12 Questions to Ask When Considering a Marketing Investment
 

12 Questions to Ask When Considering a Marketing Investment

By James Stapleton
December 22, 2025 | 5-minute read
Business Development Event Management Infographic
Business of Law
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Law firms will receive many more marketing and business development investment opportunities than they can possibly exercise. We see every conceivable form of marketing investment imaginable; every speaking opportunity, event, sponsorship, panel, speech, directory, award, listing, organization, article and presentation. You name it, and we’ve seen it. And almost all of it is “pay to play.”

Every prudent marketer must sift through the range of attractive (and not-so-attractive) opportunities, cull the lower-priority options and maximize their budget efficiency by committing to those with the greatest return-on-investment (ROI) potential.

More often than not, we are presented with potential marketing investments from well-meaning attorneys or overzealous salespeople — in other words, people with an all-too-easily discernible agenda. In an effort to sift through the tidal wave of opportunities, consider this list of parameters to judge ROI potential and exclude low-return opportunities.

12 Questions To Ask When Considering a Marketing Investment 1. How much interest does the partner have in this investment? This is the single most important question. If the partner is passionate about the activity, answer the rest of the questions. If the partner says, “It’s not right for me, but for someone else…” Then do not invest. 2. How much value is there? Potential ROI must be significant, because the value payload drives the decision. 3. Is it a target-rich environment? Identify your audience. Is the anticipated audience mostly decision-makers? If so, are they financial buyers or user buyers? Financial buyers can commit to the relationship and sign the contract. User buyers can be influential but cannot initiate the relationship. 4. What is the opportunity to make contacts and build relationships? The purpose of marketing investment is to ignite relationships. Relationships drive opportunities, which drive revenue. 5. Can we repurpose the investment to develop content? You must be able to exhibit your expertise to your potential target market. Thought leadership drives marketing value. 6. How much interest and emotion is there surrounding the event? How hot is the topic? The opportunity has to focus on a hot topic of immediate interest to stakeholders. If the topic is bland, meaningless, outdated or inapplicable to stakeholders, then you can’t get behind it. 7. How much is your competition involved? The degree to which your competition is involved in an event or organization is inversely proportional to your interest in the event. One exception: if your firm can outshine the others. E.g., if it is a three-day event, and there are 20 firms involved, every firm gets to present once, but your firm presents three times. 8. Are we able to use the tool or activity? If it is exciting and meets the other criteria, but is just a “round peg in a square hole,” then you just can’t use it. 9. Will it benefit the firm, or will it benefit the partner? For some partners, this is the first question to ask. Some firms will support partner-specific investments fully; others will contribute a percentage of the investment, depending on the answers to the other questions. 10. Do you have sufficient lead time to market the investment? If the event starts in a few weeks, turn it down. You want a minimum of 60 days’ lead for an event; for larger events, a year. 11. What is the actual cost and time required? What is the price? Is any part of it open-ended? How much time is required of the attorneys, particularly the partners? Are there any hidden costs, either time or money? 12. Is this a unique opportunity, or is it a case of FOMO (fear of missing out)? Attorneys are often drawn to opportunities they’ve seen succeed with other firms. But by then, the effect is watered down. Case in point: years ago, Ernst & Young created a successful contest, the “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards program. Arthur Andersen followed suit with the “Global Best Practices” awards. When PwC considered an awards program, the market was already saturated.

James Stapleton

James Stapleton has held chief marketing and business development roles at Am Law 100 firms Littler, Fenwick & West and Blank Rome, and Am Law 200 firm Dickinson Wright. He was the global director of marketing for technology, infocomm and entertainment and media at PwC, and was their U.S. director of field marketing. He was also the global director of knowledge management for the TICE practice at PwC and has a degree in finance from Santa Clara University.

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