Content Marketing

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iStock_000003908491_LargeThere are some days when I struggle with writing another post about content marketing – while it’s still a topic of great importance, especially in the legal industry, it can feel overdone. I don’t want to keep repeating what I’ve said before (though there’s a lot of value in repetition in content marketing, because you have new people in your audience, or people suddenly reading your words with fresh eyes). I also don’t want to come off as a clickbait lecturer – “do these 5 things and you’ll be the best content marketer there ever was!” Uh, no.

But I think it’s important enough to continue having conversations around it, and I read two things today that really resonated with me that I’d like to share with you.

The first is actually a post that offers The 5 Best Content Marketing Tools You Aren’t Using (and maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t, read the post and see what you think!). What strikes me as being really important about this piece isn’t the tools themselves; it’s what the author says right in the early part of the post:

When content marketing works, it’s an incredible way to build relationships and share knowledge without pitching your services or products. But here’s the thing:too many businesses are still equating content production with hard sales, especially the content that’s on their business blogs. When I advise startups and small businesses on content marketing, I always come back to this essential truth: successful content is content that empowers, excites and educates. It connects and builds relationships. It tells a story.”

For law firms and lawyers, this is KEY. 
Continue Reading An Uncomfortable Conversation About Content Marketing

photo-1429051883746-afd9d56fbdafBefore we jump into our regularly scheduled post, I wanted to mention that the Legal Marketing Association has put together several of the sessions from the Bay Area Chapter’s Legal Tech Conference, which are available as a webinar series – members can download them for free, and non-members get them at a rate which is really a bargain, considering the depth of content offered. One of the sessions is the panel I participated on with Adrian Lurssen of JD Supra and Laura Toledo of Nilan Johnson & Lewis, but as an independent attendee for the other sessions, I can say that the content was really smart and thoughtful, and would be well worth the time and cost invested! So I share the link with you in the event that you’d like to take a look at it – descriptions of the sessions offered with this bundle are included.

I watched our panel from the conference again, and one of the questions that we were asked during the session is one that I think Zen readers would benefit from discussing as well – that is “How do you motivate lawyers to produce content?”

It’s easy to become convinced that content development is a time-consuming process that you have to devote significant resources to. But if you invest some time in setting up good processes, and marketing professionals act as the support team for the lawyers that are producing the work, it can run much more efficiently than you’d expect. 
Continue Reading Three Ways to Motivate Lawyers to Content Marketing Success

photo-1439556838232-994e4c0d3b7cAlthough we’re well into 2016 now, it’s not too late to make some resolutions for your content marketing. I came across this Forbes article from the end of last year with 6 Content Marketing New Year’s Resolutions to Make This Year, and there is some great food for thought in there that I’d like us to consider. As it’s a Two for Tuesdays day, we’ll focus on two of them to start with.

Why content marketing resolutions at all?

It’s easy to get too into the weeds with content marketing, and be so focused on the process of producing and distributing content that we forget to take that step back once in a while to make sure that we’re sticking to our strategy, working with a strategy that makes sense for us, our practices, and our firms, and continuing to produce and distribute content that meets with what our audiences really want to consume.
Continue Reading Two Content Marketing Resolutions for 2016

200HWhile you don’t need to break the news to be a successful content marketer in the legal industry (and in many cases, it’s really better if you don’t), it doesn’t mean that you have to stay away from writing about or producing content for the latest trends. You may think that because someone else has already weighed in on something, that you shouldn’t add to the commentary out there – but you may have something valuable to say, or a different perspective to add.

What we refer to as “evergreen content,” or “SEO content that is continually relevant and stays ‘fresh’ for readers.” (thanks, WordStream) is extremely valuable for lawyers and law firms. It’s content that is always relevant to your audience, and will live on well after you’ve produced it, thus doing the work of marketing for you without you having to actively do anything at all. But it’s only part of the story – the other part is covering the latest trends (both those in law, and those outside of the law, from a legal perspective) to give those in the industry a reason to keep coming back to your content. As Ann Smarty says in this piece for the Content Marketing Institute:

Covering relevant timely and newsworthy content is a great way to grow your site audience and take advantage of trends that get people more interested and thus more engaged.”

It’s likely that you already have a number of different sources set up for how you identify the latest trends in your area of practice – whether you’re an active content producer or not, you’re staying up-to-date on the latest legislation, case decisions, and industry discussions that may or may not affect your clients. But as the world expands and evolves, so do the means with which we keep up with the latest trends – and for those of us interested in translating these into content that we can use proactively, there are various tools out there that we can leverage. 
Continue Reading Two Tools to Turn Trends into Topics

yJl7OB3sSpOdEIpHhZhd_DSC_1929_1It’s that time of year again, the time of year when every post is a round-up, or a look at trends for 2016. We’re saying goodbye to the old, and ringing in the new, as the close of a calendar year has taught us to do.

Like everyone else, I’ve been thinking about what 2016 will have in store. While I won’t be doing any typical “top ten” posts this year, I am using today’s Two for Tuesdays to look at two goals I have for content marketing (my own and the ILN’s) in 2016. I’ve been thinking about these for a while, and fortunately, industry trends seem to be bearing them out. We’ll get to what they are in a moment, but first, I’d like you to think about what your content marketing goals are for 2016 – I read a great quote in an Inc. article this morning that reminded me that we all have to up our game:

A client, whose company was in a very fast growing industry, once said that as their market matured, they would be forced to become better marketers, not simply capturing new and pent-up demand. The same holds true for content marketing. Those who make the effort to do it right–assigning dedicated resources, developing written business plans with clear goals, leveraging tools like Buyer’s Personas to develop content for the customer’s benefit rather than the brand’s and producing a variety of content types–will continue to drive heavy engagement.”

