5 Content Ideas for Law Firms

Everyone’s talking about content marketing and for a good reason.

Content helps 88% of marketers generate and nurture leads, increase sales and drive brand awareness.

If you’ve been considering launching a content marketing strategy to promote your law firm, I have a real treat for you – a list of content types most suitable for lawyers.

But before I show you the good stuff though, there’s something I need to talk to you about…

Why Your Firm Should Be Creating Engaging Content in the First Place?

To understand the role of content in today’s lead generation process, we first need to look at the difference between how clients used to hire lawyers and how they select a law firm today.

In the past, someone needing legal advice would most likely seek recommendations or open up the yellow pages and look for lawyers located closest to them. And so, their choice was determined by location and reputation of a business.

The process looked more or less like this:

Today however, customers have more options at their disposal.

They typically begin the buying process by conducting thorough online research, asking for recommendations, scouting review sites, social media and many other sources. Finally, they shortlist candidates, research them further, hire a company and once the business is done, review them online.

Todays selection process looks more like this:

What’s more, many elements of this process affect one another, turning it into a tangled web of information clients have to sift through to make a buying decision.

And needless to say, to generate leads you have to participate in it’s every stage, from start to finish.

Enter Content Marketing

You see, publishing useful and relevant content gives you the opportunity to reach out and connect with prospects at each stages of the buyer’s journey.

For instance, by answering basic questions about your audience’s problem you can target people at the start of the buying cycle. By providing advice helping to understand more about available solutions you can attract prospects who already consider hiring a lawyer. And finally, by offering proof that your firm is the best choice for their particular problem, convince them to get in touch and become clients.

And if you’re wondering what content to publish to achieve it all, here are 5 I believe you should begin with.

Authority Blog Articles

Posting blog articles helps attract people at the early stages of the buyer’s journey.

You can publish guides, opinion posts, answers or explanations to particular legal intricacies and long articles helping users learn more about the symptoms of their problem.

Each article should target a specific problem and demonstrate your knowledge and expertise without including any sales pitches.

This last aspect of blogging is particularly important. Blog posts are ideal to target users who don’t fully realize their problem yet and are not at the stage when they’re ready to begin evaluating potential law firms to approach.

Trying to convince them to hire you would probably only scare them away. So instead of selling, you should use blog posts to provide helpful advice and position your firm as an authority in the field.

Checklists

To most people, checklists are nothing more but a great productivity tool. People around the world use them to organize and prioritize tasks and basically, get things done.

But checklists are also one of the most effective content types when it comes to helping prospects achieve specific goals.

Just think about it, what’s the one thing almost every new client remembers to bring to an initial meeting with you? I’m sure there’s a document people never think they’d need.

By creating a checklist, you could help new clients ensure they have everything they need to move their case forward.

You could also use the checklist to generate new leads by offering it as a lead magnet for download in return for some basic personal details (i.e. name and email address).

FAQ Section

Did you know that the majority of customers would prefer to find answers to their questions by themselves?

According to research conducted by ZenDesk, the company behind a popular customer service software, 75% of consumers consider self service as “a convenient way to address customer service issues”.

What’s more, according to the same research, 67% of customers prefer to use a FAQ section on the site instead of talking to a company’s representative.

And so, by publishing a thorough FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on the site you allow clients and prospects to find out answers to their questions on their own. One thing to remember about a FAQ section is that it should be kept up to date. Believe me, nothing can create a worse impression about a law firm than a FAQ section featuring outdated information based on some old legislations.

Case Studies

A case study is a document outlining how your firm has helped a client solve their problem. A good case study should present what problem the client came to you with, describe the process you employed to help them and mention what results they’ve got.

Naturally, given the nature of the legal niche, there’s going to be a lot of confidential information you won’t be able to share in a case study. But at minimum, describe the process and provide feedback from a happy client.

Explainer Videos

Video has become the most engaging content type.

And even though right now most people would not expect to see a video on a legal website, I believe lawyers will have to come out of their shells and embrace more social interaction in the coming year.

And that’s what creating explainer videos could help you with.

Explainer videos are short clips that, as the name suggests, aim to familiarize the visitor with your firm, present how it works and explain what makes it different on the market.

Explainer videos work because they manage to grab visitors’ attention right away and explain the benefits of hiring your company in under a minute or two.

And There You Have It…

The 5 content types you should be creating to generate leads and convert them into customers.