Anyone who has a vague idea about SEO knows that at the moment content is king.  Since the Panda and Penguin algorithm updates, website builders and business owners have had to invest heavily in creating high-quality, informative content for their customers in order to have a chance of gaining and keeping a decent ranking in Google. Stop the press – Google announced yesterday that it has released two new web spam updates, Panda 4 and Payday Loan 2.0.  Read more here. However, as well as writing first-class content for your paying clients, law firms need to ensure that they create copy for their ‘other’ clients.  And who are these ‘other’ clients you may ask?  They are the people who will SHARE your content with others, via social media and links within their content to yours.  They are the people who will contribute to selling your brand to others without actually becoming a bona fide customer of your firm.

How does a law firm engage people who will share their content with others?

One of my favourite books is The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. In it he identifies three types of people who can tip an idea or a product from a start up to a word-of-mouth epidemic.  They are:

• Connectors
• Mavens
• Salesman

In very simple terms a Connector is one of those individuals who knows EVERYONE.  Their social circle is around five times larger than that of an average person.  When it comes to spreading the word about an idea or a business, these gregarious people can spread it like wildfire.  If you are unsure whether you know a connector, ask yourself, “who introduced me to most of my friends?”. A Maven is a person who gathers lots and lots of information.  If you know a person who reads  blogs and articles on many different subjects to an almost obsessional degree, and then wants to tell you everything they have learned, then you know a Maven.  “They have the knowledge and the social skills to start word-of-mouth epidemics”, states Gladwell. Finally, the Salesmen are the persuaders.  They have the influence to convince people that your legal firm is the best in your area. Somehow, you need to get your content in front of these three types of people and let them do the work of promoting your copy, and as a consequence, your brand, for you. So how do you do that?

Write great content!

It goes without saying, no one, especially the three types of people who can get your brand ‘out there’ is going to share unoriginal, unintelligent and unedited content.  Make sure you write copy that people will want to read.

Make sure your share buttons are easily visible.

Make it easy for other people to promote your legal content by including ‘share’ buttons on your blog page.

Share and share alike

What goes around comes around.  If you want to find Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen you need to take on their qualities to a degree.  Read other peoples legal and business content and mention any new trends at networking events.  Share interesting content on your Facebook page or Twitter feed.  Plus 1 others’  Google + posts.  Leave comments on others’ blogs.  This will encourage the movers and shakers within the legal and business industry to take notice of your content and get it out to your prospective clients.

Send an email.

If you have been successfully cultivating the above (sharing and commenting on other peoples’ similar content) you can generate a list of contacts.  Send a short email asking them to share content you have created that you feel is of interest to THEM and THEIR readers.  Here is a wonderful article describing how you can craft these emails in order to get the best response.  Remember, you must create a relationship FIRST, otherwise your efforts may be viewed as spamming. Writing great copy is only the start of creating brand awareness through content marketing.  To make a return on your investment you have to get it out to the people who matter, those who can ultimately drive potential clients to your website.