When it comes to successful business development for law firms, the area of practice and legal expertise has a lot to do with efficacy. We feel that, due to the nature of the relationships between the client base and lawyers, content marketing for family law firms is a sensible, strategic choice for developing business. Let’s dig in!
Different Practice Areas, Different Marketing Strategy
As outlined in our Legal Marketing Nutrition Guide, we believe effective marketing covers a spectrum of activity that both grows a law firm’s brand, and activates sales.
The balance of these two factors is strategically determined by the law firm’s business goals and current circumstances, but the tactics that execute the plan, are more defined by the practice area, client-type, and caseload.
Mass tort and class action lawyers work off volume, so the marketing strategy focuses advertising initiatives that broadly increase awareness of specific actions.
Other practice areas like personal injury, or criminal defense, where having repeat business from clients isn’t exactly desired, strategies focus on branded campaigns that keep their services top of mind within the marketplace.
While every law firm, regardless of speciality, will require a general marketing mix of brand and sales to be successful in the long run, family law firms that focus on content marketing, may have a unique opportunity to leverage the relationships inherent in their area of practice.
Content Marketing; What is That Again?
Content marketing is something outside your service, that provides consistent value to a specific, potentially monetizable, audience.
What does, “value outside your service” mean?
This does not mean that content is unattached from the purpose of your law firm or the law, but it does mean that whatever you choose to make, has to have inherent value and be worth the time of your audience.
This feels simple, but content marketing has become so complexified that most marketers and business owners just throw a wad of cash at the idea, do something for two weeks, and then move on. Another example of Checklist Marketing.
Here are specific examples of content marketing initiatives; a valuable newsletter, book, podcast, or video series. Got it? Good.
A newsletter about torts, a podcast about how to divide an estate and assets, a video series about deposition tactics? Maybe for your in-house marketing, but not for content marketing.
Content marketing is about value and relationships, and that is exactly why it’s a perfect fit for family law firms.
Content Marketing and “The Funnel”
All of your activities within a marketplace, content, ads, and campaigns, go into influencing a potential client’s Awareness of your firm and your specialty, Consideration of your services as solutions to their problems, and then the Decision to actually pick up the phone and call you.
It’s very important to remember that certain marketing activities, yield certain results and responses, and are better suited for specific parts of the purchase funnel, to achieve specific goals.
Marketing content that pushes people to make choices and take advantage of opportunities NOW, should be relegated to the smaller Decision parts of the funnel where intent is higher. Direct response from marketing activities at the Decision part of the purchase funnel is the goal.
Marketing content that familiarizes a potential clientbase with your brand and it’s purpose needs to be far-reaching and able to fill up the Awareness portion of the funnel, where no one knows your law firm from Adam. Direct response from marketing activities existing at the Awareness part of the funnel, is not the goal.
And right in the middle of the Awareness and Decision, is the Consideration part of the marketing funnel – and this is where relationship-building content marketing initiatives, like podcasts or rich-content newsletters, can be so effective, particularly for family law.
Direct responses to content at the Decision part of the funnel, like podcasts or newsletters, can include subscription, engagement, and other metrics which can widen the way you measure your impact and forecast where leads may come from.
Content Marketing for Family Law Firms
We’ve featured several successful law firms that have used content marketing to their advantage, to establish relationships, keep their brand awareness, and to generate leads, on our LAWsome podcast.
In her interview, family lawyer and award-winning entrepreneur Erin Levine, talked about her alternative legal service, Hello Divorce, and how understanding her audience and leaning into the relationships through tech and content, helped her succeed. LISTEN -> https://www.thelawsomepodcast.com/podcast/ep-57-legal-marketing-in-splitsville/
IP lawyer Autumn Witt Boyd discusses the power of content marketing in her firm, and how she’s using podcasts to reach her target audience and create a relationship with them before they need her services – https://www.thelawsomepodcast.com/podcast/ep-60-content-marketing-for-law-firms/
Whether it’s a newsletter or a podcast or a video series, content marketing that establishes a relationship between you and an intended audience, can work across the entire marketing funnel, helping to drive awareness of your services, create a point of consideration by offering value, and potentially tipping the scale on a decision to retain your counsel.
Should You Launch a Podcast For Your Family Law Firm?
Look, we make podcasts. Award-winning ones that have actually achieved business goals. And it is tough work. If you are interested, we’ve written extensively about the process, here. But we believe the client/lawyer relationship and dynamic within a family law firm is a perfect setting for a podcast.
Your family law podcast is an experience that potential clients can subscribe to, that continually reminds them of your value, and can be introduced into their lives again & again. No webinar does this, no ad campaign does this.
However, the positive effects from content marketing, only happen with a consistent schedule and dependable production behind your podcast.
Most marketing strategies are haphazard, intermittent, and text-based: a blog post here, a newsletter there. A branded podcast with Consultwebs commits your marketing to a schedule, regularly promotes your firm, and gives an actual voice to your brand.
Want to Learn More About Podcasting For Lawyers?
Contact Consultwebs today to discuss how we can help your firm take advantage of the opportunities podcasting presents for law firms. We would be glad to provide you with a free consultation and help you to understand the options available to you.
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