Content is powerful. Good content provides information for your readers and leads for your firm. When you integrate effective content strategies into your digital marketing, you’ll always know when one of your readers is interested in learning more about your firm and your services. However, it can be difficult to create content strategies that last.

Good content should always:

  1. Keep your clients and prospects up to date on key issues
  2. Help drive traffic to your website
  3. Help boost SEO rank when you incorporate relevant, keyword-rich articles
  4. Generate new leads, and help mine additional engagements from existing clients

At your firm, billable time may be an issue with your professional staff, and it might also be difficult to consistently get staff involved in producing engaging content. There are challenges associated with creating original content. It’s hard to find the time, there’s an effort behind creating good content, and a-la-carte outsourced articles can get expensive.

However, there are ways to overcome the obstacles of time, money and effort.

  • Get Buy-in from Your Management Team – Develop a support system within your company’s leadership.
  • Develop Internal Accountability & RewardsWriting responsibilities can become a burden without support, accountability and incentives. Keep your content production objectives fun and interesting by offering a reward system for those who contribute to your efforts.
  • Efficiently Manage Your ResourcesLeverage content that may be available through your memberships with various associations or organizations. You may also supplement launches with curated content, or purchase additional content to augment content submitted by your professional staff contributions.
  • Maximize Time Management Make sure professional staff is contributing to your content marketing outside high-volume work periods.
  • Plan AheadLay out a writing assignment schedule for your professional staff that is mindful of typical busy periods. Then, create a content marketing calendar for yourself that follows the writing system.
  • Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Upcycle – Reducing long articles into multiple-part series, and repurposing content across multiple channels helps extend the life of your content and maximize your resources.
  • Create a Consistent Strategy – Adhere to your content launch schedules and keep marketing efforts consistent across multiple communication channels. Be prepared to occasionally pivot your strategies based on audience response, but plan enough time between launches to make adjustments to your strategies when necessary.

Getting Support from Leadership

When leadership is working closely with your marketing strategies in an environment where your team is excited about your initiatives, you’re sure to foster successful digital marketing strategies and generate more leads to fill your pipeline.

Finding an Advocate within the Company

Identify a managing partner or executive committee team champion for marketing. If you need to build a case for marketing, be prepared to identify and report on your initiatives and related growth goals. It’s important to foster an environment of open communication regarding ongoing initiatives with leadership, and develop an internal accountability and rewards system with staff.

INCENTIVIZE

Offer incentives and rewards for staff members who are actively contributing to and participating in your content strategies. Those rewards could a half day off (outside of tax season) for every article submission or gift cards rewarded upon completion of articles. The point is, give them something to look forward to.

MENTOR

Also, provide inspiration, direction and tips to help staff members get on the right footing with content contributions. Let them know what they could be writing. Give them a list of ideas and writing inspiration as a starting-point.

RALLY

Get the entire company on board. Announce campaigns that you are launching, and get folks sharing content on social media. Also let everyone know when an article has received a good response with your readers. Send internal emails announcing your successful content (and its author) so your team can provide congratulations, join in your marketing successes and also get an idea of what is actually working in order to inspire future topics.

REPEAT

It is important to keep your efforts going consistently and have accountability in place to keep your content strategies front and center. (That’s where your marketing champion on your executive committee or partner leadership team will come in handy.) Taking a team approach will help you create content strategies that last.