A quality content strategy is key to beating the competition.
Let’s face it: As a whole, one of the legal industry’s greatest challenges is getting past some damaging stereotypes about attorneys.
Your law firm’s marketing goal?
Stand away and apart from this type of competition. Top attorneys are learning that one of the smartest ways to do this is by building a solid pipeline of quality content that’s both informative and engaging, and leveraging it through your website, social platforms and database.
Why? Because this form of thought leadership actually works. Sharing content on topics that your lawyers know about deeply—and your prospective clients care about deeply—serves to build trust and boost your brand, reputation and authority in your legal niche. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that search engines now reward the best-quality, most relevant content, helping your firm get found on the Web and users to stay on your site longer. (Hint: That usually leads to phone calls. And, ideally, paying cases.)
The problem is lawyers do law, not content, and they often don’t know where to start. In fact, one recent study by American Lawyer Media Legal Intelligence, The Zeughauser Group and Greentarget proved this very point: 84 percent of law firms said they expected to produce more content during the year, but just a quarter of surveyed firms said they had a written content marketing plan, and only 29 percent had a professional managing content development.
So where do law firms start?
Content marketing for lawyers takes a measured approach—but, then again, attorneys are pretty darn good at crossing “T” s and dotting “I”s already. Here are a few ways to gain some momentum in your content marketing efforts:
Gather stakeholders. If team members are too busy to create content internally in a consistent, dedicated way, pinpoint your “experts” on certain topics and outsource your writing to a professional. A content development partner can create original content in a conversational voice for your law firm, interview key stakeholders when necessary and make your content sing—while your attorneys focus on law.
Aim for variety. No one will come back for more if every blog, e-blast or piece of content is the same. Variety is critical and also allows you to test what works best for your audience. Posts can be “newsjacks” (adding your own perspective and spin to a recent legal case, for example); short form (bulleted tips for selecting a good accident attorney); or long form like an in-depth white paper or case study, a form of content marketing gaining strong traction in SEO).
Upcycle your efforts. The rule of thumb is each piece of content can be leveraged up to four times. A content marketing expert can help you rework an eCRM topic into a blog post into a “likeable” Facebook update into a compelling LinkedIn article. Save time, money and resources by upcycling content and increasing the chance of your content being shared by others.
Monitor the mission. If you’re putting effort into creating content to engage with your audiences, generate website traffic and build new leads, you’ve got to monitor your progress. Get your Google Analytics and SEO statisticians in line; see what your clients are saying about your legal counsel; and be open to change and adjusting for constant improvement.
To find out what Network Affiliates can do for your content marketing efforts, give us a call! Speak with one of our experts and get a FREE, confidential marketing evaluation. What are you waiting for?