6 ways content writing keeps legal clients coming back

Law firms that follow the 3 Es of effective content writing can build client retention.

Whether you're the marketing team for your small firm or have an entire beehive swarming in your marketing department, you know that content is King. And it's not just for brining in quality leads.

It's really for keeping them coming back for more, especially in Law.

Woah, there. Why "especially" in Law?

Like many regulated professions, for those who understand the three Es, law is built for engaging and effective content. If someone is looking for a lawyer, regardless of which area of law they need, they may be:

• overwhelmed

• time or resource poor (often both)

• eager to find a solution to their problem

With 67% of surveyed law firms failing to respond to emails and only 18% of firms providing clear next steps to prospective clients, based on findings from Clio's 2024 Legal Trends Report How Law Firms are Failing the Market (and Themselves), there's enormous opportunity for experienced content writers to add value.*

"Today's firms," says the report, "are much less likely to provide the information that prospective clients are asking for."*

And while 74% of surveyed lawyers "currently use their firm website to promote or market their services to potential clients ... potential clients can't find the information they're looking for."* Specifically, the clients surveyed struggled to understand the step-by-step process of hiring or working with a lawyer."*

For experienced content writers, who understand SEO principles and leading clients through a relevant journey, this means writing to educate, entertain (or engage) and empathise with clients. And not just at the start of the sales funnel, but all the way through.

To get client loyalty, you have to give. And here's how powerful content achieves this:

Awareness: showcasing your experience alongside clients' value

When choosing a lawyer, according to Clio's 2024 study, clients prioritise

• a lawyer's experience with similar cases (50%).

• reputable law firm (41%).

• firms with positive client reviews (34%).

And for a skilled content writer, who can weave education with entertainment and empathy, these priorities become a tapestry from which to tell your story. This may look like

• creating a knowledge centre on your website that explores cases in a way that's accessible and relatable to potential clients.

• writing the firm's narrative or story, alongside those of the lawyers, to help humanise the firm and bring awareness to how the firm works.

• bringing content, copy, and Content Design together to make the most effective and efficient chatbot, which leads prospective clients merrily on their way to the information they're actually looking for.

Interest: you have their attention, keep it

As potential clients roam your website, they want to learn more about how you'll solve their problem in a way that they feel seen, heard and understood.

They don't want a white paper. They aren't searching for an academic analysis of legal precedent or the minutia of legal terminology. They want the exact opposite of this.

A talented and experienced content writer can translate legalese to:

• make a case study come alive and become relevant to the audience.

• take a complicated, legal matter and use accurate, simple language to help the client understand the challenges, benefits and limitations of a topic.

• create clear content on what happens (and what to expect) during the on-boarding process.

• build SEO authority for clients to keep them coming back - from "myth busters" to glossaries, to "ask the experts" short-form articles or videos, the content opportunities are endless.

Evaluation: make it easy to compare

This may be controversial (although it shouldn't be), but get out of your own way. It's in your firm's best interest to find the right client, at the right time, for the right service.

So do some of the heavy lifting for your potential clients. A skilled content writer with copy experience and an SEO background can build your firm's authority with:

• "this or that" type articles to compare services.

• short form content used to showcase what you excel at, as a firm, against other firms.

• content that honestly leads clients where they need to go. If your firm isn't the right place for them, help them to find the one that is.

Decision: take away the barriers

For the clients at the decision stage, they're looking for lawyers they can trust and process that is simple to understand.

And to show them this, you'll need communication clearer than the waters of the Maldives to help them swim your way.

A content writer with experience in copywriting and Content Design could be the magician who wields their wand to turn murky messages into:

• clear and concise steps towards booking initial meetings or follow-ups.

• opportunities to voice clients' hesitations and how the solicitors can walk them through these concerns.

• video content from testimonials with former and current clients who can help lead in a relatable way.

  
  

Purchase: the work begins

You're the chosen one. The chosen firm, the chosen lawyer. But put your sash and winning trophy away because there's work to do - this is where the most useful content should live.

Building your relationship with the client means keeping them in the loop, in the process. They don't want to know the legal mumbo-jumbo, but they might need to know what you're doing and why. Having a content writer at your fingertips means they can:

• create short-form articles on similar cases to help explain what happened, could happen and might happen in words that are accessible to most people.

• work alongside a designer to create compelling, helpful and visually engaging content to keep the clients in the loop about how cases like theirs progress, challenges they might face and solutions the firm can give.

• work to tailor content specifically to the needs of each sector and to any market research or feedback received by clients.

Loyalty: like a boomerang

If you've worked to build your content based on the three e's of educating in an entertaining (or engaging) way with with empathy at the core, at all stages of the sales funnel, then this is where you reap the rewards.

And as the Legal Trends Report shows, there's plenty of opportunity to stand out as a firm beyond your legal expertise and being a bad-ass in the proverbial courtroom. It's also building a solid foundation based on giving clients what they need and want beyond what they're paying you for.

To incorporate this copy and content philosophy into your marketing plans, chat with us about how we can help.

* How Law Firms are Failing the Market (and Themselves). Legal Trends Report. Clio. 2024.