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If you’re looking for tangible ways to improve your PR or professional services firm’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), you’re not alone. DEI is a key business priority for a majority of C-suite executives and in-house counsel, according to Greentarget and Zeughauser Group’s 2022 State of DEI Content report — and the most frequently mentioned area where decision makers want guidance from their service providers is on how to recruit and retain diverse talent. 

That report got me thinking about what leaders could learn from my perspective garnered from wearing various hats at Greentarget: a former intern, a current senior associate and intern coordinator, an Asian-American woman breaking into a historically and predominantly white industry, and — last but not least — a member of Gen Z who, like many of my peers, prioritizes the social impact of my work and the inclusive values of my employer. 

Two years ago, I navigated a remote internship with Greentarget in the midst of the pandemic. Last summer, I returned for an in-person internship. And today, not only am I an associate serving clients in the legal and professional services industries, with a focus on media relations — I’m also a coordinator on Greentarget’s intern team, responsible for recruiting, training, and overseeing our intern classes (whose seat I was in not too long ago), as well as expanding our diversity recruiting strategy and partnerships. 

My internships played a direct role in influencing my decision to further my career in public relations at Greentarget, not only by giving me hands-on PR experience — but also by fostering a workplace with an authentic commitment to DEI, allowing me to envision myself as a team member, mentor, and leader whose perspective would be encouraged, rather than curtailed. And as value-oriented Gen Z professionals continue entering the job market, decision makers at professional services firms can and must take proactive steps to recruit and retain young talent. 

1. Demonstrate an Authentic Commitment to DEI at Your Firm

Gen Z is the most diverse generation in American history. We actively tune into DEI conversations and want to work for organizations that align with our values. And we expect employers to go beyond the performative when it comes to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive atmosphere. 

Tackling issues of diversity and inclusion is not easy, and it’s not about establishing quotas or simply boosting your numbers. Rather, it’s about creating a workplace culture where diverse talent wants to invest their professional energies. Getting started can feel intimidating, and DEI initiatives can and should be ongoing. But the good news is there are thoughtful ways to start embedding DEI into your culture that aren’t overly complicated or expensive. 

At Greentarget, we started a book club that gives interns and employees an avenue to explore DEI-focused topics. Reading Minor Feelings, for example  — an autobiography by Korean American author Cathy Park Hong — particularly resonated with me. Not only was I able to voice how my Asian-American identity has impacted me personally and professionally, but our whole team engaged in open discourse about the Asian-American psyche, and how we can be more culturally competent in the workplace.

If you’re looking to start a similar initiative at your firm, don’t be deterred by your level of understanding about a given identity or aspect of DEI. Initiatives like our book club are, after all, about education: providing a platform for your team to share their experiences, and actively listening for insights and opportunities to become a more socially conscious professional and person.

It’s also important to give interns a seat at the table, and for them to see employees from underrepresented backgrounds taking part in the business, including as decision makers. One way we do this is to invite interns to participate in many of the same professional learning opportunities that associates and leadership team members attend — from company-wide trainings on media relations and strategy, to brainstorms during which we discuss current events and explore new pitching angles. Of course, it’s also important for interns to see diverse employees in action, whether in client-facing roles or leading internal initiatives. Representation matters.

2. Elevate Diverse Voices Internally and Externally 

It can be challenging for people of color and members of underrepresented groups to speak up and share ideas freely at work. And frankly, it can be especially intimidating to interact with powerful (often white male) senior executives. 

This is as true for associates as it is for interns.

That’s why people in positions of power within your professional services firm should look for ways to open doors of opportunity and amplify diverse voices. This can be as simple as:

  • Asking questions and truly listening to the answers 
  • Encouraging interns and young associates to share their ideas and giving them merit 
  • Staying curious about perspectives and lived experiences that differ from your own  
  • Seeking input about ways to improve your culture 
  • Offering one-on-one mentorship and support 

It’s also important for your interns to see you promote diverse perspectives through your owned and earned media efforts. Greentarget is deliberate about representation on our own Insights page. We use it as a platform to amplify voices from across our entire organization, from our CEO to associates and interns. 

The diverse employees at your firm have unique and compelling points of view that will resonate with your audience. Use your platform to make their voices heard.

3. Provide Interns Access to Meaningful Work 

The best internships offer students a glimpse of what their professional futures could look like. So if you want your internship program to become a powerful recruiting tool that advances your DEI objectives, you need to give interns work they can be excited about.

From day one of my internships at Greentarget, I felt I was part of something bigger than myself. I was able to:

  • Immerse myself in topics that matter to society as a whole — like tax law, healthcare/drug pricing, and labor/employment law
  • Create a start-to-finish media campaign addressing corporate responses to the Black Lives Matter movement and present it to the entire company 
  • Interact with and learn from junior, mid-level, and senior members of the team 

That’s not to say I didn’t also handle lower-level tasks as an intern. After all, I was there to learn the business from the ground up. But employers can elevate even menial tasks if you share the “why” behind each one. For example, I initially overlooked the importance of the media lists I assembled — but by educating my intern cohort on the media relations process and how our work shaped this process, my mentors at Greentarget illuminated the significance of a “simple” task like a media list. 

