Any company should benefit from a content marketing strategy. When they fail, it’s not because the principles are flawed or the models are untested. It’s because the company was unable to execute the strategy, and that is always indicative of the company’s culture.

The relationship between company culture and content marketing fascinates me. That’s why one of my favorite case studies profiled by Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett in Get Content, Get Customers is the one about the law firm Pinsent Masons. Given the conservative nature of most law firms, it’s one of the most remarkable uses of content marketing I’ve ever heard. I’m convinced that the biggest obstacle that companies face when executing a content marketing strategy isn’t time, money or technology. It’s their cultures. Companies that don’t embrace content marketing as part of their DNA are their own worst enemies. For a large law firm to embrace and successfully execute a content marketing strategy is extraordinary.

If you haven’t read the book, you should. In the meantime, here’s a summary of this case study: Pinsent Masons specializes in technology law. Instead of spending gobs of money on traditional marketing materials with “traditional” (read: boring) content, they invested in a website, magazine, e-newsletters and podcasts that are produced by a team dedicated to content development. The team includes an experienced journalist. The result is a set of publications that draw influential audiences and ultimately further the firm’s business development goals.

Read the book and remember, if a law firm can do it, so can you.