Lawyers and law firms have been using different kinds of content to reach and engage with clients and prospects since long before "content marketing" was a concept and anyone aspired to be a "thought leader." The analog version of content marketing included sending out newsletters and alerts, offering resources such as white papers, authoring articles in outside publications and speaking at conferences and events. Add in some public relations efforts and perhaps some (tasteful, please!) advertising, and you've achieved the trifecta of marketing: owned media, earned media and paid media.

Enter the digital revolution, which dramatically reshaped the way that lawyers and firms market themselves. The digitization of marketing, advertising and communications gave lawyers and firms more—and more sophisticated—ways to reach, engage with and influence their various audiences. It's also contributed to a market ecosystem that is, at times, mind-bogglingly complex, increasingly competitive and crowded, and potentially riskier than ever.