CHAPTER 15: LEGAL MARKETING AND BRANDING USING AI
A client reaches out to your firm, not just because of a referral or your impressive track record, but because they watched a captivating video series that perfectly answered their legal questions and echoed their values. Imagine your firm seamlessly creating and distributing content that resonates deeply with clients, predicting their needs before they even arise. This isn't a futuristic dream—it's the power of AI in action, transforming legal marketing and branding.
In this chapter, we'll journey to that thrilling moment where AI-driven strategies have not only expanded your client base but also deepened connections and trust. You'll see how AI can help you craft engaging narratives, harness data for personalized interactions, and elevate your brand to a new level of client engagement and loyalty. Dive in to discover how leveraging AI can turn your legal practice into a beacon of innovation and client engagement, positioning you as a thought leader in an increasingly digital world. And please remember, links to the services I mention can be found in the "Resources" section at the end of the book.
Building Relationships Through AI: Connecting Over Common Interests
As world-renowned futurist and friend, Brian Solis, highlights in his post, “Redefining Consumerism: Introverts, Attention, & AI” (08-24), that a new generation of consumers is emerging. Companies need to completely rethink how they engage with their customers. This includes lawyers and law firms too. I highly recommend reading Brian’s post before diving into the rest of this chapter—his insights are that crucial.
Success in legal marketing and branding hinges not just on delivering valuable content but also on fostering genuine connections with your audience. AI enables you to achieve this by identifying and tapping into the shared interests and passions of your community, creating opportunities for meaningful engagement. It's about educating and informing to cultivate trust, understanding and relationships.
Incorporating AI into your marketing strategy allows you to delve deeper into understanding your audience's preferences, hobbies, and interests. By analyzing data from various sources, AI can help you uncover what truly matters to your potential clients. This knowledge enables you to create content and interactions that resonate on a personal level, fostering trust and building lasting relationships.
By focusing on building relationships through common interests, you can capture attention more effectively. People are naturally drawn to those who share their passions and values. AI helps you identify these commonalities and craft personalized experiences that stand out in a crowded market.
Enhancing Content Creation and Delivery with AI: Educate and Inform
In legal marketing, AI offers tools that can analyze data, generate insights, and create compelling content across various mediums—written, audio, and visual. Imagine almost instantly transforming complex legal concepts into engaging narratives that resonate with your audience, all powered by AI's computational prowess.
One of the most impactful uses of AI in legal marketing is its ability to supercharge content creation. Think of platforms like ElevenLabs, which effortlessly convert text into audio formats, making legal insights accessible through podcasts or audiobooks. Meanwhile, services like DI-D and HeyGen leverage AI to transform text into compelling video content, enabling firms to produce informative videos on legal topics within minutes. This capability boosts engagement and caters to diverse audience preferences.
Example:
Picture this: a major tech company just announced a groundbreaking patent dispute that’s shaking up the industry. It’s all over the news, and everyone is talking about it. Here’s how you can newsjack this breaking story and position your law firm as the go-to expert in intellectual property law.
If you're not familiar with the term newsjacking, it's the practice of leveraging breaking news or trending topics to inject your brand or expertise into the conversation, thereby gaining increased visibility and engagement. It involves quickly creating relevant content that aligns with the news story to attract attention and connect with a broader audience. My friend, David Meerman Scott, is the master of the art of newsjacking and it would be smart to learn this, and his other marketing and branding techniques shared in his updated book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Content Marketing, AI, Social Media, Podcasting, Video, and Newsjacking to Reach Buyers Directly."
Here's how you might use AI to almost instantly newsjack this story within minutes of it breaking:
Craft a Timely Blog Post: As soon as the news breaks, use AI to help you create a blog post that explains the implications of the dispute. Use AI tools to analyze the news and pull in key facts quickly.
Convert to Audio: Use ElevenLabs to turn your blog post into an engaging podcast episode. Share insights on the case and potential outcomes, making your expert opinion accessible to those who prefer listening over reading.
Create a Video: Leverage DI-D or HeyGen to transform your text into a dynamic video. Add visuals, summaries, and expert commentary to create a concise, informative video that can be shared across social media platforms.
