national law review baltimore lma content marketing feb 2014
DESCRIPTION
The term “Content Marketing “ yields 4,410,000 results in Google. The explosion in thought leadership marketing presents a unique opportunity for law firms - but what are legal consumers interested in reading and why? What role can thought leadership play in the retention of a law firm? What resources are available to your firm in order to generate a steady, usable stream of new content for your thought leadership? Once you invest in generating compelling content – how do you get it in front of folks who influence the decision to retain a law firm? Addressing a major trend in professional services marketing, this program does a 360 degree examination of thought leadership from the view point of the legal consumer, the professional writing the content and third party platforms who publish thought leadership. Recent articles published by law firms will be examined to see what resonates (and what doesn’t) with legal consumers, law firms and third party publishers. Jennifer Schaller is the co-founder and Managing Director of the National Law Review on-line edition, one of the highest volume business law websites in the U.S. In her role at the National Law Review, Jennifer has unique access to the readership metrics of 1,000’s of thought leadership pieces published by firms from across the country. Jennifer is also a former in-house attorney at CNA Insurance who was directly responsible for hiring law firms, and a marketing executive at the Aon Corporation, a Fortune 500 professional services firm. Jennifer started her legal career as an associate attorney at a 100+ attorney law firm and produced her practice group’s newsletter as a part of her duties.TRANSCRIPT
What Works For:
Legal Consumers
Law Firms and
Publishers
Manage expectations.
Begin with the end in mind.
• 51% growth in
law firm blogs
over the last 4
years
• There are an
estimated
40,000-
50,000 legal
blogs
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2010 2011 2012 2013
Percent of U.S. Law Firms
with Blogs
Source: Above the Law January 2014
75% of legal consumers use the internet to find lawyers and to research lawyers
76% of corporate attorneys consider the usefulness of a law firm blog as a factor when deciding which firm to retain Source Greentarget Global In-House Attorney Survey 2013 - ABA 2012 Survey
Corporate
Attorneys:
• 66% use
weekly
• 65% consult
Wikipedia
39.1% of attorneys had a client hire them as a result of their legal blog
This rises to 53.3 % for solos and to 50% of attorneys in firms of 2-9 attorneys
Source Greentarget Global In-House Attorney Survey 2013 - ABA 2012 Survey
Corporate
Attorneys:
• 53% read
business
publications on
their
smartphones
Niche, Good Pick Ups, Not a Huge
Number of Reads…but readers from: Walmart, Crate & Barrel, Safeway, E-Bay, Josten
Jewelers, Exclusively Diamonds, B of A
Cities of Madison, Stevens Point, Rockford
• Communicate
to
stakeholders
more than just
raw readership
numbers
Source: Google
Geographic-Specific News, Great Pick
Up, Average Number of Reads… 88% of traffic clicks from the Indiana Secretary
of State’s website
• Often, Bar
Associations &
Government
Agencies pick
up content
from 3rd parties
rather than
directly from
law firms’ sites
Source: Google
National – International Topic, Huge
Number of Reads… Most traffic clicks from Facebook, Reddit, blog
comments, educational institutions
• The Average
length for
article on page
1 of Google is
2,000+ words Source: QuickSprout
Go Deep: a law department
within a company
within an industry
In house attorneys generally are generalists Professional & School relationships
Karma
Play long ball & go wide
• Over 70% of
business to
business
content is not
consumed by
the intended
audience
Source: Findlaw In-House Blog & Meg Charendoff
Go Deep – legal analysis
Do a series and link together
Add Value
Deep Sources of content
Applicable Law Section of Briefs
Build upon Regulatory Updates
• Direct
correlation
between word
count and the
number of
backlinks
Source: Google, Moz & QuickSprout
• Be quick to get
social media or
other news
links
• Add value; add
analysis
Legal News Reporting an event
Legal News Reporting an event
• Tough to rank
high for news
in a crowded
market
• Local take on
national events
If you want to chase news:
Be Very Quick
Do What You Know
Add Value
Google Trends and Cross with
your Google Keywords
Gov. Agency Press Releases &
Court Filings (not yours)
Google:
• 70-90% clicks
page 1
• 73% don’t go to
page 2
Source: Google & QuickSprout
Lead with Important Words,
established for topic, fresh
content, page rank
• Search results
influenced by
terms on
websites, the
freshness of
content, your
region and
PageRank
Source: Google
Over 65 characters gets cut –
key words first then hook
If established for topic more
leeway with title
• Abbreviate
then end with
full agency
names
• Assume a
National
audience;
include
jurisdiction
Source QuickSprout , Forbes.com & National Law Forum
• Lead with most
important
words
• Don’t overstuff
with keywords
Source: Meta.Stackoverflow
• Don’t start with
“How do I…”.
• Questions are a
good way to get
a hook
Source: Meta.Stackoverflow
Show Me the Money: When Can I Expect my
Tax Refund?
Reefer Madness? More States Likely to
Legalize Recreational Marijuana; More
Challenges for Employers
Re-syndicated to Monster.com’s
Employment Blog
Lyondell: Is the Safe Harbor Closed to Former
Shareholders of LBOs (Leveraged Buyouts)?
State of Play – Is 2014 the Year of Internet
Gaming?
Biggest
Challenge:
• Lack of time
and resources
to produce
content
Top Five Content Marketing Tactics
“Content marketing is about
delivering the content your audience
is seeking in all the places they are
searching for it.”
Content Marketing Insitute Quote- Michael Brenner, B2B Marketing Insider
60 Minutes
Most successful broadcast in TV history
How many folks watch at 7pm on Sunday?
On airplanes, kid versions, see clips on other
news shows…
Meet the Press
66th Season on TV
Airs 3 times 1st day
CNBC, MSNBC, Podcasts, Sirius, Dial Global,
C-Span Radio
Turn around time, type and volume of traffic Alexa - Amazon, Quantcast
Barriers for access to your content both by readers, potential linkers and search engines
Loss of use by firm, firm branding, any analytics back on readership
Type of content accepted, self service site, content vetted – quality is king.
Physical barriers to access content, format of content, SEO barriers to access content.
Do they know your market, geography, alliance partnerships.
NatLawReview.com
The National Law Review
Jennifer B. Schaller, Esq.
Managing Director
(708) 207-1006
Legal Analysis. Expertly Written. Quickly Found.