Starting a business is a complicated process that requires much time and effort, and marketing plays an important role here. It is so because a firm can achieve successful results if it has clearly determined its values, goals, and objectives. Furthermore, the strategy should explain how the company can meet the requirements stipulated above.
When it comes to startups, a useful marketing strategy is even more significant because a young firm needs to consolidate its position in the market from scratch and without any background. It is a challenging task, and not many companies cope with it successfully. However, Farillio is an example of a startup that has managed to benefit from its marketing activity. Thus, the given paper is going to analyze and critique the marketing strategy of Farillio, including its issues, challenges, and opportunities, present company background, and comment on the industry peculiarities.
Company Background
Carillion provides small businesses with legal advice to help them emerge, work, and prosper. Founded in early 2017, the startup has overcome a long way to become a successful business. The company started with Merlie Calvert’s ideas and ambitions to offer assistance to small businesses. Then, she found experts in the fields of business, finance, technology, and law to get proficiency in these areas (Farillio, n.d.b). Furthermore, they decided to focus on four strong values, including empowerment, a personal attitude, togetherness, and the desire to meet future requirements (Farillio, n.d.b). The excellent start was determining the subsequent development of the business.
At the same time, one can say that the firm has achieved success in the spheres above, and a few aspects reflect it. On the one hand, the claim above is proved by an extensive number of services offered by Farillio. According to its official website, the company provides its customers with well-written documents and offers fast and easy collaboration with experts (Farillio, n.d.a). In addition to that, the list of services includes writing a business plan, selecting the right business model, restructuring a business, providing assistance for tax reliefs, and many others.
However, one should note that Farillio is not a law firm on its own because it only connects customers with legal advisers. On the other hand, the given startup has many partners, which is another characteristic feature of effective performance. Thus, they include Yena, TechHub, Stanley Davis, Revolut Business, and others (Farillio, n.d.a). The information above stipulates that Farillio has a rich background and a stable position in the market even though the business is relatively young.
Industry Analysis
Even though Farillio is not a law firm, it is a part of the consulting industry that provides legal advice, and the given section is going to analyze this economic sector. According to Consultancy. UK (2017), “the UK consulting industry grew by nearly 5% last year to an estimated value of £9 billion” (para. 1). While this information refers to the whole industry, legal services represent its essential part. Consequently, this sector also witnesses increased demand and a higher number of customers. Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are the most prestigious firms in the UK, and they account for a significant share of the industry.
In addition to that, the given economic sector is facing a shift that is caused by the overwhelming use of technology in all spheres of life. As a result, many legal professionals tend to incorporate automation, big data, and artificial intellect in their performance to meet the customers’ needs. Consequently, this approach has the potential to make legal processes faster and more effective. This phenomenon is called a lawtech movement, and an increasing number of clients draw attention to the fact of whether legal firms utilize modern technology when choosing among them.
The information above explains why there are numerous startups in the legal sphere. The most famous examples include Lexoo, CrowdJustice, InCloudCounsel, and Farillio (Coleman, 2019). Even though these startups can focus on various aspects of legal practice, their possibilities often overlap, and their shared goal is to provide customers with easy and convenient access to services of this kind. Another characteristic feature of this industry is the presence of relatively high revenues. For example, Coleman (2019) states that Farillio “has raised more than £1.5 million ($1.8 million)” from its investors (para. 23).
Thus, one can say that the UK consulting industry is an evolving economic segment. It is prospering because modern people are influenced by digitalization tendency and try to bring technology into every sphere of their lives. Consequently, numerous lawtech startups appear, and they result in relatively harsh competition in the market. In addition to that, the industry deals with high revenues, which attracts even more individuals with their creative ideas.
Marketing Strategy Explained
The information above stipulates that Farillio is a successful startup that has managed to consolidate its position in the market over a short period of time. The importance of the result above becomes even higher when it appears that the startup operates within a competitive and innovative industry. It means that Farillio has an advantage that has allowed it to make a difference and succeed. Thus, the given section is going to explain that the positive results of the startup under consideration have been possible because of an effective marketing strategy.
To begin with, one should comment on the phenomenon of marketing strategy, its meaning, and its components. The term under consideration refers to a business’s plan of how to operate within the market and achieve the desired goals. Without an effective marketing strategy, a firm is unlikely to develop or succeed.
As a rule, this plan consists of four essential elements, including product, price, place, and promotion. In other words, it relates to what a company produces, how much it costs, where customers can get it, and how customers can find out these offerings. The following information will comment on how Farillio manages to address each of the four components successfully.
Product
It has already been mentioned that Farillio provides small businesses with a wide range of services. The company understands the existing demand for and necessity to insert technology into the law. Consequently, the company’s success in the market is justified by the fact that it meets the customers’ needs, and they appreciate it. In addition to that, product offerings are not a single phenomenon that attracts clients. Another marketing advantage of Farillio relates to the way of how individuals and businesses can access the products. For example, the firm distributes “how-to video tutorials, checklists, infographics, and curated templates” (Coleman, 2019, para. 21).
Furthermore, Farillio’s functions are not only limited to providing valuable materials because the startup also makes sure that its customers have chosen the right template for every specific scenario. It means that the company under analysis offers useful products and hehelpsustomers choose among the existing variants. This information stipulates that Farillio has a solid base to achieve marketing success because it obtains as much as possible from the current marketing opportunity. Since it has the products and services that are in demand among potential clients, the next step is to preserve and strengthen this interest with the help of the following phenomena.