Social Media Blitz: Using AgoraPulse or LatelyAI, share snippets of your blog post, podcast and video on platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. LatelyAI will create these instantly and automatically for you using its AI technology. Use trending hashtags related to the dispute to increase visibility and join the broader conversation.
Email Newsletter: Send out a special edition of your newsletter featuring your blog post, podcast, and video. Also send out an invitation for interviews to your list of news reports (you have a list or are starting one today right?) Highlight the urgency and relevance of the topic to encourage immediate engagement.
Take Action: Respond immediately to comments and do as many interview request as possible. Reporters are looking for a unique perspective on breaking news stories and this approach to marketing has brought in big cases to my firm and landed me on stage two years in a row at Tony Robbins Business Mastery (thank you David for the invite!).
By acting swiftly and using AI to generate diverse content, you not only demonstrate your expertise but also position your firm at the center of the conversation. Newsjacking this patent news not only attracts potential clients interested in intellectual property law but also establishes your firm as a thought leader in the industry.
I had the opportunity to do a deep dive on the above with attorney marketing expert, Kara Prior, during this video interview (recorded). Take a look, I know you'll find value!
Connecting Around Common Interests and Crafting Compelling Narratives with AI
In his latest book, "Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World," Gary Vaynerchuk emphasizes a critical shift in the digital landscape. He highlights how platform algorithms, powered by advanced AI, prioritize content based on user interests rather than follower connections. Forward-thinking lawyers and law firms must harness this trend, employing the AI-driven strategies detailed in his book to forge meaningful connections, deliver unparalleled value, and cultivate robust attorney-client relationships. By doing so, they can stay ahead of the curve, ensuring their content reaches the right audience and drives significant engagement.
This journey will require effective storytelling skills. Bottom line, learning how to tell stories, with the help of AI, will significantly enhance a firm's engagement with its audience. By employing well-known narrative structures, such as the "Hero's Journey," "Three-Act Structure," and "In Media Res" commands into your AI prompts, you can craft compelling stories that resonate with potential clients. These stories not only demonstrate the firm's legal expertise but also create a relatable narrative that illustrates how the firm can help clients overcome their challenges and achieve their goals.
For example, the Hero's Journey, with its stages of the ordinary world, call to adventure, trials, and ultimate victory, can be particularly effective in highlighting the transformative impact of legal services.
Example of a Crafted Prompt:
"Writing in the storytelling style of The Hero's Journey story telling framework, craft a blog post about the ABC case and verdict [share case details]. Make sure it's clearly shows how our firm was able to help, add value and get the client desired results."
Obviously you can play around with the prompt as needed (make it detailed, entertaining, funny, less than 200 words, write a hook title...). More prompting tips can be found in [Chapter 3.]
Tip:
Utilize AI to draft compelling case studies or client success stories that demonstrate your firm's impact. By integrating storytelling elements such as conflict, resolution, and transformation, you can humanize legal complexities and connect emotionally with potential clients.
Another tip is to ask AI what are the most common 20 questions your desired clients ask, or should be asking you, about their legal needs. Then when asking AI to help you create content or posts, also ask the AI to incorporate one or more of these common questions into the post and tell it to answer the question using the facts and details of the particular case or hypothetical fact pattern your post is about. Give this approach a try, you're going to like what AI gives you in the response.
Leveraging AI for Enhanced Brand Visibility: Educate and Engage
A robust brand presence distinguishes law firms in a competitive market. But how do you train AI to understand your unique brand so that when you ask it to do something, it reflects you and your firm and resonates with your potential client base?
Well, the answer is pretty cool- and easy. Diana Gladney shows all of us how to teach AI to learn who we are, what we're all about, and how we can add specific value to a unique target audience. The entire interview is worth listening to but make sure to understand the power of, and then create, your "Brand Identity Document" which Diana begins to share at about the 9 minute mark.
AI empowers firms to create visually striking brand assets using platforms like Midjourney and DALL-E, which generate custom images tailored to specific legal themes, brand identities and content you generate. Additionally, platforms such as Sora and Suno facilitate the creation of music and videos that amplify your firm's branding messages, fostering memorability and engagement.
