Clutton Cox is a high street firm of conveyancing solicitors near Bristol. Not the most creative of professions, you might think, but this is a company that consistently produces original content that demonstrates expertise and great client service, time and time again. It doesn’t have the slickness of yesterday’s content hero Bellroy, but it’s spot on for its community.
MD Paul Hajek is lead content creator for his law firm. This is his key business development activity, and content-wise he uses every trick in the book. Fantastic on social media (he’s won awards, don’t you know), he blogs like a demon, and is big on creative Slideshare content and with other deeper content like ebooks too.
Paul Hajek
Paul’s content creation energy and zeal stretches to the real world, producing printed books for clients to guide them through the house buying maze. We love the idea of his ‘shock and awe‘ package for potential new clients – a valuable pack of useful content, including printed Slideshares as handouts, information on Clutton Cox, and a proper book. (Don’t buy or sell your house until you’ve read it!)
It’s a strategy borne out of pragmatism. Clutton Cox realised back in 2008 that with changes in UK legal practice they had to reinvent how they operated as a firm to survive. They recognised the power of marketing on the web and dived right in. The knowledge that you can’t outspend the big guys – but you can out think them – drove them on. And it’s an attitude that’s seen them not just survive, but thrive.
This eight person practice is bigger online than law firms with 30, 40, 50 partners. Both online and off, Clutton Cox’s valuable approach to marketing gets them found, like, trusted and remembered – and it has built a strong business.
So a big festive congratulations Paul and team! You are a shining light for other professional firms when it comes to your marketing. Your Valuable Content Award is winging its way to you.
Clutton Cox’s content highlights
“Blogging has been our mainstay here at Clutton Cox Solicitors. It’s what we are primarily known for in the legal, social media space. We have branched out this year into Instagram and Pinterest to attract a different and new audience to our content.
It’s clear to us that other law firms simply do not inform or educate clients on certain aspects of buying and selling a home – the Conveyancing process. Our mantra has always been: clients ask – we answer.
Our most read blog of 2015 was What Will a Local Search Unlock in Your Dream Home? with c. 10,000 views. But our most successful new content was a SlideShare presentation called, “How to Get All Your Ducks in a Row Between Exchange and Completion – Your 7 Point Plan for a Stress- Free Big Day” with c. 13,000 views.
“Our mantra has always been: clients ask – we answer.”
As lawyers we can become somewhat blasé about using the terms exchanging contracts and agreeing completion (moving in) dates. For clients there is a big knowledge gap in what they need to do and achieve before the big day arrives.
We see SlideShare as a relatively uninhabited (by other law firms) format for publishing informative, educational and fun legal content. We were galvanised by SlideShare with the success of “What’s the Name of that Legal Thingy? – an A-Z Guide through the jargon of Conveyancing” now with over 23,000 views.
Our content is now found and more importantly shared beyond our normal local demographic, and we are attracting and winning clients, as a result, in all parts of the country.
The success of our strategy provides us with greater impetus to produce even more varied and exciting legal content in 2016.” Paul Hajek, Director at Clutton Cox Solicitors www.cluttoncox.co.uk
>> Read why SlideShare is such a powerful form of content for Clutton Cox
>> And check out their creative pirate-themed new conveyancing guide
Takeaways from Clutton Cox
- Invest wholeheartedly in creating valuable content. It works for Paul because he makes content creation a priority, not just a nice-to-have.
- Get creative. Professional firms like solicitors have been slower than other sectors in exploring new content avenues like Slideshare. Start now, and you’ve got a great chance to stand out from the crowd.
- Think online and offline. Make the most of your investment in content ideas by creating print as well as digital content.
- Believe in yourself. Small firms can create the best content. Go for it!
