Ruth Carter | If you have limited resources for marketing, invest in your blog.
The post Long-Form Content Drives Long-Term Success for Lawyers: Create Once, Cash In for Years appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers.

Social media vs. long-form content, what’s the right strategy for you and your law firm? Content marketing lessons inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk and Jay Clouse.

Social Media Marketing Requires Diligence Is this what you should do as a lawyer?Long-Form Content Drives Consistent Long-Term Success Evergreen Articles Keep Drawing in New Clients Upshot: Invest Your Time in Long-Form Content Attorney at Work is loaded with content writing tips, including:

Social Media Marketing Requires Diligence

Gary Vaynerchuk (aka “GaryVee”) just released his latest and already best-selling, book, “Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World.” It’s a natural topic for him, of course, because this is what he does.

When a new social media platform comes out, Gary is an early user. He then actively and consistently creates content specific to the platform and its audience. He builds his following on that platform, and then his audience purchases his products and services and follows him to the next “it” social media platform.

Watch his video trailer for “Day Trading Attention”:

One thing that struck me about this trailer is how many platforms GaryVee’s been active on since 2013: Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, Facebook, Musical.ly, Yik Yak, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter. He’s not romantic about any platform or type of content. It’s merely about supply and demand for people’s attention. He sees where everyone’s eyes and ears are and markets to where people are now.

There’s nothing wrong with doing this. In fact, GaryVee is proof that it can lead to immense success. However, just like day trading, this strategy requires diligent and consistent work.

Is this what you should do as a lawyer?

Probably not. Given how many lawyers have asked me if they can outsource their content and social media marketing to a law student, you probably don’t have the interest or bandwidth to learn and participate on social media to the degree necessary for that kind of success.

Long-Form Content Drives Consistent Long-Term Success

In the same month that Vaynerchuk released his new book, I attended Content Entrepreneur Expo (CEX). One of the most impactful speakers was Jay Clouse, the founder of Creator Science, which helps entrepreneurs build their audience. His talk was titled “Why You Should Prioritize Long-Form Content.”

According to Clouse, long-form content—meaning articles and blog posts—at least maintains or increases its value over time.

Increase their value? I like the sound of that.

With long-form content, the reader spends more time consuming your content compared with any social media post they might scroll through. As a result, they feel like they know you better and will trust you more.

When a potential client has a problem and they don’t have a lawyer friend to ask for help, they turn to their preferred search engine. Results on search engines like Google don’t include posts on social media platforms, but they do include (hopefully well-written) blog posts. From the perspective of what a lawyer can deliver, a single blog post can convince a potential client that you’re the only lawyer they want.

Evergreen Articles Keep Drawing in New Clients

Additionally, the law doesn’t change often or quickly. This means that a blog post can be relevant and drive clients to your firm for years.

For example, I wrote a blog post about how to move your company from California to Arizona in 2016. In early 2023, I updated the 2016 post and wrote a sister blog post about a change in California’s law that impacted the process for moving a company to another state. Both posts rank well in Google results, with almost no promotion, and I have regularly gotten work from them for the last eight years.

Furthermore, since most lawyers aren’t writing blog posts, it could be easy to have the only article on point about a potential client’s needs.

Upshot: Invest Your Time in Long-Form Content

If you have limited time and energy to devote to marketing your firm, put it into creating quality blog posts that speak directly to your potential clients’ needs. Publishing long-form content is still one of the most effective and efficient ways to grow your business.