Obviously, due your own due diligence on all IP issues but consider leveraging these types of AI tools to create quick and effective marketing and branding content.
Example:
Imagine a boutique law firm that specializes in environmental law. They're launching a campaign that uses AI-generated visuals and videos to highlight their commitment to sustainability. Picture this: stunning images of pristine forests, oceans, and wildlife, paired with before-and-after shots that show polluted areas transformed into green spaces. These visuals tell a compelling story of the firm's work in a way that's both informative and emotionally resonant.
Accompanied by original AI-generated music that blends natural sounds like flowing water and rustling leaves, these videos draw viewers in, making them feel the impact of the firm's efforts. The campaign includes client testimonials, educational content on complex environmental laws, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the daily work of the firm's lawyers.
The firm takes this visually rich content to social media, their website, and email newsletters. Instagram and Pinterest feature high-quality images and short clips with engaging captions, while YouTube and Vimeo host longer educational videos and client success stories. Their website becomes an interactive hub with dynamic visuals and informative blog posts, and their monthly newsletters keep subscribers informed and engaged.
Through this innovative approach, the firm not only enhances its brand presence but also connects authentically with environmentally conscious clients and stakeholders. This strategy reinforces their commitment to sustainability and environmental justice, positioning them as true guardians of our planet.
The Future of AI in Legal Marketing
Imagine this: it's 3 AM, and your phone pings with a notification. You groggily open your eyes to check it, expecting another email or social media alert, but instead, you find a fresh, engaging blog post about a recent breaking news event that directly impacts your firm's practice areas. Even more impressively, this post is already live on your website and shared across all your social media channels.
Welcome to the future of AI in legal marketing, where breaking news is no longer a disruptive event but an opportunity seamlessly leveraged in real-time.
Remember our newsjacking example above? Well, the challenge with this technique is that it's traditionally been a race against the clock. The quicker you can respond, the more relevant and engaging your content will be. This is where I see AI stepping in, transforming newsjacking from a frantic scramble to a polished, automated process.
With AI, your firm can instantly identify breaking news stories that resonate with your practice areas. Advanced algorithms can scan thousands of news sources, detecting relevant events as they happen. But AI doesn’t stop at detection; it analyzes the potential impact of these stories on your audience, ensuring that only the most pertinent news makes it to your channels.
From Data to Content in Seconds- Automatically
Once a relevant story is identified, AI’s natural language processing capabilities come into play. It crafts a compelling narrative tailored to your firm's tone and style, highlighting how the news affects your clients and the legal landscape. This isn’t generic, cookie-cutter content; it’s bespoke, insightful, and authoritative, positioning your firm as a thought leader.
AI can even generate multiple formats of content from a single news story. Imagine a detailed blog post, a snappy social media update, engaging audio and video, and a concise client newsletter, all produced within minutes of the news breaking. Each piece of content is optimized for its platform, ensuring maximum engagement.
Predictive Analytics: Staying Ahead of the Curve
But AI’s magic doesn’t end with reactive content creation. Predictive analytics allows your firm to anticipate market trends and emerging legal issues. By analyzing historical data and current events, AI can forecast which topics will gain traction, enabling your firm to craft proactive content that meets future demand.
This foresight is invaluable. It not only keeps your firm ahead of the curve but also ensures that your content strategy is always aligned with the evolving interests of your audience. You’re not just reacting to the news; you’re setting the agenda.
Establishing Thought Leadership
In the crowded digital space, being first to comment on a significant legal development can dramatically elevate your firm's profile. AI ensures that your voice is not just in the conversation but leading it. By consistently and automatically providing timely, insightful commentary on relevant news, your firm builds credibility and trust with clients and peers alike.
The Human Touch
While AI handles the heavy lifting, it doesn’t replace the human element. Your firm’s unique perspective and expertise remain crucial. Think of AI as an incredibly efficient assistant, doing the legwork so you can focus on the strategic and nuanced aspects of legal commentary. You provide the insights and the context; AI ensures those insights are delivered swiftly and effectively to your audience. You can set things to be fully automatic or you can require a final human review before your content goes live.
