How Your Content Can Make You King of the Hill

Defend your market share from your competitors with your “content castle”

In Medieval times, kings built strong, robust castles on high ground as livable spaces in which to defend themselves against opposing kingdoms and nations. In these high strongholds, they could withstand onslaughts from their foes in the security of their fortresses.

 

If you are like most bankruptcy attorneys, you find yourself in a similar situation as kings of old: in a constant battle for market share. With a finite demand for bankruptcy services and with growing numbers of attorneys and intensifying marketing from your competitors, how can you survive and thrive? How can you become and remain  “king of the hill”?

 

One of the greatest ways you can differentiate yourself from other law firms and gain lasting competitive advantage is by creating and marketing excellent content, such as eBooks, videos, printed materials, and more, that your customers want and need. As you build your “content castle”, you will stand apart from your competitors as one willing to go the extra mile to help your customers, which will result in increased customer loyalty, competitive differentiation, and growing clientele.

What is your content castle?

Your customers are searching for information as they hesitantly and nervously approach the decision to file bankruptcy and to file themselves or hire an attorney. But with pressure from creditors and debt and with so many questions and so many attorneys to choose from, this can quickly become an overwhelming process.

By creating high quality, unique, valuable content, you can satisfy your customers’ need for information and answers. This “content castle”, built from eBooks, videos, FAQs, infographics, pamphlets, brochures, and website content provides a place of refuge for your customers. This safe haven allows your customers to alleviate misconceptions, overcome fears, and establish trust with you as their potential attorney. At the same time, this content castle creates a defensive barrier against your competitors who are trying to steal your market share.

How can you build your content castle and defend your kingdom?

Just as planning and building castles takes time and energy, so it is with your content marketing. Your content castle should follow these principles:

 

1. Your castle should be well planned. A castle must be well thought out before it is built, just as your content marketing strategy should be well thought out. What content will you create? How will this content help your customers? How will you integrate your content into one, unified message? The more well planned your content is, the higher quality of more functional your castle will be.
2. Your castle should be build of the best materials. A sloppy castle or one made of wood won’t withstand attacks from your competitors. Make sure that any content you make is of very high quality. For examples, an eBook hastily made in a Word Doc with clip art won’t make nearly as strong of an impact as one made with the help of a professional graphic designer, nor will a video series recorded on a cheap camera be as impactful as a professionally made video series. The higher quality your content is, the more it will impress your customers and the harder it will be for your competitors to imitate our out-compete.
3. Your castle should be functional, cozy, and useful. Castles aren’t just strongholds against competitors. They are livable spaces. Make your content castle cozy and functional by focusing your content on the needs of your customers. What questions do they have? What fears and worries do they have? How can you help them feel comfortable understanding the bankruptcy process? As you create content that focuses on customers’ needs, interests, and wants, you will attract more customers to stay in your castle.
4. Your castle should be visible by all. A castle should be easily visible from far away. What good does it do you if your castle is hidden or concealed from view? If you have outstanding content to share but none of your customers know about it, it won’t do you or them any good. Build your content castle on a tall hill by advertising it publicly in your commercials and advertising. Share it with all potential customers that you meet and encounter. The more publicly visible your content is, the more you can use it as a point of interest to attract customers to your law firm.
5. Your castle should be impossible to breach or imitate. A castle should be cozy and inviting for customers, but it should be strong and impenetrable for competitors. As you develop impressive, unique, valuable content, competitors may try and imitate your efforts. They may try and write on the same content or produce content that is similar in nature. If your content is unique and of high quality, and if your castle is more visible to customers than your competitors’, then you won’t have to worry as much about competition. Your content will give you a lasting competitive advantage that will allow you to stand out from your competitors and attract customers.

Practical Application

Castle analogies aside, here is how you can implement an effective, lasting content marketing strategy.

 

1. Determine what content to make and what format to make it in. For examples, you could create a Chapter 7 eBook, a bankruptcy FAQ pamphlet, or a video series on Small Business bankruptcy.
2. Write and create the content. Write scripts and use them in any digital or printed materials. Use professional help (graphic design, videographers, etc) as needed to polish up your content.
3. Market your content. Let customers know about your content. Use your content at every appropriate opportunity in your advertising and when you talk with or meet customers.
4. Analyze and improve your content’s effectiveness. Monitor analytics on how well your content attracted attention and interest from customers, as well as how well your content helped potential customers become paying clients. Seek opportunities to improve your current content, how you market it, and whether or not you should add new content.