No one plans to fail, but fail to plan – and we know how that ends. In this episode I’m talking about having a plan and strategy for your content marketing. As mentioned in last weeks podcast, content marketing is all about providing useful, meaningful content to your clearly and specifically defined audience of prospective clients to drive qualified in-bound traffic.

Nowadays there are lots of content marketing channels and strategies, so let me cover at least the basic element that must be in place for content marketing to work as intended…

Here are the three main points you need to be clear on in launching a content marketing plan:

1. Map the content to the pain point
2. Use the right type of content for that specific problem
3. Finally, map the content to the buying cycle of the people who have the problem

This type of a strategy is intended to divert attention away from you the marketer and make it all about your ideal client. If you’ve listened to any of my prior shows, you know how strongly I feel about this – so I’ll emphasize this once again – you must make it about our client, that spotlight must be on your audience, not you! You laugh and say ‘well of course’ but then I see nearly every law firm website and online profile all about you the lawyer, and your accolades, your recognition, and your multi million pre court settlements.

So, here are the main takeaways that must be front and center when you create a content marketing strategy:

1. Outline your key business niche and client needs, and how your services will address these needs.
2. Document your content marketing strategy (verbal is insufficient)
3. Clearly articulate (and document) your content goals and mission or you won’t know if you’ve ‘succeeded’ or not

Of all the steps in creating a content marketing strategy, the most important is “content mapping” and this basically means having an understanding of your audience so well that you can create content for each stage of their journey toward becoming your paying client. Very few will go directly from hearing about you to investing in your services – there is almost always a journey. It goes from knowing of you, building the like, and finally having trust enough to pay a good amount of money in exchange for your legal services.

Typically a prospective client will move through an awareness, then consideration, and finally a decision stage. Each phase requires different content marketing.

And, what is so darn great about content marketing is that it can be done without a huge marketing budget, but more creative brain power.

In the next episode, I’ll cover how to figure out exactly WHO your ideal client audience is – in detail, and the more detailed your understanding, the more targeted and meaningful your outreach will be – and dare I say, the shorter the life cycle their journey before trust is gained and they are walking in through your doors asking to hire you.