Choosing between volume and creative
As a CMO, you are often pulled between wanting more creative brilliance and wanting more reach. An agency brings the brilliance; they know your brand, they understand the legal space, and they produce beautiful work. But they can struggle to get that work in front of thousands of people organically. That is where a managed content network comes in. It provides the reach you need to justify the cost of the agency's creative work. The network turns a great piece of content into a high-visibility asset.
Operationalizing your distribution
Agencies are great at strategy, but they are often terrible at high-volume execution. They try to do everything manually. A managed content network is built for the exact opposite. It automates the distribution across 50+ pages. This is the difference between a boutique firm and a mass-market machine. Use the agency to craft the message, and use the network to broadcast it. It is a division of labor that makes your whole marketing operation much more effective and scalable.
Proving ROI for the leadership team
You need to show results. An agency's impact is often harder to quantify, brand awareness, sentiment, and so on. A managed content network provides much more direct data on traffic and reach. This makes your job easier. You can show the leadership team the clear correlation between the network's activity and your firm's site traffic. It is a much more data-driven approach that is easy for non-marketers to understand. This builds trust and makes it easier for you to secure budget for the future.
A balanced marketing portfolio
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Relying only on an agency is expensive and slow. Relying only on a network can lead to a lack of quality control. The best approach is a balanced portfolio. Use your agency for the high-end creative work and strategic consulting, and use your network for the high-frequency distribution. This gives you a complete marketing engine that is both high-quality and high-reach. It is the most robust way to manage your firm's presence.
CMOs should use a managed content network to scale the reach of the high-quality content their agency produces.
See your network before you hire.
Tell us what your law firm already makes and how you get customers today. We'll show you a real network running live and tell you honestly whether it fits. It costs about the same as one marketing hire.
Follow-up questions
What's the hardest part of managing both?
The hardest part is ensuring your agency's content is optimized for the high-frequency distribution environment of the network.
Are there agencies that do both?
Some claim to, but be careful. Most agencies lack the technical infrastructure to run a true, multi-page network at scale.
Which would you pick if you had one choice?
If you have solid content already, start with the network. If you have nothing of value to show, start with an agency.