How to Write Content for Your Target Audience

Content Marketing

It’s one thing to write content for a law firm that informs a user, but tailoring it to a specific audience is a whole other animal. After all, you want people to actually read your content and hopefully pick up the phone.

Accomplishing this may require some detective work to uncover who your audience is and how they take in information. Once you know who you’re talking to, you can determine the most effective content to create, so it addresses their specific needs and portrays you as the authority.

First, Identify Your Target Audience

Before you write that blog or social media post, you should know the type of clients you’re writing to or want to attract. Understanding your audience’s demographic information, their pain points, and why they decided to contact you over your competitors all inform the content you choose to produce and the style in which it’s written.

A large part of targeting an audience also involves understanding yourself and your brand. Remember, by knowing what makes you different, your strengths as a law firm, and the cases you want need to be integrated into each piece of content, so it serves your purpose and reflects your goals.

For example, if you’re a personal injury firm looking for big-ticket cases, a constant stream of blogs telling clients the fastest ways to get a car accident settlement may not be the right move.

Likewise for criminal defense firms interested in high-profile white-collar crimes. Blogs and pages on first-time DUIs would attract the wrong crowd. Don’t be afraid to focus on your niche. As the saying goes, “when you try to be everything to everyone, you end up being nothing to anyone.”

Put Yourself in Your Client’s Shoes

To write engaging content, you must consider your client’s perspective. What is the problem they need you to solve? What type of content do they care about?

For example, a family law attorney looking to attract high-net-worth clients might choose topics surrounding high-asset division, like dividing retirement funds, splitting stock portfolios, or “who gets the art collection?”.

Criminal attorneys might handle a lot of first-time offenders. What should they know during this stressful time? What would you want to know?

Write About Topics Your Audience Wants to Know

Topics that discuss penalties for first offenses, defense options, and the general criminal process might pique their interest. These clients might need more guidance than individuals who’ve already been down this road. This could also affect the tone of voice you use and what legal skills you point to as being effective for first-timers. Negotiation, discretion, and the ability to clear your record come to mind.

Consider Everyone’s Financial Concerns

Lastly, try addressing some of your client’s financial concerns. A personal injury client struggling to pay a mountain of medical bills might want to know if you operate on a contingency basis. And while a lot of attorneys have this term on their website, what does it mean?

Being upfront about fees could make you stand out in a field that sometimes lacks pay transparency. For criminal defense and other types of lawyers, peppering your content and offering of a free consultation could also do a lot to assuage some financial stress.

Adjust Your Tone & Voice Accordingly

By knowing your target audience, you can find your content’s tone to better appeal to them. For example, attorneys who handle white-collar crimes on Wall Street might have a more sophisticated tone that engages a highly educated audience.

On the other hand, such highbrow language might turn away potential clients facing a different set of circumstances. Users might appreciate a more down-to-earth approach that makes them feel comforted and understood.

Your content’s tone should also be influenced by what your client needs to accomplish. If they suffered a terrible injury due to someone’s negligence, they might want an aggressive attorney ready to pursue the max and hold the wrongdoer accountable.

This aggressive tone likely wouldn’t be appropriate for a family law client unless they truly want to take their ex to the cleaners. Afterall, your client probably needs to cooperate with their ex regarding child custody agreements or property distribution. Coming off too strong might not interest clients who want their divorce to be as painless as possible.

Being mindful of your content’s tone could literally be the difference between someone calling your firm or choosing another attorney.

Consider the User’s Experience

As important as the words on the page are, and they are, if your content has a poor UX, the page is as good as blank. Crisp design enhances navigation, and the type of content you use ensures your target audience stays engaged. Your audience’s age and other demographic characteristics might factor in here.

A website targeting nursing home abuse lawsuits might attract an older demographic requiring more user-friendly design, such as on-page navigation that allows them to easily take in long pages of content.

An immigration firm targeting foreign clients might need to put more focus on using plain language and simple sentences since English might not be their first language.

A younger demographic might engage more with videos or infographics rather than a block of text. Such design features are a great, user-friendly way to present statistics or other critical information in a more digestible manner. When they are good, they are also likely to be referenced by others, linked to, and even shared online.

Additionally, utilizing social media posts in combination with on-page content could be a good way to engage a younger audience more prone to scrolling on Instagram rather than visiting a web site.

We’ll Teach You to Speak Your Client’s Language

Attracting the clients and case types that are right for your law firm can be challenging. However, with some practice and quality content creators, your firm’s marketing content can convert passive readers into active clients.

You don’t have to do it alone. Postali has helped lawyers get business for over a decade. We’ve produced award-winning websites that incorporate best in class web design, SEO, PPC, video production, public relations, and of course, content writing.

Contact Postali today to discuss how we can help your firm.