“We write about topics that help our clients.”

My colleague Adrian Lurssen tells a story of hearing Laura Hudson, CMO at Ward and Smith, present at an LMA Southeast regional conference on the topic of thought leadership in law firms. (This was a number of years ago; back then I think we just called it ‘writing’). Adrian was also part of the day’s programming and had just spoken on content marketing best practices, as he also typically does.

Laura took the stage, nodded at Adrian, and started with: “Those are all true and worthwhile practices, but I always begin by telling my attorneys to pretend they are talking to a single client in their writing. Provide value to one reader, making sense of things for an existing client, and much of everything else will fall into place after that.”

Provide Value for One Reader, Pretend You Are Speaking to a Single Client

Adrian shared that moment – and I recount it now, in my second recap of a recent Office Hours Zoom session with Laura and JD Supra clients – because it shows the sharp, on-the-ground experience and focus Laura has always brought to her marketing and business development work, no matter the activity.

And the more things change, the more they stay the same.

By that, I mean that in the decade-and-a-half since they spoke at that early conference, Laura’s client-centric focus has not changed at the core, as evidenced by our recent conversation on running a successful content marketing program in a firm.

In our Zoom session, Laura recounted the success of one of her attorneys who writes about creditors rights and “has developed a specific voice and a real following. He can make creditor's rights content entertaining, which is a truly rare skill!”

When asked about his success with content, it quickly becomes clear that this is more than just about being entertaining (although, I suspect that helps!). Laura quoted her attorney as saying: “People call pretty regularly. We've gotten client work out of it. We always get some comments, emails from clients, from contacts, and it shows we are thinking about things our clients need to think about. Definitely feel it is time well spent.” (Emphasis mine.)

Write About What You Want to be Known For (For the Person Who Needs to Know It)

And what does the opposite of this sort of focus look like? Again from Laura, describing the runaway ‘success’ of a particular post written during COVID (my emphasis again): “Everyone was desperate for news, and we published content at an alarming rate in the first three months of COVID. Every time a client had a question, we tried to have an answer, and considered writing about it. I asked one of the litigators to write a quick article on ‘COVID-19 Canceled My Event. What Now?’ He does appellate work, and wrote the article as a favor. Then he spent the next year cursing my name because every bride in the Southeast called him to try and get their deposits back! So lesson learned, only write about what you want to be known for!

I now tell people ‘Don’t write about it unless you want to get calls about it for years to come.’”

A Level Playing Field: Unleash Your Firm’s Experience and Insights

Laura’s insights about the role of content in a mid-sized or small firm serve as inspiration for all of us: “Marketing our thought leadership is a key strategy for us. We can’t compete in terms of advertising —we’re not advertising in airports— and we don’t have a PR agency. What we have, in abundance, is experience that we can demonstrate, showing how we think about solving our clients’ problems. We write about topics that help our clients.

What we have, in abundance, is experience that we can demonstrate…

One of the attorneys in our labor and employment section says regularly, in firm and practice group meetings to other attorneys, ‘Hey, that’s new. I didn’t know that. Laura is going to ask you to write about that, right, Laura?’

To that end, we publish original attorney-authored content twice a week.”

Deliver Your Insights to Your Readers

Laura has been a JD Supra client across multiple firms for many years now, all part of a successful content marketing strategy of delivering your work to readers where they gather: “JD Supra is one of three content extension services we use, and the one that gets us the highest number of reads, year in and year out. We track every service on a monthly basis, and have since mid-2016, so I can say that with the authority of the data through the end of April! JD Supra is an important marketing partner for us, and I know I’ve told you that in private, Paul, but want to say in public, too. Your service is invaluable! I appreciate what you do for us each day!”

Be Timely (And Creative, and Entertaining)

Imbued in Laura’s insights is, again, a focus on clients. But she also touched upon other ways to engage readers on an ongoing basis, including a timely injection of “themed content” into several months of the firm’s editorial calendar. (Early results have been positive: “We promoted it heavily for our first theme month in February. Our organic traffic was up 15% over January, and that held up during March.”)

I extend my thanks once more to Laura for her time in conversation with us. JD Supra clients can listen to the full session by logging into their account dashboard and looking for the Office Hours link. Meantime, I end with Ward and Smith’s 2024 monthly themes, should you wish to incorporate something similar into your editorial calendar:

February: Love, Relationships, and the Law - Navigating Legal Relationships

Navigating Legal Relationships centers around exploring the intersection of love, relationships, and the legal framework that governs them. Throughout this month, the articles will delve into various topics that directly benefit clients by providing valuable insights and guidance in navigating the legal aspects of their personal and professional relationships.

May: Laboring Through Difficult Times

"Laboring Through Difficult Times," revolves around acknowledging and addressing the challenges individuals and businesses face during a recession. This theme emphasizes the resilience and perseverance required to navigate difficult labor-related situations, business hardships, credit issues, vendor management, family law, and financial issues.

July: Independence and Justice - Legal Rights, Responsibilities, and Regulations

"Independence and Justice - Legal Rights, Responsibilities, and Regulations" promotes awareness of legal rights, ethical responsibilities, and the regulations that govern our businesses. The topics explored throughout this theme aim to benefit clients across various practice areas by empowering them with knowledge and insights that directly impact their legal rights and obligations.

September: The Power of Preparedness

"The Power of Preparedness" focuses on the importance of being proactive and prepared in various aspects of life. This theme emphasizes the benefits of anticipating potential challenges and mitigating risks before they escalate.

November: Family Matters

“Family Matters” encompasses many topics that significantly impact families, whether in a closely held business, going through a life change, dealing with divorce, death, child custody issues, elder law, fraud and personal injury, and estate planning.

Thanks again for the inspiration and insights, Laura! Now the question for everyone else: what’s on your editorial calendar for this year?

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Paul Ryplewski is JD Supra’s VP of Client Services.