A client was recently referred to us for the most rudimentary communications service: assistance with a press release. After speaking with them, it was clear that they would benefit from focused media outreach around the announcement—pretty standard stuff. But the prospect of reporter interviews raised the need for media training. That process went well and they were happy with the counsel and the media results, so they asked us to help with a branding project. We ended up renaming two of their business entities. This type of evolution from PR to services previously associated with branding, advertising or social media firms is increasingly common, but it presents challenges for both law firms and communications agencies.

As recently as five years ago, most legal communications firms focused on the areas traditionally associated with PR: media relations, crisis communications, promotions and events, and industry-specific services like litigation communications. Today, any agency worth its salt offers a range of services, including content creation and strategy, social media consulting, design and branding, website and video work, among others. This convergence of services offers more options and value to law firms, but it also blurs a lot of long-standing borders.

The growing range of services, and the technologies that enable them, reshape the relationship between law firms and their communications agencies. Although there is tremendous upside in creating bespoke communications strategies using the full range of media services, there's now increased risk for confusion and competing agendas. For law firms and agencies alike, convergence presents the necessity to stretch—to quickly learn and adapt to new tools and strategies, and to reshape their relationships.

At most large firms, communications, marketing and business development are separate functions. While all three groups are related, each requires its own special skills, expertise and connections. Some megafirms have separate teams for internal and external communications. Even at smaller firms these disciplines may fall in distinct categories and, importantly, different budgets.

Within agencies, the challenge is similar. Personnel who previously focused exclusively on media engagement must learn new skills, think more expansively and understand a greater range of technologies than ever before. Creating an effective media strategy now includes an ever-growing variety of services and tools. This is not a bad thing. In fact, it makes our work more varied and interesting, but it also makes it more challenging.

Why? Simply put, there are more cooks in the kitchen. To avoid bumping elbows and making the most of the available technology and services, we recommend these considerations:

Know Who's Driving the Bus

The most important factor in an effective interdisciplinary media strategy is clear leadership on both sides. Decision by committee never works. Someone on each side of the project must have a full grasp of the objectives, and responsibility for outcomes. This can be tough. On the law firm side, if a project is driven by BD, then the BD leader must own the process, even if the PR manager is the principal contact for the agency. On the agency side, if the context is branding or content, those leaders need to take ownership of an engagement that was previously focused on PR.

Rearranging the org chart for a specific project or for the long term can be difficult. People who do their jobs well are naturally invested in the process, the product and the relationships. New objectives and technologies sometimes necessitate shifting responsibility to other departments or personnel with relevant expertise. These are sometimes uncomfortable conversations, internally and externally, but they are essential to success. As services and technologies converge, it's increasingly important that someone on each side of the project knows how all the pieces work, and what they are meant to do.

Set Benchmarks

In the heyday of newspapers, the value of print advertising was mystical. The economic engine that drove the industry for more than a century was fundamentally unquantifiable. Today, almost everything can be counted. Number of clicks, specific viewers, time on site—the (sometimes creepy) wonders of the Internet allow us to know more than ever who is responding to work posted online. Use that.

But before embarking on any media project it's important to know the starting point. Every firm has different media objectives. For some it may be to elevate a new office or specific practice, or boosting SEO. For others, it may be recruiting or attracting laterals. For most it somehow ties back to BD. Using media monitoring tools from the outset helps quantify success. Firms often, and rightly, focus on ROI—how their spend translates to new business. Where that was once intangible, it can now be traced on a granular level. But that requires clear objectives and a baseline.

Be Candid on Cost

The endlessly propagating digital tools that serve this process are not free. Many of them are quite costly. In a relationship that was traditionally focused exclusively on media opportunities, this is an important consideration.

Conversations between agencies and law firms often focus on what can be done, not on how much each function costs. For a relationship to be fruitful over time, it's important to be clear on just how much each new tool costs and how it may affect a retainer budget. No one likes sticker shock, so it's best to have these conversations each time a new tool or service becomes available so that the internal and external team can agree on resource allocation or whether a separate budget is available. One upside of having more cooks in the kitchen is that they may have separate budgets to draw upon when a specific objective or opportunity presents itself.

Avoid Scope Creep

In every major media campaign, the project evolves over time. It's essential for the firm and agency to keep an open line of communication about any changes. If you are remodeling your kitchen and decide halfway through the process that you want to move the refrigerator, a good contractor will provide a change order to show how the choice will affect cost.

It's the same dynamic in complex, multifaceted media work. The process itself may inspire new ideas, or the client's circumstances or objectives may shift. Anytime something affects the scope of a project, it's essential to discuss it immediately. Both sides should put change requests in writing, along with associated costs.

Evaluate Results to Inform Future Decisions

Value is subjective. Every firm has different goals with their media plans, and with more tools and services in the mix, it gets harder to quantify success. It's easy to move on to the next thing when a media campaign or communications project draws to a close, but it's important to spend some time evaluating results and learning from them.

Whenever anything disrupts traditional methods and processes, it's easy to be impressed by the new bells and whistles. Looking back and honestly evaluating their impact is essential. You may find that a fresh approach delivered exceptional results, or that a flashy add-on didn't do much to help the cause.

Whether in-house at a law firm, or at an agency, legal communications work is an increasingly complex job. The convergence of services and technologies creates more potential for market differentiation than ever, but the irony is that the way to make the most of them is old-school: talking to each other more.

A former legal and business journalist, Steven Andersen is vice president for content and client strategy at the international communications firm Infinite Global. He is based in New York.