Ideas and Tools for Legal Marketing in the Social Media Age
Something interesting and easy to read for the holiday weekend…
An infographic from content marketing firm Brafton News illustrates how high-quality, search-friendly content achieves SEO by organically populating sites with keywords and valuable information — both of which are important to search success.
I’m having a walk-in shower installed in my home, and getting a workshop in branding and word-of-mouth marketing in the process.
When I began the project, I thought all I needed was a plumber and a tile guy. The plumber was a no-brainer — I’ve relied on Wilson Plumbing for years. But I quickly learned that even a small construction project like mine is comprised of a general contractor cobbling together a cadre of independent niche craftspeople — the demo crew, framers, drywallers, concrete pourers, fiberglass shower pan builders and tilers.
The morning after the fiberglass shower pan was installed (and the overpowering acetone fumes had cleared), I went into the bathroom to inspect the progress and noticed a simple branding gesture that conveyed a bold message. Embedded on the new shower curb under the fiberglass was a plain card that bore just the name and phone number of the contractor in large, readable type. What it actually said, though, was, “I made this and I stand behind it. If you like it, call me.”
Clearly, that message wasn’t intended for me — it was tiled over soon thereafter. It was directed to other, unknown contractors that would encounter his handiwork and might want to work with him on a future project.
And it worked!
Later that same day the plumber came by, glanced at the shower floor and remarked, “That’s a great pan liner. Who did the work for you?” I didn’t know; I just pointed to the card. The plumber took out his mobile phone and snapped a picture of it.
Three Key Marketing Lessons
Every spring the social media and entertainment industries converge on Austin, Texas for SXSW (shorthand for South by Southwest), one of the most frantically busy and buzz-worthy conferences of the year.
For all the claims about lawyers as consummate networkers, I marvel that SXSW is not awash in IP, entertainment and small business/startup lawyers. The superabundance of crowded parties, meet-ups, hospitality pavilions and special events are a networker’s dream — start-up businesses, start-up films and start-up bands, all in need of lawyers with specific expertise.
Rocket Lawyer jumped into the networking fray this year with a Sociable Lawyer Premiere Event last Friday to promote its On Call lead referral program. Despite it being an uncharacteristically cold and rainy afternoon, a crowd of young lawyers converged on a Sixth Street bar to connect. I spent a while talking to some first-year associates about their experience with the controversial forms-driven service, and it was clear that Rocket Lawyer was on to something — building and strengthening connections with the current generation of solo and small-firm attorneys who “get it.”
A hidden bonus for lawyers at SXSW is the free CLE. Yes, you can get free CLE as part of your SXSW admission. I don’t know when they started, but for the past several years Lommen Abdo Law Firm has run a really interesting CLE track called “Legal Issues in the Music, Film and Emerging Technology Industries” Talk about a marketing ROI goldmine….
This year the program boasts more than 40 industry leaders on different 13 panels. All SXSW registrants are welcome, but attorneys can register for up to 13 CLE credits and are given preferential access if the session is full.
Tomorrow’s sessions include:
Gimme Shelter from the Storm Clouds
As more products and services move to the proverbial cloud, from shared collaboration, commercial product offerings, and user-uploaded content, new business models are created while extant business models come under attack. This panel will explore the disruption caused by some new cloud-based services and how this disruption is affecting existing industries. For example, who is responsible for liabilities arising from the use or exploitation of content stored in the cloud; should Congress change the law to impose new liability/responsibilities on operators of cloud-based services; what rights, if any, do consumers have to perpetual access to their content in the cloud; can a user transfer their content in the cloud to another device or person? These and other questions will be addressed by the distinguished panel.
The Automobile as Network Node
Automobiles are increasingly connected to computer networks and are used to collect, use and share vehicle-related information. They also provide a delivery mechanism for driving, entertainment and other content and information. This panel will discuss legal issues arising out of and related to the collection, use and disclosure of vehicle-related information and related emerging legal issues of data use in or related to vehicles.
Royalties in the Digital Space: What, Where and How Much Are They?
Identifying, following and actually collecting essential money from a myriad of digital sources is a growing challenge. With the help of sophisticated music accountants, this panel will show what is at stake, and where and how to secure this income.
Licensing Madness: Exploitations a Go-Go
In a world where music is being licensed to promote, enhance, advertise and image almost everything, the deals and protocols are as varied as the uses themselves. The panel will identify uses and review common terms and deal expectations.
Run for Cover: The Future of Cloud Commerce
As traditional music consumer consumption habits evaporate into the cloud, a new legal and language lexicon casts a mighty shadow over the music business. This panel will analyze whether subscriptions and other alternatives present promise or problems in the new music economy.
Any interest in working with me to pitch social media for law firms panel ideas for next year’s SXSW?
I hate to say “I told you so, but…”
The rapturous welcome and flood of sign-ups for Google+ last summer can no longer disguise the platform’s fundamental problems. For example, tracking research by comScore shows that in January the average user spent a paltry 3 minutes on Google+ – which was lower than even perennial social media afterthought MySpace.
It seems the best argument Google+’s supporters can muster is that “No one has a firm grip on where Google+ is headed, but their[sic] is no question it’s here to stay and is going to influence search and discovery of information and people.”
Notwithstanding such confident but unsupported claims, unless Google+ becomes more attractive to subscribers and demonstrates clear ROI, it’s not worthwhile for solo and small firm lawyers to squander time and attention on experimentation with it.
Google has made search so mind-bogglingly simple that is seems you can type any vague set of words into the search field and find exactly what you want. But if you need to hone legal research on Google Scholar to an even finer edge, the following infographic from HackCollege.com illustrates how to structure a Google query to yield even more refined results.
A digest of social media “how-to” advice and tips for legal marketing.
An SEO Fixation Will Destroy Your Internet Marketing Strategy | SocialMouthsThe long history and distinguished heritage of content marketing is laid out in this informative and entertaining infographic from the Content Marketing Institute. As a current subscriber of the genius LEGO Club Jr., I was particularly interested to see reference to its forebear.
In case Joe Pulizzi comes across this shout out, one milestone I would like to see in a future iteration is the first “whitepaper” used for marketing purposes.
Like this infographic? Get more
content marketing information from the
Content Marketing Institute.
Not every blog post can be a magnum opus, particularly with the brisk throughput requirements of content marketing.
Practicing what they preach (see tip #22), the Copyblogger team have created an infographic that reminds us how interesting and useful content can arise from simple, repeatable techniques. My personal favorite is #4 — the interview — because it makes for great posts and great networking.
What do you do to conquer blogger’s block?
Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.
