Opportunity knocks for law firms. Part 1. Humanity

As a legal marketer, you may never have a better opportunity to rebrand, develop a new website or improve your content creation. The events of the past 12+ months have demonstrated that all the elements of your brand and digital intelligence need to be at their very best. Your audience remains remote – and maybe commercially distant – but they are becoming increasingly interested in your firm: what you stand for, what you’re famous for and why you should matter to them. The time is now.

Here is the first of four key opportunities, first published in the Living Ratings of law firms 2021, that will help you achieve greater brand and digital intelligence.

Humanity

The goal of any law firm should be to surface the organisation’s intellectual capital, expertise and culture. People, not shiny offices, are the single most important manifestation of what a law firm does and relationships are now being created in a completely different environment. So, it’s time to up your game online and create a more human experience.

Start with your firm’s people landing page. This should not just be search functionality, as that approach just screams ‘silo’ and you are missing a huge opportunity to share culture-based content… diversity and inclusion, pro bono projects, gender pay policies and sustainability, to name just a few. Mix up the content on your lawyer biographies, keep them short and well-curated, and consider succinct video biographies.

Finally, isn’t it time to consider writing the biographies in the first-person? Life has changed and the slightly stuffy corporate third-person approach is probably past its sell-by date.

Duncan Shaw, Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director, Living Group

This article was first published in the Living Ratings of law firms 2021.

If you would like to know more about how we can communicate the humanity to your brand, please contact Duncan Shaw in New York , Greg Hobden in London or Gigi Yung in Hong Kong.