Lawyers have a hard time telling the difference. They’re so ingrained in seeing commercials that have no inherent value, except putting a company’s name into the ether, that when they decide they want to create a video, they say “I want what you’ve got.” The only problem is that what they have been seeing is the brand of an image or a company.

This is what I mean. When you see a commercial for McDonald’s, the commercial doesn’t say, come to our restaurant at 52 Main Street and have a happy meal. Rather, it talks about the company in general. When Nike puts out an ad for a new sneaker, they don’t say, “Pick up your new sneakers at our megastore in Times Square in Manhattan. They just want you to know about their new sneaker.

When Apple comes out with its shiny new thing every few months, they don’t tell you in the commercial that you can get yours today at their Manhasset store on Northern Boulevard. So what is the difference?

Branding is simply putting a general message on the airwaves (or cable) without having any way to track ad results. Nike has no way of tracking how many of its customers buy its new shoes because of the commercial. Same with McDonalds and even Apple. These companies intentionally create messages to generate ‘brand awareness’, to be seen and recognized.

However, every marketing professional will tell you that advertising without having a way to track your return on investment is a very poor choice and ultimately a waste of money. That’s true. However, these big companies have enough money to advertise that they don’t seem to care that they can’t track the results of every ad.

Lawyers, however, should not be branding. Lawyers need to laser focus on marketing. The difference? Marketing allows you to keep track of each and every message you send through any medium; TV, radio, graphic advertising, billboards, online, etc. For those of you who follow marketing guru Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer, you know that they both tell you to track your ROI (return on investment) to find out what works and what doesn’t. Otherwise, you are simply wasting your time and money.

I don’t know of any lawyer or law firm that is willing to waste either of those two resources.

Marketing creates an educational message and has a call to action where you tell your viewer (or reader) what to do next. The brand never does that.

What type of media is the ‘best’ for marketing your message? As much as I love using video, you know there is no single ‘best’ method. In fact, you should be using so many different types of media to market your trackable message. With that being said, I truly believe that using video is the best way to communicate with someone you have never met and who is looking for an attorney with your experience.

Branding is paying money to put your law firm’s name on a road, without your phone number. That accomplishes little. Marketing shows the world your expertise and gives people a way to get in touch with you. Allows you to see if the ad is working. Lawyers should be marketing, not branding.