We’re at that jumping off point in the legal industry as well. Content marketing isn’t new to us – we’ve been doing it forever. In the last year, we’ve seen more strategy implemented around it, and moved into an era of more sophisticated tracking. We use data to inform our next steps in what content we produce, and the channels we use to distribute it. There are a few firms lagging behind, but they’re catching up. We’re all being forced to be better marketers, and it’s fantastic – I love listening to brilliant colleagues doing creative, interesting things. 
Continue Reading 2 Content Marketing Goals for 2016

iStock_000016006182Small“Social media.”

“Content marketing.”

These terms are thrown around willy nilly these days, because in addition to everything else we’re doing in our daily professional lives, the accessibility of LinkedIn, Facebook, blogging platforms, SnapChat, Vimeo, YouTube, etc. has turned us all into social media and content marketing practitioners.

But while social and digital media are inextricably linked with content marketing, it’s important to distinguish them – they are NOT, in fact, the same thing, and shouldn’t be considered interchangeable. In today’s Two for Tuesdays, while it may seem a bit elementary to some of you out there, it’s come to my attention that there’s some confusion around the difference between social media and content marketing. We’re going to look at the difference between the two (I’ll start with the short version, then delve into the long one), and why it’s important not to confuse them. 
Continue Reading Content Marketing ≠ Social Media

twofortueToday’s Two for Tuesday’s post comes to you from high above the clouds, as I’m flying home from a two and a half day trip to London. It will be a bit late because there’s no in-flight wifi this time (a pity, though it does prevent me from doing more work than I probably should anyway), but I will try to keep it short for you, since I hope that in your spare time, you’re working on your 2016 planning!

Our tips today focus again on content marketing, and may be things that you’re already doing as part of your content mix – but in case you’re not, these are two ways that you can freshen things up a bit, and add in some additional opportunities for people to engage with your content. And if one of your content marketing goals is to build relationships with your target audiences, then that’s exactly the type of thing you want to be doing!
Continue Reading Inject Your Content Marketing With New Life in 2016

twofortue
Last week, we took a look at two mistakes that may be impacting your content marketing, giving up too early and not marketing your content. Continuing with our theme, and thanks to Content Marketing Institute for their inspiration, we’re going to look at another two mistakes today.

Mistake Number One: Your Offerings Have Become Passé

This mistake is really about two things – not producing enough new content, and not thinking outside of the box with your existing content offerings. Both can be problematic.

Not Producing Enough New Content

I am a firm believer in quality over quantity when it comes to content. Yes, I write a lot myself, but that doesn’t mean I advocate it for everyone – it’s just what works for me.

But when you’re producing content, it’s all about “what have you done for me lately?” If you’re not reminding people that you’re out there, and providing them with value, they just won’t think about you at all. It’s as simple as that.

So you may not need to publish a new blog post or produce a new video every week. But you can’t let months go by without offering NEW content of value. And there is SO much that you’re already doing that can be fodder for good content that there’s really no excuse.

  • Sit down and give yourself the writing prompt “I am often asked…” What is it that your clients regularly ask you about the law that you’re always answering for them? Turn that into a blog post or a whitepaper – if a few of your clients are always asking you something, the likelihood is that others who are NOT your clients but are in the industry are wondering the same thing. Why not share your wisdom and expertise with them?
  • When new legislation comes out or cases are decided, do you email some of your clients with the impact that will have on their business? Take the content of those emails and turn it into a general article or blog post that you can use to explain to a generic company in the industry how the same legislation or court decision may impact THEM. It just takes some tweaking and removing of any confidential information to repurpose something you’re already doing.
  • If you’re speaking at conferences on a subject, take your presentations and share them on SlideShare. Turn them into a series of blog posts. Pull out the most salient points and create a short video around them.

Continue Reading 2 [More] Mistakes that Are Killing Your Content Marketing

LJIZlzHgQ7WPSh5KVTCB_TypewriterRecently, someone said that “content marketing” is a recent phenomenon in law firms. And I almost fell out of my chair.

Content marketing is NOT new to law firms. In fact, law firms are some of the original content marketers – firms have been producing content for years! What IS new is producing strategy around it, and formulating distribution plans that are measured and further refined based on those measurements. We’re getting more strategic, and it’s that strategy that’s new.

But that doesn’t mean that the road isn’t rife with mistakes – it is. The Content Marketing Institute recently published a book with 13 Content Marketing Mistakes, and highlighted a few in a recent blog post – we’ll be taking the next few weeks to look at these in the context of lawyers and law firms.
Continue Reading 2 Mistakes that Are Killing Your Content Marketing

photo-1416339426675-1f96fd81b653Among my friends, it’s no secret that I love Instagram. It’s my favorite social media platform – more than Facebook, more than Twitter. I love looking at everything from beautiful images from talented photographers around the world to photos of friends’ kids and pets and vacations.

And I’m not the only one who feels that way.

It’s this passion for the visual that companies are capitalizing on today in their content marketing, and drawing people in. You may think this only works for big consumer brands like Pepsi or Zappos, but it’s just as effective in offering a well-rounded (and often very professional) look at your practice and law firm as well. 
Continue Reading Why Visual Content is the Secret Ingredient