Law Firm Blogging: 6 Tips for Creating Content Your Clients Want to Read

Many of our clients tell us that the hardest part of their law firm blogging strategy is coming up with ideas. Often, firms are tempted to write about what’s going on with them: new developments, new hires, upcoming webinars, etc. It’s always nice to highlight company culture and staff, but it’s not always the most interesting content for readers. The most successful content marketing focuses on the client. When you develop content that can teach, help, or inspire, it will not only build credibility and trust, but also help you to gain followers and generate leads. Here are 6 tips for crafting content that your target audience wants to read.

1. Marketers and lawyers must collaborate.

If the whole point of your content strategy is to provide answers that your audience is actually looking for, wouldn’t it make sense to find out what your clients actually ask about? Your attorneys have conversations with clients and potential clients every day. They know the hot topics and what resonates. Make content a collaborative process and not just marketing’s job.

2. Develop client personas and create content around them.

Think about who embodies your ideal client, and what they want or need to hear about. Think about what challenges they’re facing too. Based on your client persona research you can identify blog topics that are important to them.

3. Leverage social listening.

Join relevant LinkedIn groups and participate. Browse all of your social media channels and see what people are asking about, or what hot topics are. Follow thought leaders and see what they post that has high engagement rates. Share plenty of articles that shed light on industry topics or their impact in the real world. 

4. Find out what works for your competitors.

When you’re stumped, go through your competitor’s thought leadership. Which of their blogs, videos, or social posts are getting the most engagement? These subjects are a good place to start.

5. Survey your email list.

You probably have a decent-sized email list of clients and prospects you send blog posts, newsletters, and other information to. So, start surveying your audience and find out what topics they care to learn more about. You’re sure to see a better response when you know you’re giving them exactly what they’re asking for. We recommend using a tool like SurveyMonkey to execute such surveys.

6. Audit what works.

Perform a regular content audit to determine what content works best. A content audit involves taking a full inventory of all of the content on your domain and analyzing it based on a variety of performance metrics to decide which content pieces resonate the best with clients. The data can reveal what’s working (and what’s not) and help inform a strategy that supports more of the types of content users prefer. Follow the steps in this article to conduct your own content audit.

Takeaway

Successful law firm blogging takes a lot of work, not to mention collaboration and communication. If you want your content to drive real results for your firm, you need to be strategic and make sure everything you write is relevant to your target audience. Focus on their needs and you’re sure to get more engagement with your content. If you’d like more help with your law firm’s blog, enroll in our Blogging for Lawyers course to learn how to successfully run a legal blog.

This post has been edited and republished from Sep. 18, 2020.