What’s working in legal tech content marketing right now

Highlights: Practical Insights from Legal Tech Marketers

• “Think carefully about the segments you work with. Are they healthy, are they still busy, do they still need what you sell? And are you still solving a pain for them? If not, it may be time to adjust your message and offering. This cannot be overstated when working with law firms who depend on certain industries and practice areas (think real estate) that have had to completely reinvent.” — Jennifer Tomlinson, Executive VP of Marketing at Qorus Software
• “Experiment with live video. You don’t need a fancy production team — you just need a camera on your laptop or mobile device. We noticed a need for virtual thought leadership and that’s where Liticast came about. Our team started reaching out to leaders in the legal world to have a discussion about their expertise and the results have been positive so far.” — Jon Robinson, VP of Operations at Litify
• “Double down on high-performing channels. Don't underestimate your email list. Adapt marketing assets to reflect what's going on in the world. And show empathy for customers.” — Anthony Lieu, Head of Marketing at LegalVision
• “Right now, many legal tech firms have internal hires they aren’t using full-time. See if they can do write-ups or provide expert advice— anything you can use in your content.” — Tory Gray, Founder, at The Gray Dot Company

Actionable Content Marketing Advice from Legal Tech Marketers

The B2B buying process can head-scratchingly complex.

And when it comes buying legal technology – things get even harder.

When PwC surveyed law firms in 2018, it discovered that most see technology as their biggest challenge in the year ahead. And there are now so many vendors that firms and in-house legal teams can choose from when looking to use technology to solve a legal operations problem.

There are often too many options for people who are influential in the buying process. General Counsel, CFOs, CTOs, and law firm partners have little time as it is.

And the pandemic has only heightened this situation, by exposing firms and in-house teams to the impact of restrictions, downturns, and all those accompanying client anxieties. If you’re a senior marketer in legal tech, this makes your job tougher.

Thankfully, several legal tech marketing leaders have kindly shared their time with me, to discuss some actionable tips for getting your content marketing right.

First up is Jennifer Tomlinson, the Executive VP of Marketing at Qorus Software, which provides sales enablement and proposal software for law firms.

Only Produce Content that Meets Legal Tech Buyers Where They Are

The company has invested in content that answers questions and concerns about pains buyers are having across various stages of awareness.

It’s an investment that aligns with the classic customer journey, covering:

• Buyers who don’t yet know they have a business problem
• Buyers who have discovered their business problem
• Buyers who have begun to explore various solutions to it
• And buyers who know how but not who they want to fix the problem.

It’s a logical approach that is reflective of a recent Demand Gen Report, which showed 71 per cent of companies worry they’re not giving prospects content relevant to each stage of the customer journey.

“During COVID, influencer webinars geared toward our core law firm marketing, business development and proposal team audiences have been very good for us, with high registration-to-attendee rates,” said Tomlinson.

“We’ve been providing timely educational content that isn’t tone deaf to current times, while also illuminating a topic with a leader in the space. We have noticed particularly in legal, a thrust to use this ‘new normal’ as an opportunity to learn, train, and re-focus. Our content is geared to address this new focus.”

Publish in Long-Form for Lawyers That Value Industry Insight

Litify, a SaaS platform for law firms, is taking a similar approach. Jon Robinson is the company’s VP of Operations and he is an advocate for more detailed, in-depth content.

“We are consistently publishing long-form content that’s key for search visibility and brand awareness. As well, we’ve been hosting weekly live video discussions through our Liticast series with industry experts. In terms of measuring, we’re always keeping tabs on our key performance indicators through Google Analytics, Salesforce, and Ahrefs.

Tomlinson believes long-form content is helpful when a buyer is researching. In fact, 67 per cent of a typical B2B buyer’s journey now involves their own online research.

“The long-term ‘shelf life’ of good content like an eBook or strategic brief cannot be ignored, especially when working with law firms where many buyers and evaluators are often at play.” Strong download numbers and conversions in paid advertising through LinkedIn are a sign these formats work, she added.

Move Beyond the Blog: Legal Influencers May ‘Prefer’ Articles on LinkedIn

Tory Gray is the CEO of digital marketing agency The Gray Dot Company, which has counted legal tech firms such as CourtFiling, ServeNow and Lawgical among its clients.

For Gray and the agency’s clients, two kinds of content have been performing well in it these past six months. “As recently as five years ago, readers were happy with a blog where you posted recent thoughts, updates, and news,” said Gray.

“This is no longer the case as users want — and even expect — exhaustive, in-depth, up-to-date content. What users now want is more of an encyclopedia and less of a blog-style journal. That’s why we’ve focused on long-form, evergreen content, with positive results.”

In one recent study, about 96 per cent of buyers said they want content with more input from industry thought leaders.

“We’ve noticed strong results from authoritative, high-level blog posts published on platforms like LinkedIn. As far as we can tell, many influential figures in legal tech now prefer to consume articles this way rather than via branded blogs.”

For its part, Litify has also begun to shift away from short 500-word blog posts to prioritize longer form content and live video, according to Robinson. In recent months, the company has published guides to document management software, round-ups of legal software tools, and marketing advice for personal injury law practices.

In Australia, LegalVision lays claims to what it says is one the most visited legal websites in the country with more than 350,000 website visitors a month. Free articles, videos, and factsheets to help their SME customers grow their businesses have all performed well, said Anthony Lieu, LegalVision’s Head of Marketing.

“We stay nimble and produce content that reacts to current news, such as changes to employment law," said Lieu. “We measure this content by growth in lead volume and website traffic. We also ran live Q&A webinars on Facebook Live and LinkedIn Live three times a week earlier in the pandemic to help business-owners with their legal questions.”