Way To Find External Sources For Your Law Firm’s Content

How to Find External Sources to Create Trustworthy Content

In the legal industry, you’re essentially selling your knowledge. It’s important to create credible content that positions you as a thought leader – both in order to generate leads and to prove your trustworthiness. However, too many firms end up “talking to themselves”. That means that when you are an expert in something, it’s too easy to create content that is already in your wheelhouse. It’s important to elevate your content by seeking out multiple and diverse viewpoints. Here’s how legal marketers can inject more external sources into their content. 

Find Industry Groups or Associations

There are so many organizations in the US geared toward different professions or interests. There is bound to be one that is relevant to your audience and offers helpful resources. You can do some research in order to find content ideas and sources. Look at their website to find senior leaders and what their specialties are. You can try to reach out to one that seems like a match for your subject matter. You can also take a look at their board members and discover the companies they work for and what they are talking about. You can even attend in-person events and talk to attendees to get a better understanding of their passion points. 

Get Interactive on Social Platforms

You can use your current social media channels to get input from your audience. You can use hashtags to see what people are searching for, and also look for different groups and see what is being discussed. It’s also smart to use crowdsourcing sites like Quora and Reddit to view different posts about various topics, industry events, and content angles. If you encounter active subject matter experts, reach out and see if they may want to collaborate on some new content. 

Find Non-Human Sources

You can find a lot of great material in other published works like white papers or websites. You can identify credible research cited in that content, and then find the links to the original source. Look for statistics or other quantifiable data and then cite those original sources in your content for more credibility. 

Try Being a Brand Journalist on Quoted

Qwoted is a fairly new service that is quickly becoming popular with PR and marketing professionals. Brands are using it to connect experts with the media. Content marketers are using it to seek credible sources for their content. Did we mention it’s free? You’ll have better luck if you include a complete query that states what you want and what you don’t want. Here’s an example query: “Query: seeking a phone interview with an orthopedic surgeon to discuss workplace accidents. Already have sufficient responses from doctors in the Texas area.” You’ll likely get a handful of responses and have a few to choose from and include in your content. 

Create a Source Network

As you create new content, you’ll cultivate new sources. You can keep a file of their participation and contact information. It’s a good idea to develop a master spreadsheet that your whole team can access. Include each source’s name, title, organization, contact information, and social handles, and note their areas of specialty. Reach out to them when you need strong sources for new content being created. 

Takeaway: 

Incorporating external sources into your content is essential for credibility, and there are a lot of creative ways to find those sources. The more credible sources you can include, the more you’ll be viewed as a go-to fount of information for your audience. For more tips on creating compelling content, talk to our experts about content marketing services. We help firms create content that demonstrates their expertise and generates new leads.