Absolutely thrilled with Clark Hill’s rankings here! Kudos to my colleagues Alexandra France and Tommy Franz for their excellent leadership and strategic stewardship of our digital presence. And thank you to Guy Alvarez and Good2bSocial for their expert analysis and commitment to our legal community.
About the study: The Social Law Firm Index is an annual study that examines how the top 200 law firms (as ranked by The American Lawyer) adopt and apply digital marketing in terms of outreach, engagement, and business development.
They measure reach, engagement, and marketing performance on platforms, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more.
The Social Law Firm Index analyzes each firm’s presence on the internet and across social media and evaluates their social media usage to extend thought leadership messages. These factors are then reduced to numerical measures, weighted, and incorporated into an algorithm to develop each firm’s rank.
Where we stacked up this year …
Overall: ranked 46 of 200 (up from 93 last year)
LinkedIn: ranked 69 (up from 88 last year)
Twitter: ranked 81 (up from 98 last year)
SEO: ranked 90 (up from 152 last year)
Instagram: first time ranking! 40
Thought leadership: ranked 74 (up from 145 last year)
Facebook: ranked 14 (down from 2 last year … but still incredibly respectable)
YouTube: first time ranking! 64
Podcast: ranked 46 (down from 38 … but also still respectable)
Thank you, Joseph Panetta and Anna Spektor at Expert Webcast for this opportunity to talk about authenticity, branding, marketing (legal or otherwise), and community. This conversation Friday afternoon sent me into the weekend on Cloud 9. Such a joy to be able to share stories with a friend I love and admire. Joseph, you are THE consummate host – prepared, warm, accessible, kind. Such a welcoming environment. Thank you.
“Roy Sexton, Legal Marketing Association President and Clark Hill Law Head of Marketing, gets up close and personal on our CMO Toe-to-Toe with Joseph Panetta, sharing his non-traditional start in legal marketing; his very personal approach and process for working with partners and teams; and the background on his epic LMA Annual keynote address.”
Shout outs during the show include: Alycia Sutor, Brenda Meller 🥧, Inforum, Alexandra France, Kate Harry Shipham, David Ackert, Athena Dion, Laura Gassner Otting, Rob Kates, Jennifer Weigand, Lisa M. Kamen, Danielle Gorash Holland, Megan McKeon, Susie Sexton, Don Sexton, Jonathan Fitzgarrald, Mary Ann Hastings, Holly Amatangelo, Jennifer Dezso, Lee Watts, Kaitlin Heininger, Edna Duncan, Clark Hill Law, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor, Legal Marketing Association – LMA International, Managing Partners’ Forum, Wabash College, The Ohio State University, Deloitte, University of Michigan-Flint, UM-Flint School of Management, glittering #unicorns, Lady Gaga, The Flash, the movie Michael, Oprah Winfrey, George Orwell, Andy Warhol, Kurt Vonnegut, Madonna, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Stephen Sondheim, Barbie, Florida, DEI, LGBTQIA, The Birdcage, Jack LaLane, BornThisWay, Hudson, dogs, branding, authenticity, marketing, legal marketing.
Thank you, Madelyne Lawry and Ingham County Bar Association, for sharing this. Alexandra France and I were/are so grateful for the opportunity. ✨ And thank you, Charley Lawler, for suggesting this!
“With the rise of social media, knowing how to use it can be a vitally important tool. We had two experts from Clark Hill, Roy Sexton and Alexandra France, give an excellent presentation on its use and how to create a lasting presence on social platforms.”
Oh my goodness! Thank you, Guy Alvarez and Good2bSocial, for this lovely shout out to what we at Clark Hill Law are doing on Facebook. Kudos to my colleagues Alexandra France, Tommy Franz, and Guinevere Lehman Anderson for their leadership here and to our larger team and firm community for the beautiful content they help provide!
“Clark Hill understands that a strong visual presence is becoming more essential on Facebook than it once was. They find new and exciting ways to add visuals to their posts, whether it is a podcast sound bite with accompanying visuals or a professionally shot video. Clark Hill also uses Facebook as a place to share thought-leadership content and start conversations on topics important to their firm. They often share links to articles, rather than simply only advertising their successes.”
Here are screen grabs of the published summary of the various awards together with comments from the judging panel.
The judges noted (page 15) that “Clark Hill was a clear winner in this category, with its Simply Smarter rebrand and market engagement campaign standing head and shoulders above the rest. This campaign showed clear strategic understanding and deployment of brand as the identity and DNA of the firm’s people”.
