A recent posting at Lexus-Nexus touts the effectiveness of blogs for generating new clients for small and solo legal practices. While the number of firms using blogs is still small, it is growing, according to the most recent American Bar Association Legal Technology Survey. The survey's authors conclude blogging is an immediate opportunity for firms, especially those that practice in highly specialized disciplines of law.
We couldn't agree more, though we would suggest that business blog marketing is good for more than law firms. We see it as a great opportunity for any professional services firm - from accountants to insurance specialists to financial services - to attract relevant prospects and capture new business leads.
What the most recent American Bar Association Legal Technology Survey found was that 12.2 of small practices (2-9 attorneys) were regularly writing a blog, up more than two percent from the year before. While that number is still small, the survey also found that 50 percent of those small and solo legal practices had secured new clients as a direct result of their blog marketing.
We are not necessarily surprised at their success. Recent research by our partner HubSpot shows that 57 percent of businesses with a blog report they have acquired new customers through the blog. For professional services firms, the numbers are higher than 60 percent, according to the most recent State of Inbound Marketing report
Blogs are particularly effective for professional services firms for several reasons:
People - otherwise known as prospects and potential customers - use the Internet as the starting point for research to solve their business needs or problems. A blog is great vehicle to provide top-of-the-funnel information that addresses those needs for prospects. Do it well enough, and you will find them coming back for a deeper look.
Once a blog is written, it's always there and your prospects can find it when they are researching, not just when you happen to be in the office. It's an initial meeting without you having to take the time to have the initial meeting.
By regularly writing blog posts, you are producing new content for your website. Each post adds a new indexed page to your website, which the search engines use to determine your page rank. New content also keeps the search engine crawlers returning to your site, another boost to your rank in search results. When fully optimized, your blog post is a magnet not only for the search engines, but for relevant prospects as well.
As you regularly post educational material to your blog, you will build trust with your followers and expertise in your field. As your reputation grows, followers and prospects will turn directly to you for the information they need.
A blog is a must marketing tool for any professional services firm. If you have already started one, great, you are ahead of the game. Make sure that you are consistently writing new posts that provide your followers with quality content that can also attract relevant prospects.
If you need some help getting started, or are looking for some new ideas for your blog, check out our tip sheet "10 Ways to Keep Your Blog Stocked With Great Content."
Topics: Content Marketing
