Most law firms have a strategic plan. It might be short and sweet or detailed and data-driven, but it’s there. It probably covers what you want to achieve and who you’re targeting. Services, sectors, growth markets, client types. The what and the who.
But most firms stop there. They don’t get to the how or the why. And that’s where messaging and content come in. Without them, your strategy is all ambition and no traction.
A Ferrari with a Smart Car engine
Visual identity and branding often get the lion’s share of attention. New logos, bold colour palettes, professional photography. All of which is great. But without a clear messaging and content strategy to support it, it’s rather like buying a Ferrari and putting a Smart Car engine in it. It looks the part, but it’s never going to deliver.
Clients want more information than ever before. They want to understand what you do, how you do it, and why they should choose you. And they want to access that information easily, digitally, and without wading through legal waffle. Your messaging is how you show up. It’s what connects the dots between your firm and your audiences, and between your ambition and action.
So if you’re serious about strategic growth, you need to include your messaging and content strategy as part of the plan.
The missing link in law firm strategy
Think about your strategic objectives. Most will sit under the growth umbrella. You want to win more work, cross-sell more effectively, expand into new markets, attract and retain the right people, raise your profile.
To do all that, you need to make sure the right people know the right things about you. And that means defining how you speak and what you say. Your messaging and content strategy is what gives your plan substance. It helps people understand what you offer and why it matters.
In short, it gives you the tools to execute your strategy. It turns the plan into action.
Start with the audit
At ELE, our messaging and content strategies start with a forensic review of what’s already out there, mapped against your strategic objectives. What are you saying? Where are you saying it? Is it consistent, accurate, engaging? Is it doing you justice?
This audit covers everything from website messaging and LinkedIn content to email campaigns, printed materials, directories, awards and more. We look at tone of voice, clarity, differentiation, content quality, SEO, and user engagement. We benchmark you against competitors and explore how your users are interacting with your content. What’s landing, what’s being ignored, and where you’re missing opportunities.
The result? A clear, evidence-based view of where you are now. And what needs to change if you’re going to hit your targets.
Then build the strategy
Armed with all that insight, we move on to strategy. Not the kind that sits in a drawer gathering dust, but a practical, tailored plan that informs what you say, how you say it, and where you say it.
We define your core messages, your content pillars, your tone of voice and your elevator pitches. We explore why tone of voice matters and make sure yours is doing its job. We identify your audiences, define what they need to hear, and build a plan for reaching them. We give you ideas for the year ahead and help you get more from what you already have by repurposing your content.
And we do it all with clarity, consistency and practical value at the heart.
Strategic content is client-centred
One of the most common traps we see is when firms are writing about themselves. Their services, their people, their expertise. But clients don’t just want to know what you do. They want to know what it means for them.
That’s why we help our clients shift the focus from credentials to client benefit. Our guide to focusing on client benefits over expertise covers this in more detail, but the point is simple. Content that supports strategic goals needs to speak your client’s language and reflect their priorities.
When you get that right, you stop just attracting more clients. You start attracting the right ones.
It’s not just about marketing
Messaging and content strategy might sit in your marketing budget, but its impact reaches far beyond it. A strong strategy will:
- Help your business development team articulate your value clearly
- Give partners and associates a shared way to talk about the firm
- Strengthen internal communications and alignment
- Support recruitment and onboarding
- Improve the user journey on your website
- Increase engagement across your digital channels
And because your strategy includes clear guidelines and repeatable content structures, it makes everything faster and easier to produce. Less time reinventing the wheel. More time building relationships and getting results.
So here’s the crux of the matter – put it in the plan
Here at ELE we’re firm believers that a messaging and content strategy has an important place as part of the firm-wide strategic plan. Why? Because strategic plans tend to be full of what and who. What are we doing? Who are we targeting? But very few address the how or the why.
A messaging and content strategy answers both.
It gives your overall strategic plan meaning and your teams a toolkit. It ensures that every external touchpoint reinforces your positioning and speaks to the right people in the right way. And it gives your strategic plan the voice it needs to be heard.
As we said in Think Before You Publish, good messaging is invisible when it works and impossible to ignore when it doesn’t. If your strategic plan doesn’t include it, there’s a good chance the gap is already showing.
Ready to find out what your messaging is really saying?
Our messaging and content strategy support is the place to start. Contact us to find out more.
