In this competitive market, we all wish to stay ahead of the rest. Technological changes have introduced us to new marketing tools and made the traditional techniques obsolete. Content marketing is a relatively new marketing tool that helps build brand awareness through leveraging online platforms. It gained popularity in late 2010s, with the advent of social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Today, content marketing has become a powerful tool for digital marketers. Every brand uses it to interact with its audience and market its offerings.
So, what exactly is content marketing? It is a marketing and branding strategy which involves creating and sharing pieces of content online in a way that does not explicitly promote a brand, but instead drives a stimulation in the audience’s minds to engage with the brand. The content that is shared can include pictures, videos, blog posts, social media posts, white papers, newsletters, research articles or the newly trending ones like podcasts and video shorts. Let’s look at the detailed benefits of content marketing.
WHY ADD CONTENT MARKETING TO YOUR BRANDING AND POSITIONING STRATEGY?
Content marketing is the backbone of social media engagement. Quality content helps you gain followers on social media platforms, thereby raising your brand awareness. The social media audience also tends to build a connection with your brand which can turn into a loyal customer-base.
Building brand awareness through social media platform translates into increased traffic on your website as well. Social media has also made it easier for the audience to share content with their friends and family. Coming from a known person, the shared content inherently has higher trust and credibility. This means that your brand potentially gets a much wider reach.
Using SEO optimised keywords in your content boosts your search engine rankings. The higher your website ranks on prominent search engines, the greater traffic, and gradually leads, you generate.
Content marketing also acts as the base for increasing your website’s organic traffic through backlinks. Backlinks or inbound links are links added to one website which leads to another website. Think of them as ‘citations’ or ‘references’ – someone else cites a content that is posted on your website through an anchor text. Search engines consider backlinks as ‘votes’ for a specific website – the more backlinks associated with your website, the higher it will rank in terms of relevance and quality of content.
TYPES OF EFFECTIVE CONTENT FOR LAWYERS AND LAW FIRMS
Content marketing can prove to be extremely beneficial for law firms as it does not come across as marketing/solicitation oriented, yet still builds a subconscious relationship between the brand and its audience. Law firms can boost their branding efforts by posting the following types of content:
Blog posts, articles and white papers – These are value-packed informative content on topics related to a particular subject matter. White papers are longer pieces of informative content. These are a lot more detailed and in-depth in comparison to blogs and articles. Law firms can generate blogs and articles on laws associated with their practice areas and/or industry specialisations. This not only offers the general benefits of content marketing, but also demonstrates the firm’s expertise to potential clients.
Videos – Videos offer a more interactive way to engage with your audience. Seeing and hearing a person is arguably more impactful than just reading. The recent shift to short-from video content has opened new avenues and made it easier to post informative content in the form of videos. Law firms and lawyers can post short videos on trending legal issues and see their social media handles grow like never before.
Podcasts – A law firm producing a podcast was unheard of just a couple of years ago. However, legal podcasts are becoming more commonplace now as there is a growing number of audiences who prefers listening over reading. The content in these podcasts can range from an interview of a law firm partner, discussion on a recent development, or just explaining the basics of law.
Webinars and livestreams – The pandemic has opened us all up to webinars and online workshops. Webinars are a great way to ensure real time, two-way interaction with your audience. Livestreaming a physical event broadcasts it all over social media platforms. There is no location requirements or bar on the maximum number of attendees, which helps you reach to a much larger audience.
Case analysis – A case analysis is a great way to keep your audience apprised of recent legal developments. It typically talks about a latest or a landmark legal judgement and presents an easy-to-understand analysis of the same. Case analyses on latest judgements also tend to rank better and pull in larger readership.
Newsletters – The legal profession thrives on networking. Law firms can build an email database of their existing clients, industry associations, fellow lawyers and firms, etc., to send periodic newsletters talking about the major legal developments, industry news, or the firm’s work highlights.
Press release – Press releases are used to make an official announcement or statement to the public. Starting a new practice area? Restructuring your firm to bring in new partners? Or moving to a new office space? Write up a press release and share it with prominent law-related platforms and your social media handles to keep you audience engaged and updated!
BUT WHAT ABOUT A CONTENT STRATEGY?
Imagine this – you are preparing a pleading. You come up with arguments and supporting case laws, sure to get a positive outcome in the upcoming hearing. Do you make a haphazard list of your contentions? Or do you lay them down systematically in a proper draft? The latter, of course! A content strategy does the exact same thing for the content you intend to produce and share as a law firm or legal practitioner. This is where a seasoned content strategist can help you by developing a plan tailored to the needs of your firm or practice. Get in touch with us for an audit of your existing content, and coming up with a new and improved strategy.
