Content marketing is important – and (unfortunately) costly. Many law firms and lawyers are therefore still reluctant. Often with the simple reason that the effort is not worth it. This article shows that such an assessment is usually based on an error. We also look at an important element for increasing ROI: content repurposing.
Many law firms still misjudge their marketing content. A blog post, for example, is seen merely as a news element that serves to keep the website up to date. The perception: it is content for users who keep coming back to the website and recognise that the law firm blog is "alive". They also see it as a piece that can be shared in a post on LinkedIn and maybe sent in a newsletter.
Those who perceive their blog articles in such a limited way fail to recognize the true value of this content and consequently misjudge the ROI.
You should forget the following prejudices once and for all.
Many law firms merely share their blog articles once on LinkedIn with a note like: "New blog post about XXX, find the link here." This is not only unsexy, but also not very informative. This results in hardly any clicks.
What they are missing is that a blog post in particular offers many more possibilities.
Every article is a sustainably effective asset in the digital marketing of the law firm. Blogposts pay exceptionally good marketing ROI!
Your blogposts are assets that work for your law firm in legal marketing far beyond the initial publication. It's content that you can recycle in communications (see below). Moreover, as long as the post is online, Google will refer users to the article if it answers their question.
This equation is flawed for several reasons.
1) Your target group surfs the Internet a lot. The attention for and memory of the consumed content are low. The chance that a piece of content will directly reach the consciousness of your target groups at the first contact is very small. Important messages should therefore be repeated.
2) Users don't proactively go to your site just to see what's new. Users come to your site when you actively ask them to (e.g. via email or social media) or when they find your page in the results of a Google search. This means that your target groups see the content that is presented to them on these channels – no matter how old this content is. The chronology of your blog plays only a minor role for the clicks.
3) Just because a piece of content is several months or years old doesn't mean it's no longer relevant. Especially with legal topics, there are many questions that come up again and again. These topics are sustainably relevant and articles about them retain your visibility. They pay you ROI on an ongoing basis.
Oldies are goldies!
You've invested a lot in your blog post. How can you maximize the return?
In order to rank high on Google, you need an optimized website. But that is not what this article is about.
If you're interested in SEO: 9 tips for SEO-friendly content
While Google is busy linking users to you, you can also actively spread your content through communication. The following points should be considered when you reuse your blog articles:
Your website already has a lot of content. This is a valuable resource. With analytics tools, you can identify which posts perform well (e.g. generate many clicks). This is an indication that the content is relevant and interesting. Select these articles.
In one article, you covered a topic that has several subtopics? This is an opportunity to post the same blog article from different perspectives on social media. Example: Your article on the impact of the changes to Swiss company law on international M&A transactions contains important learnings for
a) Swiss companies acquiring foreign companies and
b) foreign companies wishing to acquire Swiss companies.
On social media (for example, on LinkedIn), you can draw attention to your article from at least two perspectives:
In both cases, the most important takeaways should already be mentioned in the LinkedIn post. This increases the chance of a click.
And don't forget: Several of your team members can share the article on social media. This also increases the visibility of the article.
When you send out a newsletter, you're allowed to re-use popular content on occasion. Even older blogposts that are still relevant may appear from time to time.
As mentioned: it's a misconception that all your targets will really notice an article on first contact and immediately think "again?".
The reality is that regular interaction increases the chance of awareness.
You already have an article on a topic but find it incomplete or out of date? Perhaps you have received a testimonial for your work in a project on this topic and would like to add this to the post. Or you have another article on the topic that you can link to.
Then it is worth optimizing the blog post after publication. If this is done in a targeted manner, it can optimize the visibility of a blog post again and help you to get more clicks.
Keyword SEO Optimization: Here's how to do it right.
It is important that you do not change the core message of the blog post. This could have an impact on the ranking of the post in Google search results. The content should remain essentially the same.
You did the research work on the question behind the blog post. You know the topic. So why not adapt the message to other formats and channels and make it accessible to your targets there?
See also: 7 steps to a successful guest article
At HeadStarterz, we specialize in content marketing in the legal industry. We understand the challenges faced by law firms and lawyers. Our experts work with firms to develop customized, efficient processes to maximize the impact of their marketing investments. All sizes of companies face different challenges in this area.
If you are interested, we would be happy to discuss your challenges with you in a non-binding initial meeting: hello@headstarterz.com
HeadStarterz - We are at home in Basel and look forward to your visit in our well located office directly at the Rhine in the heart of the city in the tri-state area!
