from the law firm’s mission statement: “Lawyers for the Lifecycle of Food, Dietary Supplement and Cosmetic Products; Brand to Generic Drug Leaders,” we developed a colorful, light-filled law firm website design that echoed the brands of the firms’ key clients, using video and a user-friendly intuitive architecture in order to engage and draw the visitor deeper into the site for more information. The new law firm logo of bold colors flowing together in a cycle which evoked the collaboration of the three named partners and the life cycle of their clients’ products. This visual leitmotif was carried throughout the site and across a range of legal collateral materials including attorney business cards, stationery, individual practice group brochures and HTML email newsletters. One year later, the firm’s founding partner told us that our work helped raise their profile, gets positive reactions from clients, and provides them a strong return on their legal marketing investment.

Customized Marketing Budget Best Practices

Client: An Am Law 200 firm in 10 second cities across the middle of the country had merged three times, resulting in hybrid cultures and processes. Their MBA Chief Marketing Officer, a veteran of the financial industry, sought a comparative study and Needs Analysis to illustrate best practices for Marketing Budget Allocation among the law firm’s true peers and competitors.

Need: We performed a Needs Analysis study that involved interviewing 16 key internal participants in the law firm’s marketing and budget processes; reviewed three years of budget expenditures and information and then did proprietary surveys of four peer law firms, defined as those of similar size, location (not major markets) and in similar practice areas.

Result: Our resulting report provided a clear comparison of our client to (1) four peer/competitors and (2) the full Am Law 200 in the areas below.

  • Law firm marketing budget categories and percentages
  • Staff size, roles, location and reporting relationship
  • Allocation process
  • Marketing plan creation process
  • Timing of marketing planning process

Our specific recommendations for change took into account this law firm’s unique culture and existing processes and are currently being implemented in the new budgeting cycle.

Here’s Why Nobody Is Reading Your COVID-19 Emails

Amy Knapp is quoted by Adrian Dayton, CEO of Clearview Social, in an article published by Forbes Magazine regarding the onslaught of emails sent to clients during the chaos of the COVID-19 crisis. How can business people hit the mark …
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The Power of the Plan: How to Turn Your Lone Rangers in a Strike Force

Amy Knapp presented at LMA’s Orlando and Tampa programs, Feb 12-13, 2019. Her presentation, entitled, “The Power of the Plan: How to Turn Your Lone Rangers in a Strike Force” provides legal marketing and business development directors and staff, particularly those focused on individual practices, …
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Lateral Hiring: Integration Strateges That Drive Success

Amy Knapp presented at the LMA Southeast Region’s Tampa Bay and Orlando meetings. Her presentation focused on how to successfully integrate new laterals and why it is important to implement a structured program in your law firm. This interactive program presents …
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Practice Descriptions that ROCK!

Are you planning to update the content on your firm’s website in 2018? Don’t forget about your practice group descriptions! Start the year off right with tips for sharper and more effective practice descriptions. During the program, you’ll learn how …
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Does Your Website Spark Joy for Your Clients?

In-house counsel are drowning in a sea of content. Learn how Pillsbury decluttered their new site – by creating easy-to-digest web content designed to meet the needs of their time-challenged clients and prospects. Pillsbury listened to their clients — and …
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Best Practices for a Law Firm Social Media Policy

This article originally appeared on ILTA’s (International Legal Technology Association) blog. Every organization in today’s world should have a social media policy, and that includes law firms. Surprisingly, though, not all do. Lawyers and law firms have particular concerns, given bar …
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Stake Your Claim: Creating a Niche Legal Practice

This article, co-authored by Amy Knapp and Tammy Mangan, originally appeared in The Legal Marketing Association (LMA)’s Strategies Magazine. Stake Your Claim Like the business pioneers before them, lawyers can benefit from finding new ground of their own. If you are particularly interested in this issue’s …
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Law Firm Websites: Broken, but Fixable

Corporate law firm websites have come a long way. And as law firm marketers, we’ve shared best practices, tackled branding issues, and made significant progress on the content marketing front. Over on the tech side, we’ve moved away from clunky, …
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On Point Attorney Bios by Cheryl Bame

Studies show that attorney bios are the most-read content on every law firm website. Some surveys say that as much as 80 percent of website traffic goes directly to bio pages. So it makes sense that communicators who are asked to write …
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On-point Attorney Bios for Websites and Beyond

Attorney bios continue to reign as law firms’ most popular webpage destination. Are your bios delivering the information your inquisitive audience seeks? Learn how to write attorney bios that are on point and a good read. Get tips on adapting …
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Focus to Grow: A Winning Practice Strategy for a Digital Age

This article was co-authored by Amy Knapp and Ezra Crawfordand originally appeared on the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management blog. Lawyers often tell us they have limited time to devote to marketing and business development and want to know the most effective way to …
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Five Lessons from a Social Media Survey of In-House Counsel

This article was co-authored by Mary K Young of Zeughauser Group and originally appeared on Bloomberg BNA’s Big Law Business blog. Just before Thanksgiving, Greentarget and Zeughauser Groupreleased their 5th annual State of Digital and Content Marketing report. This year’s survey included responses from 181 in-house counsel (IHC) …
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Lateral Hiring Strategies for Law Firms

The Legal Marketing Association’s Minnesota Group invited Amy Knapp to speak on Lateral Hiring strategies for law firms. Knapp Marketing has assisted numerous firms in the creation and implementation of strategies and plans that help attract top talent and that effectively integrate …
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Lateral Hiring Strategies That Drive Success

The LMA Capital Chapter 2015 programming year kicked off with the presentation of “Lateral Hiring: Integration Strategies That Drive Success.” Amy Knapp of Knapp Marketing and Ezra Crawford of BuckleySandler LLP spoke to a sold out crowd about how to …
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Voice of the Client: Hearing the Client Through the Noise

This article originally appeared in Marketing the Law Firm. Lawyers and law firms are exhorted constantly to listen to the voice of the client! They are told this by the economic engineers who drive the legal profession — General Counsel — on panels, in media interviews …
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