Content marketing is an important part of the B2B landscape and even industries that have historically relied heavily on personal relationships are making use of content marketing to reach potential customers and clients.
Legal services are no exception. Here are three examples of law firms that are using content marketing effectively.
Venable LLP’s blogs and websites
Venable LLP, an AmLaw 100 firm based in Washington DC, operates a portfolio of legal blogs and websites through which it delivers insights on a number of legal topics.
While many law firms operate blogs, Venable’s efforts are notable for several reasons.
First, unlike many law firms, which host their blogs on their firm websites, Venable hosts its blogs on their own websites with their own domain names. Arguably, this makes it easier for them to establish a brand identity.
Second, Venable’s blogs focus on clearly defined markets and directly target potential clients in those markets. For example, one blog, All About Advertising, offers “regulatory & litigation developments for advertisers and marketers.” Another, Blockchain Report, publishes information about legal developments in the nascent blockchain space.
And then there are full websites, BiologicsHQ and Post Grant HQ, that offer everything from databases to videos, giving Venable the ability to engage potential clients in deeper and more interactive ways.
Cooley GO
Like most Silicon Valley law firms, Palo Alto-based Cooley LLP works with a lot of startups. But the way law firms work with startups and their founders has changed over the years. Basic tasks that law firms used to be able to charge significant sums for are in many cases no longer viable sells.
So to ensure that they have the chance to woo the next generation of founders when they’re ready to engage a law firm, firms like are increasingly developing digital offerings through which they can deliver valuable content to entrepreneurs free of charge.
Cooley GO is one such offering. A standalone website, it provides content relevant to startup founders, such as information about structuring ownership in a startup, hiring employees and raising funding. It also provides information about industry trends and contains a glossary of lingo that startup founders will likely encounter.
But Cooley GO doesn’t stop there. It offers a feature, Cooley GO Docs, that automatically generates documents for incorporating a new business, raising capital, and establishing non-disclosure agreements — documents that law firms often would have charged thousands of dollars to create in the past. Wizard-based generators prompt users to supply the necessary information and at the end, Cooley GO produces a set of personalized downloadable documents users can then execute or file as appropriate.
Jackson Lewis’ webinars, videos and publications
Jackson Lewis, a law firm that practices labor and employment law exclusively, makes extensive use of content to engage clients and potential clients. On its website, they can find a large volume of webinars, videos and publications. The latter consist of legal update articles, newsletters, special reports and podcasts.
While hardly the only law firm that offers this kind of content, Jackson Lewis’ website is notable because of how much of it there is — more than 250 archived webinars and 4,000 publications. It is also well-organized and easy to filter content.
For example, because employment laws can vary considerably from state-to-state, Jackson Lewis gives users the ability to filter based on the state to which the content applies. In the case of publications, users can also filter by practice area and industry.
Jackson Lewis wisely uses some of its content for lead generation. For instance, to RSVP for an upcoming webinar or download an archived webinar, users must supply contact information, including their company, job title and number of employees.
Additionally, in some cases, Jackson Lewis charges for access to webinars, demonstrating how law firms in some practice areas can even turn digital content into a revenue stream.