6 Content Marketing Skills That’ll Only Get More Important For Legal Marketers

Content is king and many legal marketing teams have invested in niche content marketing experts. In fact,?56% of businesses worldwide intend to spend more on content creation. However, content marketing continues to evolve in today’s digital landscape. Law firm content marketers who want to be successful should continue to hone their skills across these areas in order to produce their best work and ensure their firm remains competitive.

1. Copywriting

Most likely, your role as a content marketer focuses on creating content that helps drive leads. To do that, you need to be a good copywriter. The ability to develop a unique brand voice as well as adapt writing styles based on differing business needs and?personas?are two elements of strong copywriting that experts will continue to work on.?An essential part of law firm copywriting is being able to take complex legal speak and turn it into easily digestible pieces of content for your target audience. Things like blog posts, case studies, and eBooks should be easily understood. You should also get comfortable seeking out experts on the topics you write about, and developing a process for interviewing them and then writing about what you learn at a deeper level.?

2. Editing

Similar to copywriting, proficient editing is critical for great content creation. Error-prone or sloppy-seeming writing can turn off readers and seriously hurt your law firm’s credibility. Editing provides the difference between mediocre content that simply expresses ideas and compelling content that engages your audience.?

3. SEO Skills

If you’re going to go to the trouble to create relevant content, you want to also take steps to ensure that content is found online. Impactful content reaches your audience when they need to hear it, as well as helps with page ranking. SEO best practices will help you to create valuable content that also converts readers into potential clients. Knowing how to conduct keyword research, write optimized titles and descriptions, and place items like alt-text and keywords?are table-stakes for developing SEO-optimized content.?Every legal content marketer should understand SEO best practices to ensure that the content they're creating gets found on search engines.

For a breakdown of SEO best practices, check out this free webinar: SEO Basics in an Hour.

4. Promotional Skills

How will your content get seen if you don't know how to promote it? A big part of content marketing is then promoting that content via various channels. Some of the most important channels are things like social media and email. Try taking more of an educational tone when sharing your most recent content via social media. Remember to make the value of your content clear and inform the reader of what they'll get by reading it.

For email, you can promote your content via a newsletter or through email blasts. Again, remember to focus on adding value to your audience's inboxes while showcasing your latest content.

And if you have an active blog, you should ensure everyone on your team is aware of how to promote it. Use a platform like SocialHP to make sure it's easy for your team to share the latest blog posts. And you can even add a link to your latest blog in the signature of your team's emails.

5. Organization and Time Management

Deadlines are a big part of content marketing. It’s essential to remain organized and learn how to do your best work among varying and tight deadlines. You probably need to create content calendars that align with your firm’s overall goals. Additionally, it’s not uncommon for content marketers to experience burnout, so time management will play a key role in a sustainable career. Know how many deliverables need to be done each week, break down items by day or even by hour, and block off time in your calendar accordingly. Some people work well under pressure, but we suggest not waiting until the night before assignments are due to complete all of your work – that’s one way to make your job more stressful and less satisfying.?

Try using Google Sheets to build a content calendar, and try out a task management software like Jira so your whole team can stay organized.

6. Data and Analysis

You can better optimize content if you are able to analyze performance. You should be able to analyze industry trends, keep up-to-date on your audience’s preferences and behavior, and use all that information to make strategic decisions about future content. Some creative individuals don’t enjoy digging into data, but it’s important to remember that it doesn’t matter how compelling or interesting your content is if no one reads it. Using data to choose topics that resonate, stay ahead of industry trends, and align content with conversations happening online will help you to improve what you create and expand your reach. See:?How to Use Data to Determine Your Law Firm’s Blog Topics.

Takeaway:

Honing these content marketing skills will make you a more powerful writer. Whether you have just started your content marketing career at a law firm or you are a lifelong content marketer, chances are you want to level up and do your best work. These are just a few areas to focus on as you continue to improve.

Want to take your content creation skills to the next level? Check out our latest on-demand course, Blogging for Lawyers. Taught by renowned blogging expert of LexBlog, Kevin O'Keefe, this course goes over all the essential skills needed to run a successful blog in the legal industry.