I always love reading annual the Greentarget State of Digital & Content Marketing study. It is filled with great insights and suggestions on how law firms and professional service firms can better engage with their target audiences by using social media and content. Here are some of my favorite takeaways from the study:

  • According to the survey, 96% of in-house counsel say that there is content overload in the market (most of them won’t even open your emails so even reaching them is incredibly difficult), while 81% of law firm marketers plan to produce more content. And only 26% of law firm marketers say they have a documented content strategy. What can you do here to stand out from the pack? Create smart content and have a strategy that is agreed upon by decision makers and the marketing team.
  • Beware of the invisible user trend: 77 percent of in-house counsel use social media in listen-only mode – while only 27 percent are disseminating information and engaging with other users. This may cause the number of likes on your pages to be low or for it to seem like no one is engaging with your content – but they are.
  • In-house counsel want content that helps them do their jobs. More than ¾ of respondents most value utility in the content they consume – ahead of timeliness, reliable sources and compelling headlines.
  • And they want it in the form of articles, alerts and newsletters, respectively.
  • Email works – when it’s good. That’s a huge opportunity to reach clients and prospects, and to stand out from the noise, by creating email alerts that deliver on the qualities in-house lawyers are looking for.
  • Brevity matters. Nearly a third of in-house counsel value shorter content, while only five percent value longer pieces. They want client alerts to be brief.
  • Podcasts show promise. More than a quarter of respondents put podcasts among their preferred content vehicles – ahead of video and surprising for a relatively new medium. Audio content gives your target audience a way to engage with your firm during their commute or workout.