Last week, we were very excited to host a roundtable at The Lawyer's Marketing Leadership Reunited event in London. For many, including ourselves, it was the first in-person event attended since the pandemic and it was a pleasure to be having those real life conversations once again. 

There was a wide range of discussion, with our table focusing on the role of content and how it helps build success in the legal marketing space.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Success is opening doors & following up on open conversations

Our first takeaway was that beyond any marketing metrics or BD statistics, success in marketing & BD starts with opening doors and starting conversations with target prospects.

However, success is not just starting that conversation. Success comes from developing an effective follow-up that helps to close the loop on the initial interaction. Whilst the marketing and BD teams might provide the initial spark for a conversation, lawyers need to recognise how to tie it up. 

Useful insights have taken precedence over perfectly polished content

Aside from the dramatic increase in the amount of content that has been produced since the pandemic, there was also a shift in the format it came in. 

Traditionally, it was assumed that any corporate podcast or video needed to be professionally produced in order to be published. However, the general consensus was that marketing teams were more willing to publish something slightly 'rough around the edges' as long as it brought value to clients and prospects - ultimately starting conversations or supporting a follow-up.

Through having a focus on the quality of information over the quality of production has made it easier for useful content to be produced by lawyers and the teams. 

Partner buy-in is still a huge challenge - feedback is part of the solution

The biggest challenge that comes with creating a successful thought leadership programme is obtaining buy-in from the expert authors and the leadership of the firm. 

Marketers need to be able to answer the question: "Are these articles worth our time?"

When it comes to marketing and BD efforts, Partners want to understand the value they have been able to add and therefore when it comes to thought leadership, the challenge remains for marketers to demonstrate the return on investment, which isn't always easy to do. 

So, how do you achieve that positive perception of your thought leadership program? Well feedback is key, and it is crucial for the authors and Partners to be able to see who has engaged with their insights. Through seeing the businesses, prospects and key clients that are interacting with their thought leadership, it really helps to put into perspective the value of creating the posts and sharing that with their network.