How to Refresh Your Legal Marketing Content for 2023

When was the last time you took a good look at your law firm’s marketing content? If it’s been a while – or never at all – the start of a new year offers a perfect opportunity for some careful consideration and strategic changes. Keep reading to learn the ins and outs of refreshing your legal marketing content for 2023.  

The Importance of Refreshing Content   

Most law firm content has a shelf life that expires as circumstances evolve. Laws change with new court decisions. Firm dynamics change as staff members come and go. Even areas of practice change as society evolves. It is very difficult for legal content to remain evergreen. Maintaining its relevance requires regular updates and refreshing.  

The consequences of stale content can be severe. Lack of engagement, poor search results, and the inability to reach potential clients can all lead to fewer conversions and lost profitability. There is a domino effect that increases as content continues to age, which makes the refresh process even more vital to the long-term health of your legal practice. 

Starting a Refresh 

A successful refresh starts with a thorough analysis of your firm’s current content. This analysis involves taking a close look at what is there and making some serious decisions about what needs to change. Here are some useful steps for conducting a thorough content audit:  

• Determine your marketing goals. If you already have a legal marketing plan in place, this step could be as simple as a review. But if your firm is without a current plan, it is past time to craft one. A law firm marketing plan provides valuable direction as a roadmap for growth through the attraction of prospects and conversion of leads into paying clients.  

• Using your marketing goals as a guide, review your current content to determine whether it falls in line with those objectives. For instance, if one of your firm’s goals is to expand your contract law practice area, but only a small percentage of your current content centers contract law, that is a deficit to be addressed.  
• Next, examine the performance of your current content. For content that occurs at the top of your sales funnel, such as blogs and social media posts, look for poor traffic numbers and low search rankings. Middle of the funnel content may be under performing if you notice decreasing click-throughs or low responses for calls-to-action. Declining conversions could signal trouble with content at the bottom of the sales funnel.   
• Another important part of the content audit is ensuring that everything is accurate and up to date. If you have expanded your practice, but your new firm members are not included in your firm content, then that information needs to be revised. Also consider any necessary updates in areas of law or procedures relevant to your firm’s scope of representation.  

Develop a Strategy  

Once you complete the audit, it is time to determine how you will handle the gathered information. It can feel like an overwhelming task but having a strategy can make it much more manageable. For instance, don’t assume that the oldest content should be refreshed first. If you have an older blog post that is still performing well, and a newer post that has never attracted adequate engagement, then priority should be given to the newer post.  

Identifying gaps between your marketing plan and your current content is also helpful. Maybe there are topics that need to be expanded or practice areas that need a more concise focus. This type of information gives you an additional analysis of your priorities and which content should be addressed first. 

Content Refresh Ideas 

Now that you know where your law firm’s content stands, and what needs to be refreshed, it’s time for some simple ideas to make that it all happen. Changes do not have to be major or very time-consuming. Oftentimes, small tweaks and a little creativity can go a long way in making content feel and perform as if it’s brand new. Here are some ideas:  

• Improve readability. When searching for legal representation, prospects want information that they can ingest quickly and easily. As such, they do not want to read long paragraphs when seeking to learn about your firm. Break up long content into smaller pieces. Also, incorporate lists and various types of formatting for increased readability.  

• Consumers are visual, and studies show that pictures and videos get a lot of traction in the marketing world. Take steps to supplement or replace text with visual media options.  
• Make sure all calls to action are clear and direct. After reviewing your content, prospects should have no question about the next steps or how to initiate content with your law firm. Check all links associated with calls to action to ensure that they work correctly. Also, check to ensure that your behind-the-scenes processes are working properly.  
• Rewrite content when necessary. Sometimes, there is just no way around the need to rewrite, or even replace, your law firm content. It may be so outdated that there is no other alternative.  
• Don’t forget to promote the updates. Simply making changes is not sufficient. In the crowded marketplace of law firms, it is equally as important to promote your new content and call attention to it. That could mean featuring refreshed blog posts on your firm’s homepage, sending it to your email list, or instituting a social media push.  

Start 2023 with a Content Refresh  

This is a great time for a refresh of your law firm content. And it does not have to be an overwhelming undertaking, particularly when you have marketing systems in place that allow for easy data analysis and efficient automation. Law Ruler is a comprehensive legal marketing software that can help your firm start 2023 refreshed and ready for growth. To learn more, click here for a free consultation.