6 Content Marketing Skills That’ll Only Get More Important For Legal Marketers

Content is king and many legal marketing teams have invested in niche content marketing experts. In fact, 73% of businesses have a designated employee responsible for monitoring content creation. However, content marketing continues to evolve in today’s digital landscape. Law firm content marketers will continue to hone their skills across these areas in order to produce their best work. 

1. Copywriting

Most likely, your role as a content marketer focuses on creating content that helps drive leads. To do that, you need to be a good copywriter. The ability to develop a unique brand voice as well as adapt writing styles based on differing business needs and personas are two elements of strong copywriting that experts will continue to work on. 

2. Editing

Similar to copywriting, proficient editing is critical for great content creation. Error-prone or sloppy-seeming writing can turn off readers and seriously hurt your law firm’s credibility. Editing provides the difference between mediocre content that simply expresses ideas, and compelling content that engages your audience. 

3. SEO Skills

If you’re going to go to the trouble to create relevant content, you want to also take steps to ensure that content is found online. Impactful content reaches your audience when they need to hear it, as well as helps with page ranking. SEO best practices will help you to create valuable content that also converts readers into potential clients. Knowing how to conduct keyword research, write optimized titles and descriptions, and place items like alt-text and keywords are table-stakes for developing SEO-optimized content. 

4. Interviewing

It’s unlikely that you’ll be an expert in every topic that you create content on. In these cases, you’ll need to perform research or interviews. You need to be able to break down concepts into simpler terms, as well as understand why the subject matters to your target audience. Get comfortable seeking out experts on the topics you write about, and develop a process for interviewing them and then writing about what you learn at a deeper level. 

5. Organization and Time Management

Deadlines are a big part of content marketing. It’s essential to remain organized and learn how to do your best work among varying and tight deadlines. You probably need to create content calendars that align with your firm’s overall goals. Additionally, it’s not uncommon for content marketers to experience burnout, so time management will play a key role in a sustainable career. Know how many deliverables need to be done each week, break down items by day or even by hour, and block off time in your calendar accordingly. Some people work well under pressure, but we suggest not waiting until the night before assignments are due to complete all of your work – that’s one way to make your job more stressful and less satisfying. 

6. Data and Analysis

You can better optimize content if you are able to analyze performance. You should be able to analyze industry trends, keep up-to-date on your audience’s preferences and behavior, and use all that information to make strategic decisions about future content. Some creative individuals don’t enjoy digging into data, but it’s important to remember that it doesn’t matter how compelling or interesting your content is if no one reads it. Using data to choose topics that resonate, stay ahead of industry trends, and align content with conversations happening online will help you to improve what you create and expand your reach. See: How to Use Data to Determine Your Law Firm’s Blog Topics.

Takeaway

Honing these content marketing skills will make you a more powerful writer. Whether you have just started your content marketing career at a law firm or you are a lifelong content marketer, chances are you want to level up and do your best work. These are just a few areas to focus on as you continue to improve. Listen to our Legal Marketing 2.0 podcast for more tips, tricks and takeaways.