It’s no secret that content marketing has become a priority for marketing professionals across a variety of different industries in recent years, and the results speak for themselves. According to a report from Demand Metric, content marketing costs 62 percent less than traditional marketing and generates three times as many leads.
Law firms especially can benefit from an effective content marketing strategy. Legal counsel will always be in high demand and prospective clients value any content from lawyers before ultimately selecting one. The key is auditing your content to decipher what’s most valuable.
Auditing Your Content
All law firms have content readily available to be shared with their target audience, even those that have never officially put a content marketing strategy into practice. Of course, a well-published blog and social media channels are sources of content, but even if you have neither of those, chances are you have attorney bios, a story of how your firm originated or a list of core values for your firm. These are all examples of content that we compile during the audit step of our SAME process. It’s a proven process we use that’s results-driven and unique for every firm. It starts with your strategy, and then the real fun begins with the audit.
Once you’ve gathered all the available content for your firm, you’ll want to create a system for organizing and scheduling it, while also documenting your specific measurable goals and objectives for content marketing. While it can be tempting to jump straight into the deep end of the content marketing pool with plans to publish high-quality videos, long-form blog posts, whitepapers and daily social media posts, bigger doesn’t always mean better. In fact, keeping it simple is one of the best ways to establish a plan that will work for your firm.
Content Strategy Drives Better Thought Leadership
As all legal marketers know, attorneys are the face of any law firm and the primary source for generating new leads and clients. Hiring an attorney is a serious decision that requires a lot of thought. It’s not as simple as deciding on a meal at a new restaurant. For prospective clients, this is someone who will be guiding them during what could be one of the most important moments of their life. Trust and a strong relationship are essential aspects of the attorney-client relationship, which is why thought leadership will be a key component to your content marketing strategy.
What began as a buzzword that was often thrown around in public relations and marketing circles has grown into a real tool that can be used to build business and personal brands, particularly for attorneys. Through the process of elevating their thought leadership, your attorneys will become the go-to people in their industry. Think Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. These men obviously had brilliant ideas, but by establishing themselves as thought leaders, they were able to turn Microsoft and Apple into two of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. We’re not saying that if your lawyers become thought leaders, your firm will rival Microsoft and Apple in terms of success. However, the concept remains the same. Thought leadership driven by strategic content marketing will create the gravitational force you need to inevitably gain more clients. Just by being a practicing lawyer, with a history of helping clients achieve their goals, they are already on the path to becoming a thought leader. Like a dash of Tony Chachere’s seasoning on a delicious meal, relevant content is what takes it to the next level.
Content marketing efforts are wasted by your firm if you aren’t reaching and engaging with your target audience. Learn more about our SAME 4-step strategic process where we develop a unique strategy for your firm to gain real results.
Click HereBringing it All Together
As a legal marketer, your goal is to guide your attorneys through the content marketing process which shows them exactly how to get to that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, thought leadership. Elevating thought leadership is a process, but it starts with great content. Your target audience craves content. Demand Metric’s report stated that 60 percent of people are inspired to seek out a product after reading content about it, while 70 percent would rather learn about a company through articles rather than an advertisement. Blogs, social media posts (particularly LinkedIn) and live videos are just a few of the examples of content that your attorneys can and should be sharing.
It’s important to remember that this doesn’t mean publishing content just to do it. There needs to be a reason, which is what the strategy portion of our SAME process provides. You want your attorneys to understand their clients, the questions they are asking and how they get information in order to make a decision on which law firm to select. Talking through your strategy with your team, and specifically showing them the importance of sharing valuable content, will provide a better idea of the types of content to share.
