"Technology and legal are still growing together"
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Vondrae McCoy, Director of Data Analytics & Client Strategy at Good2bSocial, during an Office Hours webinar with the JD Supra community. Vondrae brings a decade of hands-on experience helping firms evolve their digital strategies.
Our conversation focused on building a practical blueprint for 2026: how to stay discoverable as search and AI shift, how to produce the right content (in the right formats), and how to measure what matters so you can do more of what works. Some takeaways and key action items:
What’s Changing (& Why It Matters)
- Search is now multi-surface: classic SEO + AI overviews + social discovery. If you want to be found, you need signals across formats (text, audio, video, images) because AI systems “learn” from all of it.
- Video is non-optional: not just talking heads — think voiceover, animated explainers, slideshow reels, short audiograms.
- Authenticity still wins: experiment with AI assistance, but keep a human in the loop (especially for trust-heavy practices).
What to Do About It (AKA Your Playbook)
1. Build the content engine (a mix of speed, scale, quality)
Use AI to draft first passes for social posts, emails, video scripts — then edit to firm standard. Create prompt “kits” by practice area so lawyers and marketers can spin up consistent copy fast.
2. Match formats to comfort
Camera-shy partner? Record a 60-second audiogram summarizing a popular alert; turn a deck into a slideshow video; use voiceover on case-study reels.
3. Meet your audience where they already are
Pose Vondrae’s favorite question to your author: “Who do you want to call you after they see this?” Then place the content piece in the channel/newsletter/podcast those people actually follow.
4. Trim your tech stack
Audit overlapping tools (social schedulers, email, reporting). Fewer, better platforms make measurement and workflows saner.
How to Measure What Matters (& Know When It’s Working)
1. Create a simple, roll-up “Visibility Score”
Blend metrics you actually control and can repeat:
- LinkedIn: reactions + comments + saves + post clicks
- Email: opens + clicks
- JD Supra: reads and downstream engagement
- Web: pageviews + engaged sessions
Report by content item, campaign, and practice. Use a trendline; don’t chase one-offs.
2. Track AI as its own source
- In GA4, tag/segment referrals from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity/Bing to see how often AI answers are sending you traffic (bios vs. insights).
- In SEMrush, monitor where your pages appear in AI Overviews and related SERP modules. Use that intel to refresh high-potential pages.
3. When something lands, make it work harder
- Re-purpose your winning content: turn that top alert into a 60-sec audiogram, a lawyer’s LinkedIn post, a JD Supra “top reads” roundup mention, and a short YouTube explain-it video.
- Practice “time-box” recycling: resurface a piece of content 2–3 weeks later if news hooks reappear.
Quick AI Prompts You Can Steal
- “You are a legal-industry social editor. Using the attached alert, draft three LinkedIn post options (one hooky, one data-driven, one client-focused), each <120 words with a clear CTA.”
- “Act as a BD analyst. From these last 90 days of metrics (CSV provided), identify the top 5 pieces by blended Visibility Score and suggest the best recycling format for each (audiogram, slideshow video, lawyer LinkedIn, client email blurb).”
Five Takeaways to Bring to Planning
- Habits over dashboards: schedule weekly “AI show-and-tell” and a monthly content retro.
- Think in formats: every topic deserves a text + short audio/video variant.
- Lawyer amplification > brand alone: equip authors to post natively; reshares still help.
- Measure visibility, not vanity: blend metrics you can influence and repeat.
- Recycle with intent: when a piece wins, syndicate it across channels and modes.
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Huge thanks to Vondrae for his time during this Office Hours session. JD Supra clients who want to watch and listen to the entire recording of our time together: log into your account dashboard and visit the archive of previous programs.
