We speak often about the value of content marketing, but a recent piece in the Harvard Business Review truly nails it. The choice paragraph that we’ve excerpted below is part of a larger article by Dorie Clark, an author and teacher at Duke’s Fuqua Business School, titled “Get People to Listen to You When You’re Not Seen as an Expert.” This is precisely the mission of many law firm partners who want to build up their name in an area and, as a consequence, attract more business. The straightest path to completing that mission, Clark notes, is through content:

Creating original content is the single most effective way to develop an expert reputation.

[T]he best antidote if you’re lacking an expert reputation now is to start creating one ASAP. Creating original content is the single most effective way to develop an expert reputation. Though the best channel will vary (photographers and chefs should double down on Instagram, while it’s less helpful for attorneys and insurance brokers), blogging is a good bet for most professionals…Your content creation sparks a virtuous circle: because reporters looking for comment almost always start their articles with an online search, if your name keeps coming up as someone writing about the issues, they’re likely to contact you, reinforcing your expert reputation with third-party validation. [Emphasis on original.]

This is an excellent capsulation of the argument for content marketing, and we’re happy that the author put it out there for those yet to be converted.