We are now living in a world where consumers are more empowered than ever, doing research and making informed decisions about what they buy, whom they hire, and what services they use. In law firm marketing, this means that lawyers need to provide content that is valuable, relevant, and helpful to their audience. So how can law firms create content that matters? This article will discuss the current state of law firm marketing, why it has changed so drastically over the last ten years, and how you can begin creating content that matters for your clients today.
Content marketing
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
If you’re like most attorneys, your firm has been using traditional advertising for decades. It’s important for law firms to use new tools like content marketing to stay competitive.
Thought leadership
Thought leadership is about being an expert. You want to help your audience solve their problems, and they need to be able to trust your advice. You don’t want them to think you are just trying to sell them something or promote your firm. Your content should be based on your expertise, not on what you think people want to hear (or what will get you lots of likes).
If you can establish yourself as a thought leader in your field, then clients will come looking for you rather than seeking out every lawyer in town until they find someone willing and able (and affordable) enough for the task at hand.
Social media
Social media can be a powerful tool for law firms looking to connect with their audience. Here are a few ways you can use it to up your law firm marketing:
Be authentic and transparent: Social media is not a platform for clever marketing slogans or clever taglines. Instead, it’s an opportunity for you to share what matters most about your firm—the people, the work, and why you do what you do.
Share your content: Social media has become an integral part of everyday lives and you use it every day to stay informed about your favorite brands or industries—and this includes law firms. Use these tools as opportunities to share valuable information about your practice area(s) with prospective clients who may have never heard of you before but might be interested in learning more once they see how relevant you are in helping solve legal problems they are currently facing.
Customer service: The days when customer service meant calling up someone on the phone are long gone; today customers expect more than just talking on a phone call though they also expect an online presence where they can easily reach out if something goes wrong or if they want to inquire about further services.
An authentic voice
As a law firm owner or marketing professional, you are in a unique position to share your voice and message with the world. You have access to information that other people don’t, and you have an understanding of legal issues that others don’t—and this makes it possible for you to deliver content that matters.
So what does “content that matters” mean? It means being real. It means being honest in everything you write and say online (and offline). It means being open about your human side: sharing your failures as well as successes; admitting when you don’t know something; expressing opinions on current events; sharing beliefs about life, religion, politics, and more.
Conclusion
The legal community is generally slow to adopt new technology and marketing trends, however, the successful law firm of the future will be one that can create content that matters and use it to build connections with its target audience.
