Thought leadership content focused on your clients’ issues can be a more effective tool than thought leadership content focused on timely legal developments.
Most law firms’ thought leadership strategy is driven by marketing.
But a thought leadership strategy driven by business development can be more effective.
Marketing-driven thought leadership content versus business development-driven thought leadership content
On one hand, there’s thought leadership content driven by marketing.
This content is the kind of content a law firm publishes that’s relevant to a large segment of its client base and/or referral sources.
This one-to-many content will typically cover recent court decisions, proposed statutes or enacted statutes, and recent administrative agency actions.
When a firm produces this kind of content, its goal is to stay top of mind with a large group of people and organizations. The content will be designed to be relevant to them, but probably won’t be targeted to them in the form of customized takeaways.
On the other hand, there’s thought leadership content driven by business development.
Because business development is a one-to-few or a one-to-one function, thought leadership driven by business development will focus on strategically chosen topics that are based on legal or business issues that a law firm’s ideal clients have.
This content will demonstrate a firm’s attorneys’ knowledge, wisdom, and insights. Content focused on “best practices,” “misconceptions,” “red flags,” “how we did it,” and the like allows firms and their attorneys to target specific client types, specific industries, and the specific legal and business issues those client types and industries face.
In contrast to marketing-driven thought leadership content, business development-driven content can be highly customized and targeted to the kinds of clients a law firm wants more of, and the kinds of client matters the firm wants more of.
The key benefit of business development-driven thought leadership content: The library of content
Marketing-driven thought leadership content is great because it can be published in third-party publications and distributed through a law firm’s owned media channels, such as its website, its social media feeds, and its email newsletter.
But the problem with this content is that it tends to go stale. An article about a recent court decision, piece of legislation, or administrative agency action will only stay relevant for so long. Within as soon as a few weeks, and certainly within a few months, that content is old news.
Similarly, business development-driven thought leadership content can also be published in third-party publications and distributed through a law firm’s owned media channels.
But business development-driven thought leadership content, because it won’t go stale like content about recent legal developments since it’s focused on legal and business issues clients are likely to face, can be referenced in the future by attorneys when a current or prospective client is facing the same issue the attorneys tackled in a piece of content.
That is a huge benefit to law firms and their attorneys. Each piece of content contributes to a library of citable business development-driven content.
When an attorney or another representative of the law firm interacts with an ideal client regarding an ideal matter, they can “borrow” from the library a piece of content that’s directly on point regarding a business issue or legal issue a client could be dealing with currently or soon.
What better indication to a client that an attorney or their firm is the right choice to help them with their legal or business issue than by being able to read, watch, or listen to a piece of content published by that attorney or firm about that legal or business issue that demonstrates the attorney’s or firm’s (collective) knowledge, wisdom, and insights about the issue?
This library is also helpful when law firms and their attorneys are pitching clients formally via RFPs or other methods because firms and attorneys can include or reference various pieces of their thought leadership content when doing so.A law firm’s strategic, consistent thought leadership program that’s regularly producing relevant, valuable, and compelling content in the eyes of that client can go a long way in eliminating the client’s concern that they made the wrong choice when they retained the firm to assist them with their legal or business issue.
Taking a business development approach to thought leadership content
So, how do you take a business development approach to your thought leadership content?
You focus on the kinds of issues you know your ideal clients are having or likely to have, or the kinds of issues they’re concerned about. You then create content around those issues that demonstrate your and your colleagues’ knowledge, wisdom, and insights about those issues.
For example, if your ideal clients are healthcare companies, then what are the kinds of legal or business issues healthcare companies are likely to face that you can discuss? What are issues the executives at healthcare companies should be worrying about and how should they approach them?
No matter your ideal clients’ industries or types, the concept of business development-driven thought leadership content focuses on creating content around the issues your clients are concerned about today, and that you think they will/should be concerned about tomorrow.
Because your focus for this content is on clients’ issues and not timely legal developments of note, you and your colleagues will ultimately create a citable library of content that has a longer shelf life than your thought leadership regarding timely legal developments.
A better approach to thought leadership content
The majority of law firms’ thought leadership efforts are powered by marketing: “How can we create content that’s most relevant to as many people as possible so we can stay top of mind with them?”
By taking a business development approach to thought leadership — “How can we make it clear to the kinds of clients we want more of, who have the kinds of legal matters we want more of, that we are the best fit for them?” — law firms can better position themselves as “go-to” firms for those clients who have those kinds of matters.
When you and your firm take this approach, you’ll enjoy the same short-term opportunities to publish your content that you’d enjoy when publishing timely, marketing-driven thought leadership.
But in addition, you and your firm will build a stockpile of nonperishable content you and your colleagues can cite to and share down the road when clients approach you regarding issues you’ve covered in this content — which reinforces to clients that you and your firm are their best choices to assist them with their pressing legal and business issues.
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.