For law firms looking to be truly strategic with their communications, it is critical to plan and execute not just for today, but for three to five years from now. One of the knocks on professional service companies, and the legal industry in particular, is the tendency to be slow to embrace change. The future of firm content production and client consumption is starting to take shape. Firms that embrace this transition will have a unique advantage.
When I first began in law firm marketing in the mid-2000s, routine tasks included printing client alerts, stuffing them in envelopes and running them through the postage meter. Law firm blogs were still rare and saddled with the awful ”blawg” moniker. Over time, email newsletters and a bumper crop of blogs emerged. This is where we sit today. With full knowledge that futurists often end up being proven wrong (I’m still waiting for that flying car), here are a few strategic communications shifts that firms would be wise to consider:
Dust-off, Reclaim or Claim Social Media Channels – For now, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are the dominant social media platforms. All are driving streams of traffic and serving as their own ecosystems. For content distribution, branding (and brand defense) and recruiting, these are critical outlets. “We don’t do social media,” is like saying in the 1950s, “Television is a fad. We’re radio people.”
Get the Real Figures – Marketing and communications properties need to be tracked with real-time and accurate data. This quantitative data will, with time, persistence and constant pruning of irritants, such as referral spam, provide valuable trend and demographic information. This leads to my next point…
Buy Keywords – Google AdWords allows for highly targeted – including location and age – advertising, and it is pay-per-click, meaning the only time you incur costs is when an actual action happens. Clicks can be directed to webinars, newsletters, blogs and practice group pages. When attorneys say that X is “hot” in their practice, the website should be updated and the keyword should be added to the list of terms bought.
Create Brands Within the Brand – “The XYZ Law Firm IP Blog” is just plain plain. It isn’t memorable, and it’s an impediment to attracting regular readers and media interest. Instead, create a brand for blogs, such as “Intellectually Curious” or “Trademarklandia.” You buy Tide laundry detergent, not “Proctor and Gamble Laundry Detergent.” The same principle applies.
Break Your Blogs Free! – One of the advantages of being on the consulting side of the equation is that I can be a bit more honest. And because I care, I want every firm to know that you are hurting your blog by housing it as a tab on your website. Doing so creates another step for readers and potential readers (especially the media), buries content and hurts branding efforts. The other issue is that websites are generally worse platforms, in terms of usability and readability, than free, blog-centric platforms, such as Blogger and WordPress.
Create Your Own “On the Move” – “On the Move” sections were staples of business sections and trade publications. Today, given the challenging economics of print, these features are increasingly going the way of the dodo. Use built-out social media channels to champion additions, awards, board appointment and other announcements that showcase talent, attaching high-res head shots and linking to accompanying press releases. You’ll enjoy the benefits of “social” media as folks pass these easy, clickable nuggets of information along.
The suggestions offered so far are not too far out the box. Here are a few that might force firms to move a bit more out of the comfort zone.
Provide Live Tweet Commentary on Major Proceedings – Twitter is the place to follow breaking news. And, when a major hearing is ongoing, journalists frequently provide real-time dispatches of the happenings. By creating a list of reporters tweeting and setting up an interested attorney to monitor and add commentary, the firm can add to the conversation, generate engagement and potentially provoke follow-up interviews.
Start a Podcast – By this, I mean something more than just having an attorney dryly read a client alert as listeners hear the chime of new email go off in the background. The vision is a dynamic recording – with guests when possible – and themes that generate repeat listeners. If your firm does a lot of work with start-ups, why not break down the many steps to launch a successful company and invite clients “on air” to tell their stories? Just remember to brand and promote!
Build a TV Studio and a Library of Video Client Alerts – Speed is critical in reaching clients and prospective clients when important news breaks. Yet, if you have ever watched a video client alert, you will probably see the same elements, either: a) a grainy web-cam picture with poor audio; or b) a partner in a rumpled suit sitting in a cluttered office talking too loud or too quietly. Production matters. By creating a video studio and investing in quality, branded backdrops, viewers will see and appreciate your firm’s polish. If you are offering a premium product at a premium price point, your communications need to match.
The future for futurists is almost always that their predictions are a bit off the mark. As we inched towards 2016, I realized that the tiny dehydrated Pizza Hut pizza and highway in the sky that Back to the Future II promised were never going to materialize. (We did – kind of – get hover boards, though.) Still, it’s important that firms take time to pause from the urgency of the day’s requests to better understand the ways they are communicating, how well they are working and how best to plan for the future to maximize a message’s impact.
By thinking ahead and being strategic with resources, firms can transition content to meet current and future client needs, better understand ROI and – ultimately – create a forward-looking, innovative image that leads to business development and talent acquisition and retention.
By Michael Bond, Senior Media Director, Blattel Communications for the July/August 2017 LMA Mid-Atlantic Region Newsletter