Research suggests clients are willing to pay a premium to work with law firms that consistently produce merely “good” thought leadership.
Does your law firm want to charge clients premium rates for its services?
If so, your firm’s thought leadership might hold the key.
According to recently released research, if your firm produces merely “good” thought leadership, clients will be more willing to pay premium rates for the privilege of working with your firm.
Higher perceived value allows for higher prices
What makes us humans think a product or service is worth the higher price of it compared to competing products or services?
It’s the perception that the higher priced product or service is of a higher quality. You see this in every aspect of your life.
The food you buy at the supermarket.
The restaurants you dine out at.
The car you drive.
The hotels you stay at.
The clothes you wear.
The gym you belong to.
The electronics and appliances you purchase.
When we think a product or service is of high enough quality, we tend to be willing to pay a high price for it because we assume the high quality justifies a high price compared to alternatives.
Thought leadership gives you pricing power
The idea that products or services perceived to be higher quality justify higher prices apparently applies to law firms’ thought leadership.
According to the Edelman LinkedIn 2024 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 60 percent of “decision-makers and C-suite executives” surveyed said “good thought leadership makes them willing to pay a premium to work with that organization.”
(Edelman and LinkedIn surveyed nearly 3,500 “management level professionals” for their report.)
What does that tell you?
Executives at organizations that hire lawyers are apparently willing to pay more for their services if their and their firms’ thought leadership positions them as leaders regarding the areas of law they practice or the industries they serve.
Thus, consistently producing quality thought leadership can position your practice and your firm as higher quality compared to competitors, allowing you to charge more for your services.
How to create thought leadership that justifies charging higher rates
Knowing that a law firm can charge premium rates if it produces at least “good” thought leadership, what are the attributes of thought leadership that can help a law firm charge premium rates clients are willing to pay?
First, the thought leadership has to be consistently produced. Without many other factors in its favor, occasional thought leadership won’t help your firm get to the premium rates level. You probably need not produce daily or even weekly thought leadership. But producing thought leadership at least two to three times a month is likely the cadence you’ll need in order to build and maintain a perception in the minds of your clients that your firm is worth the premium rates it charges.
Second, naturally, your firm’s thought leadership needs to be at least “good”—but you should strive for it to be great. That means it needs to be valuable to your target audiences. It needs to convey knowledge, wisdom, and insights.
It can’t just be copycat-type thought leadership that looks and reads just like every other law firm’s. Instead, it should go beyond simply recounting what a court, a piece of legislation, or an administrative agency said by explaining why a particular legal development matters and what your target audience needs to do now. It should also come in a number of varieties beyond discussing legal developments, such as discussing best practices, red flags to watch out for, misconceptions, comparing and contrasting different approaches, etc.
Third, on a related note, your firm’s thought leadership needs to be relevant. It needs to resonate with your target audiences by showing that you and your firm understand the issues and problems that your clients and their industries are facing. That’s why they’re willing to pay higher rates: They see that your firm’s thought leadership reinforces that your firm is focused on the kinds of issues and problems that affect their industry.
The deeper your firm and your colleagues can niche down their content, the better. Doing so will increase the perception that your firm is offering a premium service. For example, if you want to serve more healthcare companies, your thought leadership should explicitly target them.
You want to make it clear that you and your firm are the go-to choices for your clients and that you both are unparalleled in your ability to help a particular company or companies in a particular industry because you’re aware of how various legal, business, economic, and social developments could impact those companies and their industries.
Finally, your thought leadership has to be well-distributed. It has to reach your target audiences. Great thought leadership that’s not distributed effectively and efficiently through multiple channels like email, social media, podcasts, and videos won’t reach your target audiences.
If your thought leadership doesn’t reach your target audiences, they won’t be able to develop the perception that you and your firm are worth higher rates based on that thought leadership.
A necessary service at premium prices
It’s unlikely anyone will post a photo of themselves on social media with your law firm’s swag the way they would with their brand new Hermès Birkin or Patek Philippe 5524G.
But that doesn’t mean your law firm can’t command premium—if not luxury—rates.
There are obviously many factors that go into determining what rates law firms charge for their services. But those law firms that consistently create premium thought leadership will be able to charge premium rates their clients are willing to pay because the thought leadership makes it clear to clients that those firms and their attorneys are worth every penny.
Thinking about bringing on an outside writer to help your law firm strategize and create compelling thought-leadership marketing and business development content? Click here to schedule a 30-minute Content Strategy Audit to learn if collaborating with an outside writer is the right move for you and your firm.