Seven Fresh Ideas in Legal Marketing

Elizabeth Lampert, The Recorder
May 7, 2015 | 0 Comments

Elizabeth Lampert

Content marketing is one of the hottest tools in marketing right now. While not a new method, it's not yet a mature one. It will be another year or two before content marketing hits its peak. When this shift begins, we will see savvy marketing folks move to the next new marketing trend.

Of course, content marketing will not lose its appeal. In fact, marketers are increasing their investment in content marketing and building their content teams. It's an efficient way to get your message in front of potential clients.
Still, as the glamour of content marketing begins to fade, we can start to wonder what the next big thing will be. New trends raise the question of what marketers will need to look for in the future. Here are a few ideas to try on for size while we wait:

1. NATIVE ADVERTISING:
Native advertising is a form of online advertising that matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears. For example, an article written by a law firm to promote their expertise, but using the same form as an article written by a publication. Popular social media sites have put native advertising in play through examples like: Promoted tweets on Twitter, sponsored stories on Facebook, and featured videos on YouTube. The idea is about how brands now work with online publications to reach people in the most effective way possible. We'll see more of this tactic as media space gets cluttered and law firms find themselves looking for ways to cut through this noise. For content marketers, native advertising opens up the potential of getting more eyes on your content. It inspires the confidence that you're actually reaching potential customers, and its strong ability to take context into account helps ensure you can target buyers with more accurate timing and a more relevant message.

Additionally, law firms will start to appreciate the power of their untapped distribution networks, which include customers, partners and staff. They'll begin formalizing these networks, creating a distribution infrastructure, which gets their message across to a vast yet targeted audience.

2. MICRO VIDEO AND IMAGES:
Many law firms are already using short video content and images on their websites. That said, these tools will make an even stronger appearance into content pieces. Law firms might borrow an idea from these applications such as Snapchat and Vine. You may recall when, during ESPN's Monday Night Football pregame show, Dunkin' Donuts unveiled the first television commercial made completely on Vine. It was a huge hit, leading the company to unveil more during the Super Bowl itself. Platforms such as Snapchat and Vine have the power to reach an incredibly vast audience with a creative, high speed approach.

3. STOP WORTHY:
The media world is overwhelmingly crowded and grasping people's attention is the ultimate goal. Someone swiping through his or her newsfeed must intercept your content. Catchy headlines, interesting video and graphics are essential to someone stopping to take a look, hopefully, share the content. Word of warning, watch how you use links. You don't want your audience clicking off your page before they have read your words of wisdom!

4. BRANDS & FANS:
We'll surely be seeing more and more brands investing in fan content for authenticity. Some brands have already adopted this approach including Kenneth Cole, who in its recent #30yearsbold campaign asked fans to share their 'bold moments,' and the best content was curated by Kenneth Cole and highlighted on its microsite. Getting customers involved connects customers to the brand. These involvement-based campaigns are highly likely to make a greater appearance in legal marketing.

5. THE VALUE YOUR CUSTOMERS VOICE:
Consumer voice has always been a crucial factor when it comes to marketing. Peer-to-peer testimony is undoubtedly one of the most effective sources with B2B buyers today. A savvy move for legal marketers would be to begin leveraging video interviews with customers, customer testimonial quotes from review sites and increasing case study examples.

6. INTERACTIVE SOCIAL POSTS:
Increasingly interactive social media posts are one we'll see coming into play. Ever since the introduction of Twitter cards (clickable images in Twitter), marketers are consistently raising the bar and creating higher levels of interactivity with social content. As Newsfeeds become more and more cluttered, a social media post that the viewer can engage with directly will perform significantly better than one that requires you to click to another page.

7. EXPERT INTERVIEWS:
It is likely that expert interviews and roundups will get increasingly popular as it is an extremely effective strategy to create quality content while also reaping the benefits of that content being shared. Interviewing experts in your industry is a clever way to add variety. An interview can be just the content a company needs to actively engage their customers.
The key is finding the right experts and securing an interview, asking the right questions and promoting your news piece on all social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Send the piece to your expert and thank them. Ask them to promote the interview on their social media platforms. Promote the interview by sharing it on your own social media, or writing it up and distributing it to the news as a press release. You could also turn the interview into a YouTube video or podcast or add quality photos to the transcript and transform the content into blog post. When thinking strategically and creatively for each individual platform, the outcomes are limitless.
Only time will reveal what is up next in content marketing. However, these ideas will help you think about the next big thing and what trends are best to expand on in order to cut through the clutter and get your company noticed.

Elizabeth Lampert is the president of Elizabeth Lampert PR. She can be reached at Lampert@elizabethlampertpr.com.


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