Whether in articles or at industry conferences, legal technology analysis primarily hones in on topics like e-discovery, automation and everyone's favorite shock topic, cybersecurity. Often overlooked, however, is the role that technology can play in marketing legal services.

But law firms, in fact, are focusing on marketing as an arena ripe for technology use. A joint Bloomberg Law and Legal Marketing Association report has found that among marketing areas in which law firms of all sizes were planning spending increases in the next two years, technology led the pack (66 percent).

Titled “Aligning Marketing and Business Development Resources for Law Firm Growth,” the report analyzed the results of a survey of 167 marketing and business development professionals. Over half had a “primary role” that “spanned both marketing/communications and business development,” while two-thirds were the “most senior” law firm professionals in business/marketing development.