Pricing Strategy
When clients find the required product or service, the decision of whether they purchase it depends on whether it is affordable for them. That is why pricing is another factor that determines the company’s marketing success. In this case, the most significant challenge is to find a balance between obtaining profits and making the price accessible for individuals and businesses. Farillio is considered to have coped with the given task. It refers to the fact that the subscription to Farillio services costs “£18 per month + VAT per month” (Farillio, n.d.c, para. 2).
At the same time, it can reduce to “£16.20 + VAT per month” if a client decides to get an annual subscription (Farillio, n.d.c, para. 2). These prices are attractive for small businesses, which explains the popularity of the startup. Another useful pricing strategy refers to the fact that the company offers a pay-as-you-go basis (Farillio, n.d.c). This marketing approach creates trust and confidence among Farillio’s customers, which also contributes to the stable image of the company.
Place in Marketing Strategy
This component of a marketing strategy is one of the most significant for Farillio. It is so because the startup relies on modern technology to distribute its products and services. Consequently, target consumers are not limited to a specific geographic area, and clients from all over the United Kingdom can reach Farillio and obtain required assistance. The focus on technology has allowed the company to benefit from the existing marketing opportunity and enlarge its coverage sphere significantly. It means that Farillio has invested many efforts in combining legal practice with modern technological advances to overcome all the possible issues.
Promotion
Promotion is the fourth component of a marketing strategy, and it is responsible for how customers discover a company. When it comes to startups, this stage is of importance because new firms do not have a previous rich background, which makes them develop their customer base from scratch. One can even say that the phenomenon under consideration determines how a startup will develop.
As for Farillio, the company is one of the best examples of how a company obtains advantages from the opportunities that are provided by the modern market. It refers to numerous social media networks that unite millions of people from all over the world. That is why Merlie Calvert admits that her startup has a multi-stranded marketing strategy in the sphere of promotion (Nair, 2018). It is possible because Farillio uses Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, email, and its own blog to share information with its followers and find new customers. Even though Farillio is a relatively small team, it cooperates with many companies, which means that the startup has much to distribute.
Another significant element of Farillio’s productive promotion activities relates to the targeting and topicality of the distributed content. That is why the company has posted and shared a high number of articles dedicated to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business. There is no doubt that this topic is the most debated now, and Farillio tries to cover it. As a result, customers see that the startup addresses the current issue and does its best to provide the clients with the necessary assistance. This example means that Farillio can turn a severe challenge into an opportunity to make its marketing strategy even more useful.
Furthermore, it is reasonable to consider a specific example of how promotion works at Farillio. According to Mortiboys-Harrison (2019), “Farillio’s Let’s Get You to Brave campaign was intended to inspire entrepreneurs who have a burning desire to become a business owner, but feel that they lack the experience” (para. 56). This YouTube marketing campaign was aimed at business owners to allow them to actualize their ambitions and achieve their goals. This campaign addressed two essential aspects that need to be explained. On the one hand, the video became a motivation for numerous entrepreneurs to start their own businesses.
On the other hand, the marketing campaign also answered the question of how it was possible to cope with the task. In other words, the video both made individuals develop a robust desire to bring their dreams to reality and indicated that they could use Farillio to achieve successful results. Even though the campaign initially implied “a few minor glitches, which had a knock-on effect on the customer signup process,” the company managed to solve these issues (Mortiboys-Harrison, 2019, para. 61).
Concluding Thoughts
Farillio is a successful startup that has managed to occupy a stable position in the market in three years. The company combines law and modern technology and provides its products and services to small businesses. As a result, entrepreneurs obtain the necessary assistance to create and develop new firms. Farillio operates within the UK consulting industry that shows decent results.
That is why the industry can impress with attractive revenues and relatively high competition, and it mainly refers to a lawtech movement. Consequently, the startup under consideration needs specific tools and strategies to succeed in the market and beat its rivals.
Since Farillio has managed to achieve successful outcomes, it is possible to state that it utilizes an effective marketing strategy that consists of four essential elements. Firstly, the company draws significant attention to its products and services, trying to provide its customers with up-to-date offerings. It means that Farillio has everything for a new business to appear and grow. Secondly, the company is attractive to its clients because it offers a reasonable pricing policyCar’llion’s’s customer base becomes higher because almost every entrepreneur can afford to buy a subscription. Thirdly, the startup understands that modern technologies have penetrated numerous spheres of life and distributes its services online.
That is why individuals from all over the United Kingdom are free to seek assistance from Farillio. Finally, the company under consideration benefits significantly from its promotion activities. It is so because this startup is an active user of numerous social media networks, while individual marketing campaigns also make a difference. Thus, the paper has shown that Farillio, irrespective of its young age, utilizes an effective marketing strategy that contributes to the further development of the company.
References
- Coleman, A. (2019). Four lawtech startups transforming the way the legal sector operates. Forbes. Web.
- Consulta ncy. UK. (2017). UK consulting industry grows by 5% to £9 billion but faces challenges. Web.
- Farillio. (n.d.a). About. Web.
- Farillio. (n.d.b). Our story. Web.
- Farillio. (n.d.c). Pricing. Web.
- Mortiboys-Harrison, P. (2019). The best startup marketing campaigns of 2019. Startups. Web.
- Nair, P. (2018). Farillio: A legal tech startup making the law simple for small business owners. Business Advice. Web.