Content marketing, when done correctly, can serve as a business tactic to grow your brand through storytelling—an especially effective tool for remote legal services looking to prove their expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness amid countless competitors online.
According to the 2019 Legal Trends Report by Clio, 57% of clients reported searching for a lawyer on their own. Some of the most common research methods included a lawyer’s website, online search engine, lawyer blogs, articles and videos, and social media.
While many remote legal service companies have discovered the importance (and power) of content marketing by building out resource centers, creating timely content and staying active on social media, some haven’t gone far enough.
We reviewed seven top brands to map out the good and bad of content marketing for remote legal services. Here’s what we found.
The good
Having a content hub. First impressions can make or break a lead—and finding an organized and helpful content hub can be the push a potential lead needs to close the deal. All seven of the brands we analyzed had some form of a content hub. In addition to housing content, these hubs serve as an extension of a brand’s professional identity.
Leveraging expert knowledge. In 2018, Google updated its search algorithm and, suddenly, amplifying information from trusted experts became super important. Of the seven brands we analyzed, only one did not feature experts from the legal industry within its content or as authors. So, your content may be well written and informative, but forgetting to add a layer of expertise could be detrimental to building trust with leads and building search traction with Google.
Avvo’s content hub, AvvoStories, is a good example of a content hub leveraging expert knowledge. In addition to featuring experts, like in its Avvo 1-on-1 series, AvvoStories also includes content written by experts.
Keeping in touch on social. Social media is the new Yellow Pages. Just as legal services evolved to go remote, so has the way consumers find legal services. For the most part, we saw legal brands being active across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn—prime channels for knowledge sharing to potential leads. Further, some brands fully aligned their social media with their content strategy from the start, sharing content recently featured on their hubs.
LegalZoom’s social footprint proves that it understands that not all platforms (or audiences) are built alike. While the content is similar in nature or content, it’s strategic delivery — brand-oriented content on LinkedIn, news and updates on Facebook, timely, conversation-starting tweets on Twitter, people-driven stories on YouTube and visually engaging posts on Instagram — sets the brand apart.
The bad
Not offering a variety of media types. For the most part, we saw one main content type: articles. Remember, too much of one thing could put off readers. A content marketing program is an opportunity to get creative with how you tell (and show) stories. From articles to infographics to videos, brands can strategically use different media types to approach topics in a different way.
Forcing your social handles. Today’s age of social media is a double-edged sword. While a social presence may be a good fit for some brands, choosing the wrong platform might lead to more loss than opportunity. Rather than force an online presence and duplicate the same content across all platforms, get strategic about where and how you post.
For example, if your interest is to network, LinkedIn is likely your best option. There, you can leverage your expert knowledge while building your professional network. If you’re interested in posting ideas or leading conversations, Twitter is the place for you.
Creating confusion. A dedicated content hub should serve as a one-stop shop for your clients and leads, but we saw instances where brands linked to multiple hubs or resource centers. This can be confusing and appear unorganized, causing your search traffic to suffer.
If you’ve had your website for a while, a content audit can help determine what’s worth consolidating, what’s worth dumping and how to reorganize content into easy-to-understand categories or buckets.
As demand for legal answers and services increases, especially following the current health pandemic, it’s crucial for remote legal services brands to stay on top of creating smart content for current and prospective clients.
