We all know that attorneys know methods to write. You spend years honing your analysis and writing abilities for briefs, memoranda, motions, educational papers, and consumer letters. But once you’re requested to generate content material for a observe space weblog, social media publish, or to extend your skilled on-line presence, it’s possible you’ll really feel stumped. The considered producing one publish will be overwhelming, not to mention conceiving new content material day after day, and week after week.
At LISI, one of many ways in which we help our purchasers is by serving to them to conceive and create useful content material, both by themselves or with our assist. We plan content material calendars, write weblog articles and social media posts, and just lately our Communications Supervisor and Authorized Content material Author, Julie Ackerman, held a weblog writing workshop for attorneys, to assist attendees get previous the terrifying clean display.
So, how can you transfer past posting bulletins about new hires and lawyer awards, and begin creating useful and unique content material on your purchasers and potential purchasers?
Who’re you writing for? And why?
Earlier than you get began, you have to think about your medium, your audience, and your goal in writing; these will have an effect on the content material, tone, and size of your piece. Your medium will decide the size of your piece: a Tweet is proscribed to 280 characters, the brand new most on LinkedIn posts is 3,000 characters, and a weblog publish, although theoretically limitless, ought to nonetheless be succinct to seize and maintain your reader’s consideration.
Your viewers will even have an effect on what and the way you write. If you’re writing a high-level tax article for a audience of CFOs, you possibly can assume that your viewers has a sure degree of understanding concerning the subject, and your language might be very totally different than for those who have been explaining what to do after a automobile accident to a basic viewers.
Lastly, think about your goal in writing. Legal professionals could write to retain current purchasers by offering helpful info, to draw new purchasers by rising their visibility and demonstrating their information of a subject, to extend their stature of their observe space, or to develop their on-line presence by rising natural search visitors. All of those targets will be achieved by creating useful content material that your audience is searching for, desires to learn, and can advocate to others.
Now that you’re prepared to put in writing, what must you write about? Listed here are 5 concepts to assist generate useful content material:
1. What questions are your purchasers and potential purchasers asking?
Day-after-day in your observe, you area inquiries from current and potential purchasers about quite a lot of issues: their case, their settlement, your charges, modifications within the regulation, or one thing they’ve seen on the native information. These are clues as to what your purchasers and prospects need to know, and what content material they may discover useful. Use these widespread questions as a place to begin to brainstorm on your subsequent weblog article or collection of social media posts, retaining in thoughts your moral obligations of consumer confidentiality if utilizing a consumer’s circumstances as a supply of content material.
One other concept generator is nice outdated Google, which has a characteristic known as “Folks Additionally Ask.” You’ll be able to kind a query into Google, then use Folks Additionally Ask to see what persons are looking for on-line associated to this subject.
2. What are folks taking a look at, or reacting to, in your content material?
One of many nice issues about sharing your writing on-line is that you may inform who’s studying your materials and interesting with it. On LinkedIn and Twitter, you possibly can simply see what number of likes, shares, or feedback a publish will get (both yours or another person’s), and establish which subjects are resonating along with your audience. Construct on the subjects that folks need to learn, and steer away from points that aren’t gaining traction.
In your agency web site, you possibly can observe which pages are probably the most visited, who’s visiting them, and the way lengthy persons are spending on these pages. This will establish not solely the extra well-liked subjects and questions, however also can reveal what subjects particular purchasers are studying about. Offering useful content material on this subject is a good alternative to develop your relationship with that consumer.
3. Excessive profile circumstances and legislative modifications
Shocked that this isn’t larger up the listing? Large circumstances and new legal guidelines are typically the main target of the lawyer greater than the consumer, except you’re writing for knowledgeable or refined viewers. Most purchasers are usually not working on the slicing fringe of the regulation and these authorized headlines could not appear related to them.
Nevertheless, it’s at all times vital for attorneys to be on prime of recent laws and stand-out circumstances of their observe space, notably if you’re attempting to construct your repute as an authority in your space. In these cases, it’s particularly vital that purchasers and prospects see you participating on subjects on the forefront of your observe. Moreover, some purchasers do have to be knowledgeable about these modifications as a result of they immediately impression their enterprise or private life, or as a result of the case or regulation is on level on your consumer base. In these conditions, make your content material useful by decoding the case or regulation on your viewers moderately than simply reporting the information. On a latest episode of LISI Information + Views + To Dos, Adrian Lürssen, Co-founder and Vice President of Strategic Improvement of JD Supra mentioned:
“… folks mistake breaking the information with making sense of the information. So typically you’ll see companies simply form of reporting what all people already is aware of. And different occasions, you’ll see companies introducing this information that has been reported, after which making sense of it on behalf of their purchasers. This occurred, and right here’s the way it impacts you. And that is what you must do as a consequence.”
You add worth by decoding the information.
4. Non-legal newsworthy occasions
Native and world occasions that aren’t particularly authorized may also be used as a hook for brand new content material in two methods:
- To debate the authorized implications of a non-legal occasion; or
- To elucidate current legal guidelines
For instance, when COVID-19 hit, there have been a bunch of authorized implications for companies, staff, colleges, healthcare suppliers, and the world typically. Many attorneys created useful content material on this subject, and proceed to take action.
Topical occasions may also be used as a chance to supply content material on current legal guidelines, and may make a posh or unrelatable subject extra related to the reader. For instance, a high-profile celeb marriage or divorce can be utilized to clarify prenuptial agreements, separation agreements, or alimony.
One drawback to utilizing present information occasions as a hook on your content material is that your piece can get misplaced within the bulk of stories articles and different content material on this subject. In a traditional week, your scheduled article in your state’s canine chunk legal guidelines would possibly rank extremely on Google but when the President’s canine occurs to chunk somebody that week, your article goes to get pushed manner down the Google search rankings. (We could or could not know this from expertise. Thanks, Main.)
5. Future predictions
Legal professionals are usually not usually inclined to make future predictions. In reality, ethics guidelines usually warn towards it! Nevertheless, you do have information and expertise that your viewers doesn’t have, which you’ll apply to present conditions and counsel attainable outcomes. That is particularly helpful as a content material generator in observe areas affected by frequent legislative or political modifications, comparable to taxation or immigration, and in areas the place folks or companies try to plan future methods and budgets. Clearly, this sort of content material might be suffering from disclaimers and {qualifications} however it’s helpful content material nonetheless.
Now that you’ve a place to begin on your content material, brainstorm it, discover it, and think about all of its prospects. Fairly often, one concept can result in an entire collection of posts, or one weblog publish will be repurposed to offer content material throughout a number of platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Fb, Instagram.) And don’t be afraid to vary route for those who uncover that your viewers is reacting notably properly, or badly, to some subjects over others.
And eventually, … bear in mind that you’re a extremely educated skilled with a singular ability set to supply. Writing concerning the issues that you’re educated about, and passionate about, is simpler for you, and a lot extra participating to the reader. Now, go forth and write!
