It was standing room only on April 13 in a Hilton Bayfront conference room, a day before the LMA Annual Conference began in San Diego, as eager legal marketers gathered for the Pre-Conference Program, “Breakthroughs in PR, Content and Communications.”
Packed with powerful and practical ways to enhance visibility for both law firms and attorneys, this one-day interactive program explored the full gamut of the latest trends and techniques in PR, content strategy and technology tools.
Equitable, Sharable Content
Social media guru Guy Alvarez kicked things off with a discussion of how law firms are currently using social media, and he shared best practices to help guide strategy. Noting that firms have doubled their use of social channels in the past year, Alvarez pointed to engagement as the single most important measurement tool.
Alvarez stressed that engagement is a two-way conversation that requires “equitable content” in the form of thought-provoking, client-centric writing that adds value, rather than promotional content that simply touts firm accomplishments. In addition, he suggested that content must be sharable, and that each piece of content should be re-purposed at least seven times!
The group also heard about digital strategies from Courtney Cregan of Fenwick & West and Stefanie Knapp of Allen Matkins. Techniques discussed included video exclusives to media partners, “meme” photos on Twitter and paid social advertising. The duo advised that many of these tools can be very cost-effective and yield a solid return for the investment.
The Power of Visuals and Websites
Stefanie Marrone of Proskauer and Molly Porter from Seyfarth Shaw shared a compelling presentation on the power of visuals in storytelling, especially on social platforms. With plenty of practical advice and examples, they demonstrated the cost-effective use of visual content, such as colorful infographics, photography, icons and video, noting that articles containing relevant images receive 94 percent more views than those without. The two also shared a plethora of tips on existing and new technologies for incorporating visuals into storytelling, including Pinterest, Periscope (a new Twitter video app), SlideShare, Clio and Canva.
Of course, a firm’s website is the first point of entry for most business prospects. Rachel Guy of Winstead PC and Jaron Rubenstein of Rubenstein Technology Group shared case studies of effective law firm websites, observing the rising use of video and the critical importance of high-quality photography. The key strategy is to create a user experience that fits as closely as possible to targeted personas who visit the site. They also pointed out that more and more firms are embracing the attorney biography section as not only a visitor destination, but probably the most important piece of content on any firm’s site.
Time-Honored Tools: Journalism, Writing and Reputation Management
Not to be outdone by new technologies, several sessions focused on journalism, writing and reputation management as time-honored tools of the trade, but with new twists. John Corey of Greentarget and John Ford of Hellerman Baretz Communications held a lively panel moderated by Julie Gurney of Benesch. The trio explored the idea of corporate journalism as a way to marry market intelligence and subject matter expertise with the credibility and narrative techniques of professional journalism. As with any effective marketing, the key is engagement and empathy with the target audience.
Dovetailing with corporate journalism, a panel on “creating news” addressed thought leadership and the best ways to groom attorneys as media sources. Chris Rieck of McDermott Will & Emery and Vanessa Blum of The Recorder offered best practices for attorney-media relationship building.
Amy Spach of Perkins Coie and John Byrne of Glencoe Media Group presented practical examples and tips on compelling writing that cuts through the clutter, while Amy Deschodt of Weil Gotshal and Nancy Myrland of Myrland Marketing discussed reputation management on social media.
Finally, the day concluded with a lively and informative panel discussion featuring journalists Casey Sullivan of Bloomberg BNA, Vanessa Blum of The Recorder and Amy Stevens of Thomson Reuters. Moderated by PR strategist Cheryl Bame and Duane Morris’ Joshua Peck, the panel fielded live media pitch ideas and advised attendees on the most effective ways to shape a story.
The Pre-Con session served as a great kick-off to a successful conference packed with information and practical takeaways for legal marketers.