October 17, 2019 | Last Updated on: July 20, 2023
Content marketing – producing and distributing blog posts, videos and other types of media to acquire customers – isn’t just for big companies. Even if your law firm is just you and a computer, content marketing can provide you with a valuable tool to generate trust and interest among potential clients.
The key to good content marketing is providing your potential customers with something of value, even before they become your clients. Giving away free information helps to create a relationship between your law firm and your potential clients, that lives beyond a transaction. According to Forbes Magazine, you should aim to give “as much value from your content marketing to as much of your target audience as possible”. That way, when they are ready to use your services, your firm will be top of mind.
In order to start your marketing plan, you need to prepare your law firm’s website. If your law firm doesn’t already have some kind of internet presence that promotes your legal services, there are relatively simple and/or low-cost ways to create one. Web services like Wix and Squarespace will let you create a new website for free, and let you integrate a blog presence to talk to your target clients. This website will be the home base for your content marketing strategy, that is, how you will use great content to engage and attract your target audience. Make sure to create a website that advertises your services and fees, but also makes it easy for your customers to contact you for more information. Using your website for lead generation — sparking interest among potential clients — is a one-time activity that could bring in new business without consistent effort from you and your team.
Now that your law firm has a web presence, the next step in your content management strategy is to actually create high-quality content. Blog posts are the most logical way for law firms to generate content. In a 800-word article, you can give your customers information that they might ordinarily hire you to obtain. Giving away quality content is a vital way to gain trust, and trust is something that is important in an attorney-client relationship. If you’re a divorce lawyer, you can write about, say, prenuptial agreements and how they play out during divorce. If you’re an immigration lawyer, you can write about things a Green Card holder must prepare before their immigration status becomes a problem. If you’ve already been in business for some time, you know the types of questions your clients typical pose when learning about your services. Instead of waiting for your prospects to ask the questions, give them the answers. Marketing professionals have found that content marketing increases both brand recall and customer engagement.
Writing blog posts (like this one) will be a simple addition to your work as a lawyer, and wouldn’t require an outside company to get started. As a practicing lawyer, you are already well-versed in your field of specialty, and you’ve already served the customers that you want to attract. Use your business history to create an article or two that show what you can do for a client. An early blog post could be an article that highlights what your law firm can do for a potential client.
You can also provide case studies from former clients that illustrate your ability to get positive judgements and outcomes for your clients. Please brag about your successes. You can also provide white papers, which might show how to win a particular type of case without using any results from your own law firm. Like a book report. But since you’re doing business development through content marketing, don’t just sell: explain, give examples, and don’t forget to ask your target clients to contact you for more information. This generates the trust between you and your target audience.
Blog posts aren’t just about giving information; they can also be used as their own advertising tool. Lots of people complain about Google saving our search history. But as a business owner, Google’s advertising tools can be a great way to promote your firm with without a marketing degree.
Once you create good new content to attract new customers, you need to distribute your content in the places where your prospects are searching for legal services. Frank Strong, an expert in legal services marketing, suggests that you “focus your efforts on a platform that you own, be that a website, a microsite, a research page, or blog because if you don’t own the platform, the rules can change.”
Google uses keywords to rank quality content from around the web. Whenever a web surfer types a keyword into a search engine, Google provides them with customized search results based on their history. For example, if I type “law firm” into a search engine, Google will show both ads and websites for organizations with “law firm” on their website. Other potential clients might type in “law firm near me” or “divorce lawyers” into the search bar, and their results will also be tailored. Getting this information — for free — from Google will help you learn how your customers search for legal services, and how they might get to your website.
Another type of content you need on your new website is
As you probably already know, Google is the biggest name in internet advertising, and that size means that they give a lot of free services to businesses looking In addition, Google does keyword (search term) rankings, providing business users with a list of popular search terms in ranking order. These rankings reflect how many times people searched for a particular word or phrase, and how relevant it is among people’s search history. More plainly, it tells you what keywords are popular, so you can use them in your blog, and in other places on your website that you need high-quality content.
Signing up for Google My Business, another source for free and low-cost business services, will give you lots of information to help gain new business, and taking advantage of them doesn’t require a degree in business. If you build your law firm website using Google’s free website builder, you will have access to their keyword and ad networks. You will learn which websites target clients browse, how long they spend there, which words they use to find out about legal services, and what they do after they browse.
