It is a truth universally acknowledged, as Ms. Austen might say, that a law firm in possession of a digital marketing strategy must be in want of high-quality content. The benefits of creating content are plentiful, from boosting your position with search engines like Google to establishing your firm as a thought leader in your niche. Content creation can, too, have an impact on each step of your sales pipeline as you acquire new clients for your firm. Creating content that speaks to your target audience and to each phase of the sales pipeline can take your marketing plan to the next level.
Using Content to Attract New Clients
The first step in any sales pipeline is to attract your client base. Potential clients need to be able to find you, to know that you exist as an option for them, before you can convince them to work with you. In creating content, you contribute to the improvement of your law firm’s SEO, or search engine optimization. The goal of SEO is to make sure your website is seen, particularly based on where your site shows up on a search engine results page, or SERP. Search engines like Google put a lot of emphasis on creating high-quality long-form content, and reward websites that do so consistently and often. Combining more traditional SEO efforts with social media marketing techniques like sharing blog posts on LinkedIn will put your law firm’s content in front of a broader audience, which leads to higher rates of client acquisition.
Convincing Your Target Audience Through Thought Leadership
Once your content has reached your audience, the next step is to convince them to stay and see what you have to say. Using your content to establish yourself as a thought leader is a proven way to catch the eye of a prospective client. Thought leadership is most effective when attorneys provide insightful and innovative ideas, opinions, and knowledge.
As a leader in your practice area, knowing your target audience’s pain points, questions, and needs will allow you to craft relevant content that will catch their attention. Similarly, your in-depth, intimate understanding of your practice area can be translated into content that reflects your credibility and experience. Proving your trustworthiness and demonstrating your professionalism through content is a demonstrable way to pull potential clients into the sales pipeline.
Acting As a One-Stop Shop
Establishing your firm as a one-stop shop, so to speak, is a helpful strategy for keeping eyes on your website and turning those readers into prospective clients. You want to provide your audience with any information they could need relating to your practice and practice area so they’re not tempted to leave your website for another. This can relate to how you write and the kind of content you produce.
In terms of structuring your writing, it’s vital to utilize tools like headers to guide the reader’s eye. Answer the question presented in the section quickly, then elaborate with details and examples. Doing so guarantees that whether your reader is in a rush or if they want to linger and learn, their needs will be satisfied.
Similarly, the content you produce should serve a wide variety of readers, from a client acquisition viewpoint to one of client retention. Having a breadth of topics, from the broad to the intricate, from listicles to interviews, ensures that your readers will be encouraged to regularly return to your law firm’s website to read what’s new. If you’ve covered all the bases, there’s no need to venture away from what you provide.
Content as a Gateway for Conversions
The final step of any sales pipeline, and one of the many goals of content creation, is converting a prospective client into a qualified lead. During the content creation process, your goal has been marketing over advertising, and this still stands true – you want to demonstrate your value and act as a guide for those visiting your law firm’s website. To maintain the integrity of your content without falling down an advertising rabbit hole, end your blog posts and static pages with a “call to action” – a closing section that reinforces why your law firm is the right choice for a prospective client’s needs. Make it simple and straightforward for your readers by linking this section directly to a page where a client can contact you, like a contact form or the page of a specific attorney.
Watch Your Content Grow Your Firm
When building out content for your law firm’s website, sometimes the promise of improved visibility through SEO and the intangible impact of thought leadership don’t feel like enough motivation to get the job done. However, the impact that your content can have on the client acquisition process cannot be understated. As you increase production of high-quality content for your firm, watch your analytics and conversions to see correlations and changes. This will give you an understanding of what’s working and what isn’t, and making adjustments based on these insights will allow you to grow your firm with quality content attracting qualified leads.
