5 Tips for Maximizing Your Time at the 2019 LMA Annual Conference in Atlanta

Headed to the Legal Marketing Association’s Annual Conference in Atlanta? Us too!

It’s going to be a whirlwind three days of brilliant talks, networking, and hearing about the latest tech and trends in legal marketing.

There’s going to be so much to learn—from new business development strategies to developments in marketing technology—and so many colleagues to meet.

Whether this is your first time attending or you’re an experienced veteran, here are 5 tips to help you have a peach of a time in Atlanta:

1. Plan for success

It’s never easy to step away from a busy law firm (we know, we used to work In-House). You can make the most of your time away from the firm by planning ahead. We suggest writing down a list of the top five things you hope to achieve.

First, you might consider topics that you’d like to learn about. Anything in the Conference Agenda look especially interesting? Start highlighting!

If your team is considering a big project, such as a new website or implementing a CRM system, now is your chance to talk to leading experts in these areas. (You’ll find many of them in the Exhibit Hall).

With a plan in place, you’ll be ready to make this conference a “win”.

2. Give back to the community

Legal marketing is full of compassionate people who want to make a difference. For the first time at the annual conference, attendees will have a chance to participate in LMA Cares, a new charitable giving initiative. This year, we will be delivering school supplies to Atlanta’s Kids in Need program.

Want to contribute? It’s going to be easy and fun. All you need to do is swing by fSquared Marketing’s booth (#209 in the Exhibitor Hall) to pick up your LMA Cares bag. Then, visit participating vendors to collect donations. The bag and all its contents will be donated to Kids in Need.

While you’re at our booth, you can learn about research we are conducting into mental wellness in legal marketing. If you think this topic deserves attention, you can get involved by taking this survey.

3. Talk to the experts

Marketing is only getting more complex, tech-focused, and data-driven. There are more tools available, more platforms, more globalized competition. The best way to get ahead is to stay curious and keep asking questions.

The good news is that LMA Annual brings together specialists from just about every discipline. Now is your chance to pick their brains and glean valuable insights to drive your firm’s growth in 2019 and beyond.

You can expect top-notch presentations—these are a great way to learn about big, new developments. If your firm has a website (and we’re betting it does), be sure to check out a talk from our CEO Lynn Foley about Web Accessibility and why this needs to be a priority for your firm.

While the talks are a great way to understand the broad picture, if you have a burning question or a project on the horizon, nothing beats seeking out a specific expert for a one-on-one chat. Many of the vendors at LMA Annual have spent years thinking deeply about the problems that law firms face. If you have a question, chances are there is a vendor with an answer in the Exhibit Hall. You might be surprised how much good advice you pick up in a five-minute conversation.

There are many vendors who specialize in a single facet of legal marketing: CRMs, directories, graphic design, etc. These vendors are definitely worth speaking to if you have a particular problem that needs solving.

In legal marketing everything is connected—content to lead generation, advertising to brand awareness—it’s all part of the marketer’s playbook. And your firm’s website is at the heart of nearly everything. We take a holistic approach to growing law firms, providing a full suite of solutions: consulting, award-winning design, and attorney training programs—all under one roof. If you’re planning a project that’s going to involve both strategy and design, swing by booth #209 for a brainstorming session.

4. Take insights home with you

Spending three days learning from the industry’s leading experts is going to be extremely valuable. With over 150+ speakers, it’s also going to be impossible to catch every talk. Luckily, you can take the most important information back with you. LMA records the presentations and makes these videos available after the conference. This will allow you to re-watch your favorites. You’ll also be able to watch any presentations you missed.

Vendors will also be distributing whitepapers in the Exhibit Hall. For our part, we’ll be giving away copies of the 2019 Legal Marketing Trends. To create the Trends, we reached out to a select group of experts for their thoughts on the year’s biggest developments. Pick up your copy at booth #209. If you prefer to read it now, you can get the Trends right here.

Information in hand, you’ll be able to return to work with new tactics at your fingertips.

5. Follow up and stay connected

You’ll be meeting smart, talented people from all around the world, sharing ideas, war stories, and plans for the future. At the conference, everyone will be exchanging business cards so best bring a thick stack. It’s also a good idea to make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date.

LMA is an exceptional networking opportunity and one that doesn’t have to end with your return flight. Everyone is going to be active on social media before the conference and there will be a flurry of tweets using #LMA19 during the event. You can make a splash by sharing your thoughts on social media while the conference is underway. Even a simple retweet or a shared picture can get your profile out there to the community.

Post-conference, you might consider writing a blog post describing your favorite talks. And don’t forget to connect with all the interesting people and firms you met through LinkedIn. If you had the good fortune to meet anyone especially interesting, consider sending them an email or even a hand-written note. This is a surefire way to impress.

By staying connected, you can keep the conversation going and keep building those valuable relationships.

If you’re going to be down in Atlanta, we’d be thrilled to connect.

There will be four of us from fSquared Marketing in attendance:

We each have our own area of expertise and together we’re able to discuss everything from high-level strategic planning to the specifics of website design.

Swing by fSquared Marketing’s booth #209 for a chat, we love talking with marketers about interesting projects.

We look forward to seeing you down at LMA 2019!