When all said and done, the future of AI in legal marketing is not about replacing human expertise but amplifying it. By harnessing AI’s capabilities, your firm can turn breaking news into a strategic advantage, consistently delivering value to your clients and staying ahead in the competitive legal landscape.
Using AI for Content Ideation, SEO Enhancement, and Marketing Analytics: Educate to Elevate
AI isn't just a tool for content creation—it's a powerhouse for guiding your entire marketing strategy, from ideation to performance tracking. Here's how AI can revolutionize how law firms find compelling topics, optimize for SEO, and monitor key marketing metrics.
AI-Powered Content Ideation
One of the challenges in legal marketing is identifying topics that resonate with your target audience. AI-driven tools can and will analyze vast amounts of data to identify trending legal topics, questions, and keywords. These insights help you uncover niche subjects or emerging legal issues that potential clients are actively searching for.
SEO plays a pivotal role in attracting organic traffic to your firm's website. AI tools utilize machine learning algorithms to conduct comprehensive SEO audits, identify optimization opportunities, and suggest content tweaks to improve search engine rankings. These tools analyze competitor strategies, monitor keyword performance, and recommend actionable steps to enhance your site's visibility in search results.
Consider leveraging AI-generated insights to optimize your website's meta tags, content structure, and backlink strategies. By aligning your SEO efforts with AI-driven recommendations, you can attract more qualified leads and enhance your firm's online presence.
Example:
Imagine a law firm specializing in technology law. Using AI analytics, they discover a rising interest in data privacy regulations related to new tech innovations. Armed with this insight, they craft informative articles and blog posts that address these concerns, positioning themselves as thought leaders in the evolving legal landscape.
Monitoring Marketing Analytics
Effective marketing relies on data-driven decisions. AI platforms such as Google Analytics and HubSpot provide real-time analytics dashboards that track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion metrics. AI algorithms analyze this data to uncover actionable insights, such as identifying high-performing content, understanding audience demographics, and measuring campaign effectiveness.
Example:
My son, Garrett, is a post-creative marketing and branding strategist at the Los Angels office of VaynerMedia. Picture this: a law firm's marketing and branding needs, described in this chapter, seamlessly linked to the brilliance of experts like Garrett and his company's proprietary traditional and future AI marketing database and systems.
We're talking AI driven instant and automatic real-time review and analysis. Imagine having your finger on the pulse of digital trends and breaking news (think newsjacking mentioned earlier). This isn't just a partnership; it's a fusion of a law firm's marketing ambitions with the savvy of top-tier marketing strategists, all turbocharged by cutting-edge digital marketing fuel. Welcome to the future—where your firm’s marketing strategy isn’t just smart, it’s supercharged.
Effective marketing relies on data-driven decisions. AI platforms provide real-time analytics dashboards that track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion metrics. AI algorithms analyze this data to uncover actionable insights, such as identifying high-performing content, understanding audience demographics, and measuring campaign effectiveness.
For instance, a civil and environmental rights litigation law firm can use AI analytics to monitor the performance of their recent digital marketing campaign. By tracking key metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition, they can optimize ad spend allocation and refine targeting strategies to maximize ROI.
Imagine the power of AI-driven insights in the hands of experts like Garrett. The synergy between automated data analysis and strategic expertise will revolutionize how law firms approach marketing. It won’t just be about reacting to trends but anticipating them, ensuring that every campaign is not only current but ahead of the curve. This seamless integration will make law firm marketing more dynamic, precise, and impactful than ever before.
When all is said and done, AI represents a paradigm shift in how legal professionals approach marketing and branding. By embracing AI-powered tools and strategies, lawyers and law firms can amplify their reach, engage meaningfully with audiences, and cultivate a distinct brand identity in a competitive marketplace.
As you’ve seen, AI is revolutionizing legal marketing, making it possible to connect with clients in ways that were once unimaginable. But, the journey doesn’t stop here. As you gear up to harness AI’s potential in your branding and outreach, it’s also essential to consider the regulatory landscape. How do we ensure that our innovative practices remain compliant with ever-evolving laws?
Get ready to explore how AI can be your ally, not just in marketing, but in staying compliant with regulatory requirements. In the next chapter, we'll uncover the strategies and tools to keep your practice and clients on the right side of the law.