What Did We Learn in 2015?
This is a reprint of the article I wrote for the Louisville Bar Association’s Bar Briefs. It appears in the December edition on page 15.
It’s been a busy year. As we close out the fourth quarter and focus on holiday celebrations, it’s also an opportunity to look back at what we learned. There were several important macro-trends, in addition to what you may have seen in your own local landscape. Taking stock of these changes can prepare you to increase your business in 2016.
Macro-Trend #1: YouTube and Digital Content
My September article detailed Google’s revenue increases and the astonishing growth of YouTube. The way consumers search for information is rapidly changing. Video-based content is growing in importance. Did you start a video-strategy for your firm? Have you launch your firm’s YouTube channel? If not, put it on your calendar to complete in the 1st quarter (you’re already behind).
Digital Video content is already beginning to impact how large advertisers allocate budget expenditures. There’s a significant shift away from TV advertising. That budget is now being spent on digital video in various formats and channels.
There’s been a rapid increase in Facebook and YouTube advertising. Combine that with an industry shift toward demand-based programming (i.e. Netflix, Hulu and others) and you can see that the landscape is changing at a macro-level. It won’t take long to have a significant impact for more localized markets. We’re already beginning to see it. I’m not ready to strongly advocate for Vine, Instagram or Periscope for law firms, but these platforms are evolving. You’d do well to keep an eye on them.
