There’s a perception that chalking up the difference between two companies as “all about marketing” was a knock on the more successful entity. As though consumers just flocked to the bigger brand because they’re stupid lemmings that can’t discern the substantive similarities. Or at least that used to be the perception. Maybe Mad Men radically improved everyone’s appreciation for advertising.

But marketing is more than just advertising. It’s the whole bundle of brand leverage that gets the firm’s name out there, builds relationships, maintains relationships, keeps the firm top-of-mind at all times, and recognizes networking opportunities before they present themselves. When we say high growth firms are doing better because of the marketing, that’s not a knock and it’s not a superficial quality — marketing and business development contribute to the firm’s substantive strategy.

The 2021 LexisNexis InterAction Marketing & Business Development Report for Law Firm and Legal Practices came out this week and the biggest takeaway — besides the understatement of the millennium that COVID was, in fact, a challenge last year — is that the growth gap turns on which firms have robust marketing strategies and which don’t.

The report is filled with insights, but graphs like these kept leaping out:

Look at these disparities. That marketing budget figure is damning. On the one hand, stagnant firms don’t have the resources to spend as much outside of core legal services, but this overlooks advances in relatively affordable CRM solutions out there that can give firms a leg up in client relations without breaking the bank.

Check out the advantages firms are getting merely by investing in the CRM component:

That’s pretty useful data to have and it’s remarkably easy to capture if firms take the plunge.

And it’s important because client retention is an issue and guess which firms it hurts more?

As one might suspect, the higher growth firms are the ones winning competitions. But the extent of the disparity between categories of firms is impressive. Competition is rising all over the place but the firms with more investment in business development don’t perceive it as nearly the threat no-growth firms do.

In any event, check out the full report.

And if you’re wondering where all your clients are going, maybe it’s time to invest in something that, I don’t know, tracks your relationships with them. Just a thought.

2021 LexisNexis InterAction Marketing & Business Development Report for Law Firm and Legal Practices

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.