Thank you, Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor, Lauren Budhu, Kim Kelly, Julaine DeMink LeDuc, and team. This means the world to me. Proud to support this incredible mission ❤️. #KeepingFamiliesClose
“Roy Sexton has been on the RMHC Ann Arbor board since September 2017 and has served as a liaison to the executive committee and as marketing committee chair.
“His niece Gabby as an infant had a series of asthma-related health problems, and the RMHC Detroit House was there for her mom at an incredibly challenging time. ‘I can’t imagine what life must have been like for them during those early challenging days when Lori stayed at the House – and it always pains me that I wasn’t yet around to show my support,’ Roy said. ‘When I project forward, I think about those families now under similar circumstances, and it motivates me to do whatever I can to spread the word on RMHCAA’s incredible work, to drive revenue to support our mission, and to show our fantastic staff the love and respect they richly deserve.’
“Every December for his birthday, he does a Facebook fundraiser and five years later, it’s going strong. Last year, he raised over $4,000, and this year to celebrate year five, the goal was $5,000. ‘I am so heartened by all the stories I receive from friends who were impacted by RMHC around the country, experiences I never knew they had had, all positive.’ Learn more: https://rmhcannarbor.org/ #KeepingFamiliesClose #BoardSpotlight”
Thank you, Madelyne Lawry and Charley Lawler and Ingham County Bar Association! Alex France and I had an absolute ball presenting today! #lmamkt
Event description: “Clark Hill marketing pros Roy Sexton and Alexandra France will share their professional and personal perspective on how to authentically connect with others and maximize the power of social and digital media. This landscape is ever-evolving and over the past 18 months using these channels to connect with clients, prospects, and colleagues has become more important than ever. They will share their own victories (and horror stories) in this space, and offer tips on how to efficiently and effectively establish a lasting digital presence.”
Join me and guests Heather and Jay Harrington, founders of Harrington Communications, as we discuss the importance of thought leadership and PR in legal marketing, marrying smart design with good content, and what it took to start their own agency that has turned top professional services firms into titans of industry.
Jay and Heather also have fascinating interests that include Heather’s spectacular art career – Life and Whim – and Jay’s books and publications. We are looking forward to picking the brains of this outstanding duo, and we know it’s a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Roy Sexton ’95 has been appointed as treasurer of the 2021 Legal Marketing Association – LMA International (LMA) Board of Directors. LMA represents thousands of legal marketing and business development professionals in 48 U.S. states and 24 countries.
“Being on the LMA Board of Directors is the apex of one’s volunteer leadership within the Legal Marketing Association and is significant in advancing the legal marketing profession as a whole,” LMA Executive Director Danielle Holland said in a news release.
Sexton, director of marketing at Clark Hill Law, has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, business development and strategic planning.
He has been heavily involved in the LMA as a regional and international leader and has served on numerous nonprofit boards and committees including the Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, Royal Starr Arts Institute, EncoreMichigan.com.
“I am honored to serve on the 2021 LMA Board of Directors, and I look forward to the opportunity to help guide the association’s important work,” Sexton said in the release. “LMA will continue to provide outstanding programming and opportunities for professional development and networking to our members and advocate for our profession, locally, regionally and internationally.”
While at Wabash College, Sexton majored in English and theater and was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha and involved with the Wabash Theater, the Bachelor and Student Senate.
Sexton’s LMA appointment became effective January 1, 2021.
Our Clark Hill marketing and business development team has been on quite the journey over the last couple of years. It has been a great growth opportunity and one of the more enriching work experiences of my life. Out of the blue, REDSTARKIM LIMITED Managing Director Kim Tasso wrote about our work, based on a webinar we did six months ago! A lovely surprise!
Grateful for our exceptional and supportive leader Susan Ahern and for wonderful and inventive colleagues Megan McKeon , Guinevere Lehman Anderson , Emilie Strozier McCarthy , Shayna McCloskey , Tommy Franz , Dani Carter , Alexandra France , Gloria Pak , Elizabeth C. Jeffries , Stacey Marie , Maureen Denney , Keith Hobbs , Katelynn Schwalm , Alé Simmons , Amy Oldiges , Kimberly Reisman , Leslie Smithson.
From the blog entry’s intro: “In September, the international senior marketing and business development team at Clark Hill presented a webinar for the Professional Marketing Forum. The topic was ‘Clark Hill redesigns its marketing and BD team’. The work to re-imagine its marketing and business development (M&BD) team won Clark Hill the Best Marketing Initiative Award at the 2020 Managing Partners’ Forum Management Excellence Awards.”
SAVE THE DATE! February 11, 12:05 pm ET. Brenda Meller of Meller Marketing and I return to thunderdome! We will discuss what it means to be a superfan and how that can benefit your networking, branding, and marketing efforts. Celebrate, advocate, reciprocate.
