My friend Jay Harrington recently published an article on what lawyers should be doing when it comes to content marketing and there were two points I wanted to highlight from his article that are so important in ensuring that your content has maximum impact and reach.
Jay said:
Focus on Quality Over Quantity
One thing I’ve observed during the frantic rush to get client alerts out over the last two weeks has been a wide variance in the quality of thought leadership content being produced. There is a desire to be first-to-market, and speed is important if you’re hoping to grab attention. Speed, though, must be balanced against the need to produce high-quality content. Information is plentiful these days — wisdom, less so. Even if it takes you longer to publish, you will have a much greater impact if you’re addressing the implications of information, not merely summarizing it. For example, if you’re focused on a particular industry, end each piece with actionable advice that is contextualized for your specific audience.
Most importantly, amid the chaos of the near term, don’t lose sight of the longer term. In a crisis, everyone is focused on the need to survive. As a lawyer or law firm, you must address the urgency of the moment, but you must also help your clients see what’s coming next. To me, a thought leader is someone who considers the future with clear-eyed judgment and charts a course for others to follow.
In what seems like a (sobering) best-case scenario, this situation will evolve from a public health crisis to an economic one in which lawyers will play a leading role. Through marketing, start helping your clients think through the next set of challenges.
Be Nimble
It goes without saying that we’ve all had to adapt to new circumstances more quickly than any of us could have anticipated a few short weeks ago. Adjusting to the new realities of marketing is no exception. With face-to-face marketing no longer an option — at least for a time (and likely longer than most of us expect) — it’s critical to be nimble in how we get our marketing messages out.
Many law firms have built COVID-19 hubs on their websites, which is a great start. But firms must have plans to push this information out to the market more broadly. Many of my clients are having success supplementing their written content with multimedia campaigns to share information via daily videos, podcasts or interactive webinars. In some cases, they are using all three tools to get the word out. Their nimble efforts are positioning them at the forefront of thought leadership conversations, often resulting in media coverage that allows them to amplify their messages.
In addition, outside publishers — the traditional media and industry publishers — are stretched thin and trying to satisfy their audience’s demands for information. This means there are lots of opportunities to publish content on other platforms. In the rush to get content out, don’t lose sight of the fact that a little extra effort to find the right outlet (other than your law firm’s website) can expand your reach exponentially.