The key to effective marketing, really, is consistency. And, that’s because the goal of marketing is the creation of awareness. And, over time, as human attention spans devolve to the level of gnats’, maintaining awareness is more and more about consistent production. Think of the famous brands you know: Coca-Cola, Disney, Netflix, Amazon. Those brands are imprinted on our brains because we see and hear about them so often. If you have children between the ages of 2-12, you’ve probably seen every Disney and Pixar movie that came out in the last decade.
But, consider how those brands have also evolved over that same time frame. The amount of content and the number of platforms to which it is released is staggering. Every successful large company is now a media entity unto itself. And, the most successful small companies create a miniature version of that approach. This is why small businesses, like law firms, are so keen to engage on social media. Because everyone’s attention is spliced, and it’s difficult to discern where your potential clients and referral sources will engage your marketing, it’s better to be in all the places — or as many places as practicable. But, it’s also about being in all those places consistently, and that requires regular content: yours and others’, but much of it should be yours, because that is an essential measure for establishing your expertise. If you can speak and write eloquently about why and how you solve client problems, that’s the first step to winning business.
The problem most law firms have in this regard is content production. If you hire a company to create and manage your content, that’s a potential viable solution; but, some lawyers (especially solo and small firm lawyers) would prefer to generate much of their own content, in large part because your own voice tends to resonate better with your potential clients than does the generic content you buy. No one knows your business better than you; consequently, no one knows how to talk about your business better than you.
So, if you’ve made the decision to create your own marketing content, the challenge is always keeping that product churning out. And, it’s very easy to lose the thread, as you put out the fires that keep cropping up when you run your own law firm. The best way to ensure that you keep building content on the regular is to create and manage a publication schedule for yourself, or for your law firm. A publication schedule is essentially a content calendar. Figure out what kind of content you want to produce — because you’ve got options. Then, set deadlines for producing that content. Finally, settle dates for when each type of content gets published, and where. And, stick to the calendar. If you don’t deviate, people will begin to expect that your stuff is coming out, and you’ll begin to build an audience.
Do that well enough, and maybe you can be the legal version of Netflix, with less chill.