A solid marketing plan is one that allows companies to relate with their consumers and vice versa. Lawyers, especially, need to find more ways to bridge the gaps of communication, approachability, and community between their firms and their clients. Without a basic language for the two to agree upon, how can you expect clients to believe you’ll pursue their case with every fiber of your bean?
Potential clients aren’t just look for content that sells to them. You might be writing Facebook posts, tweets, and blogs that market your services directly to potential clients, but without a message, a story, there’s nothing to reel those people in. So how can you provide better content that still sells but also tells a story? The answer has actually been around for ages: storytelling.
Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication. But it’s also the perfect way to relate to potential clients and market your services to them. Here are a few tips on how to turn content into stories that sell your clients.
Recognize Your Audience
Stories always have an intended audience before they begin. Children stories are aimed at children, fables are aimed at societies, and so on. So if you’re going to tell your story, you need to figure out who you’re telling it to. Start by thinking about your typical client. Gender, average age, average income, background, and other social factors that can help you identify the stories they relate to best.
Once you’ve come up with a client profile, find a way to communicate with them. A younger demographic will be more plugged in on social media websites whereas a middle-age demographic might still appreciate an occasional Facebook post but relish email newsletters more. Choosing a medium specific to your audience will give you the structure that helps you tell stories that speak to them directly.
Embrace Emotions
You might find it hard to believe that letting emotion into your content is even professional, but in fact, it’s probably the best sort of professionalism out there. Emotion is going to be one of the selling factors in any medium, to any type of client, and for any kind of lawyer. That’s because emotion is universal. We use it in everyday speech, we see it in the TV shows and movies we watch, we read books because of it “‘ so why wouldn’t we use it in advertisements and marketing efforts?
While you don’t have to open the floodgates with your content, you can use case studies, client testimonials, and news pieces to tell stories as they relate to your field. If you’re a personal injury lawyer, it’s okay to write about clients you feel especially passionate about because of their circumstances. With their permission, you can create blog posts, articles, and other forms of content that will be shared again and again simply because of it’s appeal to human emotions. This kind of social sharing will lead a lot of potential clients back to your website.
Use Your Voice
Stories are nothing without the voices that tell them. Even if your clients will be reading your content/stories through email, on their smartphones, or on your website, they should be able to hear a “brand voice” that appeals to them. Whether it’s informative, laid-back, or passionate, the right voice will bring the stories alive for your clients.
Finding a voice that fits your brand will depend on several factors. First, it should be a voice that suits your and your employees’ personalities. The voice is representing your brand so it should be as closely matched as possible. Think about whether or not if humor is commonplace around the office. If not, that’s okay. But that might mean that your voice should be more cut and dry. The right voice will also depend on your audience. Younger demographics might respond to a more relaxed voice that doesn’t throw around large vocabulary words, given the fact that many people are not browsing the Internet through smartphones. Therefore, small words might make your brand voice all the more powerful.
You might go through several voices before you find one just right for your firm and your clients. Don’t be afraid to experiment with it, but once you’ve found it, be consistent.
Selling potential clients might take a little more than some clever writing. Whether you’re marketing through social media, AdWords, print copy, or all of the above, you should always have an underlying message the client can relate to. Without a message, a story, you risk coming off as the law firm that just sells, sell, sells. Clients might begin to wonder about how passionate, loyal, and expert your law firm is. However, through the right voice, embracing emotions, and learning about your audience, you can write content that reaches right out to your clients and pulls them in.