In recent years, marketing has begun to claim a more prominent and influential voice within UK law firms. It is no longer confined to the margins as merely the 'colouring-in department' or relegated to that reductive label: the 'support function'. Instead, it is gradually acknowledged as a critical driver of strategic direction and firm-wide growth.
Yet, despite this shift in perception, the 2025 Professional Services Marketing Survey from the Law Firm Marketing Club paints a more complex picture. The journey from operational backstop to strategic partner has been anything but linear. Progress, while evident, has been uneven, characterised by sporadic gains rather than sustained transformation.
How involved is Marketing in strategic planning?
Looking specifically at 2025:
- 18% of marketers report driving strategic planning
- 67% contribute in some capacity
- 12% are not involved at all!
This data suggests that while most firms value marketing's input, few have gone as far as positioning marketing as a strategic leader. In fact, the proportion of marketers leading strategy has dipped slightly from 23% in 2024 to 18% this year. The rise in contributors may reflect a more inclusive atmosphere overall, but the drop in leadership signals a need for more deliberate action.
To better understand the present, we must reflect on the past. In 2020, 22% of marketers were driving strategy, and 72% contributed. This peaked in 2022, when 28% of respondents led strategic efforts.
Since then, the number of marketers driving strategy has declined, while non-involvement has crept back into double digits, after hitting a low of 6% in 2020. This flattening of progress raises questions about firms' long-term commitment to Marketing’s involvement in leadership.
Law firm size shapes marketing’s strategic role
Firm size plays a defining role in shaping marketing’s influence. Smaller firms, especially those with revenues under £1 million, are most likely to involve marketers at the strategic level. In these firms, 27% of marketers lead planning efforts, and only 9% are excluded. This stands in stark contrast to firms with over £50 million in revenue, where no marketers lead strategy, and 9% remain excluded.
This disparity stems from several factors. Smaller firms tend to be more agile, with flatter hierarchies that naturally allow marketing to align more closely with leadership. Marketers in these environments are often ‘nearer’ to decision-makers, enabling integrated contributions across client experience, branding, and growth planning. In smaller firms, marketing isn’t just promotional, it is central to identifying opportunities, refining service delivery and shaping positioning.
Firms in the £10 million to £20 million bracket offer a more balanced view. Here, 25% of marketers drive strategy, 75% contribute, and none are excluded. This shows that mid-sized firms can achieve high engagement, although consistency remains challenging across the segment.
Meanwhile, the £3 million to £6 million segment reveals the highest exclusion rate: 33% of marketers are not involved in strategy. This may reflect growing pains, where firms are scaling up and centralising decision-making, often sidelining marketing during structural changes.
In larger firms, complex governance and legacy structures create barriers. Strategy tends to be owned by a small group of senior partners, and marketing roles may be fragmented across brand, digital, client development and PR. This limits marketing’s strategic visibility and reinforces its perception as an executor rather than a contributor. Even when marketers are consulted, their input often arrives late in the planning cycle.
Cultural inertia also ‘possibly’ plays a role. Long-established firms may still view marketing as existing as ‘support’ regardless of a team’s internal expertise or commercial savvy. This mindset takes time to shift, and progress can easily stall without clear directives from leadership.
Marketing team inclusion in strategic conversations ought to be structural, not situational
The survey data underscores a critical reality: inclusion is not yet the norm. Marketing has earned a seat at the table in many firms, but it remains an advisory seat in too many cases. This limits the strategic potential of the firm. Strategy without marketing insight risks being disconnected from clients, markets, and opportunities for differentiation.
Why? Well, I’m going to make a punchy statement.
We marketers understand the client picture holistically better than anyone else. From managing CRM platforms to overseeing brand and digital engagement, we understand how firms are perceived and how clients interact with services. It’s all there in the data. Strategic positioning, a cornerstone of competitive success, is fundamentally a marketing function. Marketing professionals are also often ahead in digital innovation, client experience, and content strategy. Therefore, for law firms to evolve, marketing must be at the heart of strategic decision-making. This begins with including senior marketing leaders in firm-wide strategic committees as equals. Their presence should be a given, not a request.
Leadership teams must also redefine what it means for marketing to drive strategy. This is not about dominating every initiative but ensuring marketing’s insight helps shape direction from the start. Commercial awareness, client data, and brand expertise should influence key decisions, not merely validate them.
The last five years have shown that progress is possible. More marketers are contributing to strategic planning than before. But the decline in those leading strategy, from the high point in 2022 to 2025, shows that this progress is fragile. Without sustained commitment, firms risk reverting to outdated models.
If law firms are serious about standing out, staying relevant, and genuinely putting clients at the centre of what they do, then marketing can’t be treated as an afterthought. It needs to be part of the conversation from the very beginning. The firms making the most considerable strides aren’t just the ones with the loudest campaigns; they’re the ones where marketing has a voice in shaping direction, identifying growth opportunities, and guiding client experience from the inside out.
Strategic planning without marketing’s perspective risks missing the mark on what clients really value. Marketing brings clarity, commercial insight, and a deep understanding of how to differentiate in a crowded market. If firms want to move forward with purpose, then it’s time to move marketing forward too, right into the heart of strategic decision-making.
To get more insight from the 2025 Professional Services Marketing Survey from the Law Firm Marketing Club, contact me on LinkedIn or email sophia@lawfirmmarketingclub.com; I’d love to chat and find out how I can help your law firm do better marketing.