Content marketing, the art of attracting “followers” and new clients through the creation of interesting, informative, and engaging online material —has become the gold standard for practice building these days.

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The content can take many forms such as blog articles, videos, social media posts, authoritative white papers, etc. Unlike traditional advertising, content marketing is about extending a basis for a genuine relationship.

In contrast to advertising, content marketing allows law firms to slowly build trust by giving something of value to potential clients for their time. The exchange is on an informal social contract that might be expressed as: “you give us your attention (and email address) and in return, we’ll share important information with you about how to better deal with the legal issues you have questions or concerns about.”

Content marketing allows a law firm to demonstrate its authority by sharing its high level of knowledge, mastery and experience. Well crafted content shows that your firm understands the needs of potential clients and extends a much needed (and appreciated) helping hand. In this way, a client learns to know, like, and trust the firm and therefore be more likely to retain them.

So, in order to be effective, content marketing needs to be diverse, informative, helpful, empathetic and even entertaining. This way of approaching an audience, called relationship marketing, is the basis of successful marketing campaigns today.

Some of the tools that have proved effective for professional practice building are:

Blog Articles.

Blog articles, posted at regular intervals, help explain processes or provide information related to the type of practice including, suggestions, cautions, etc. Very often, they tell stories or review cases. These stories help the reader see how a certain process works in practice and demonstrate indirectly the benefits of working with the firm.

Professional Social Media Sharing

Not all social media is created equal. Whereas some platforms are ideal for engaging with potential clients, others are designed for strictly social sharing, trend following, dating, humor, or photos.

Content marketing in the right arena can extend your reach, enhance your professionalism and help to make connections with clients and other professionals seeking your services. However, there are also sites where your content might be lost among cat photos. Being seen in the right places is important.

Videos

Videos are extremely versatile tools for content marketing. They can help a customer understand a process, allow you to express an opinion about a subject, inform the client of the benefits of hiring the firm, warn the client about common mistakes, etc. The videos might not even need to be watched, just heard, in order to be effective, which is a trait that’s appreciated by busy people who need to multitask.

Webinars

Webinars are somewhat more complex to design and deliver than other forms of content marketing. However, they are worth the time and effort due to the high level of engagement they generate with potential clients. For a relatively long period of time, from 30 minutes to over an hour, you’ll have a captive audience that’s willing to listen to what you have to offer and the authority and leadership demonstrated by giving a webinar is unparalleled.

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Creating the right mix and the right content is not easy. It requires knowledge of the market and the latest trends in social networks and search engine algorithms.

If you don’t have the time to manage a powerful content marketing campaign for your law firm, The Goodness Company is an experienced global legal marketing firm with affordable solutions for law firms of all sizes.