4. Connect the Dots Between Your Firm and a Larger Societal Impact

The media and the PR industry help shape our understanding of the world around us, from business trends and political news to social issues. Consider what role the media has played in cultivating your awareness of the most pressing issues today — climate change, inflation, racial and gender inequality, presidential elections and geopolitical struggles happening halfway across the world?

When most people read a Washington Post article or watch a CNN segment, they probably don’t think about everything that occurred behind the scenes to produce those pieces. Before I entered the PR industry, I certainly didn’t. But PR professionals like us at Greentarget often play a key role in helping that work come together. 

Reporters often say to me, “My reporting is only as good as my sources.” Journalists rely on trustworthy, expert authorities — lawyers, accountants, consultants, and more — to explain complex issues in straightforward language and provide credibility for the accuracy of their reporting. PR professionals may spend weeks, even months, cultivating the reporter-source relationship behind a three-sentence quote. 

Over the two years since my initial internship with Greentarget, I gained an understanding of the end-to-end media relations process that has illuminated the value in even the most routine tasks. From helping a client articulate their unique perspective on a topic, sharing that perspective with reporters, coordinating and attending an in-depth interview, and eventually seeing our clients’ words from that discussion contribute to a tangible story, I see how my efforts contribute to the larger conversation.

So, how does this apply to you? To reach intern candidates who value the social impact of their work, highlight the larger results of their role. Remind them that when they do research to ensure the stories we pitch are rooted in fact, not fiction, we help fight fake news. And underscore the reality that when they secure a writing opportunity or a quote placement for a source with a diverse perspective, they’re giving that individual the opportunity to shape a broader public discourse. 

As a PR firm with clients constantly grappling with big issues, part of our job is imbuing big stories with their insights — and interns play a foundational role in this process. Developing a media list of healthcare publications or researching energy tax credits might not seem all that exciting or meaningful. But that media list could be used to pitch a story on drug-pricing legislation affecting millions of Americans. That research might prepare an energy lawyer for an interview about sustainable financing that could help businesses or communities tap into programs aimed at reducing their carbon footprint. 

Your interns and associates — especially those who are part of Gen Z — need to see a  connection between their work and the most pressing social issues of our day. Being part of something bigger — something that’s driving progress and change — is a significant motivating force for my generation. 

Create an Inclusive Culture Interns Want to Be Part Of

As an executive leader, you set the tone for your professional services firm. It’s up to you to establish diversity, equity, and inclusion as an organizational priority and empower your team to allocate the necessary time and resources to bring new initiatives to life.

Change won’t happen overnight, and making real strides will require sustained time and effort. But if you truly want to attract and retain a more diverse workforce: now’s the time to get started.

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Challenge

When expert services and consulting firm Berkeley Research Group (BRG) tapped Greentarget to lead its third annual M&A disputes research campaign, the intense economic and geopolitical upheaval made it difficult to predict what the next month would bring—let alone how conditions might shape the landscape for the coming year. Russia had just invaded Ukraine. The conflict added to turmoil in financial and energy markets even as the global economy was still recovering from pandemic-era chaos.

Given the disruptive impact of those headwinds on global business and supply chains, Greentarget’s Research & Market Intelligence team decided to tackle that issue head-on by examining how those economic conditions were influencing global M&A disputes.

Providing independent analyses and expert testimony in these matters is a core BRG competency. Digging deeper into this research angle would demonstrate the firm’s expertise in the international M&A dispute landscape, and raise BRG’s profile among its target audience of disputes-focused lawyers and finance professionals.

But the headwinds were shifting quickly – so Greentarget needed to uncover insights that would still be meaningful and newsworthy several months later when the research published.

Solution

Greentarget’s research team devised a two-pronged approach that included both qualitative and quantitative elements: 12 one-on-one interviews and an online survey of 181 individuals.

During the qualitative portion of the campaign, Greentarget spoke with leading deal and dispute lawyers around the world, including in major financial hubs like Hong Kong, London and New York. BRG provided Greentarget full access to the interviewees, which helped the team explore each lawyer’s unique point of view and guide the direction of the conversation.

The research team used insights gleaned from those interviews to develop the survey, which included a combination of new questions and some from prior years for year-over-year comparisons in the report.

Survey respondents included dispute lawyers, corporate finance advisors, deal lawyers and private equity professionals working in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America – a mix of people from which no other survey captures insights.

The Content & Editorial team combined key findings and charts from the survey with the insights and quotes from the interviewees, weaving in analysis from BRG’s own thought leaders to create a distinctive, newsworthy research report that revealed new trends in M&A disputes. The forward-looking nature of the report also provided utility to readers by mapping out what respondents expected to see in 2023.

Results

The M&A Disputes Report 2022 cut through the noise of an oversaturated M&A media landscape, garnering high-quality coverage in several publications—despite publishing near the end of the year, when dealmakers are busiest.

Greentarget’s Media Relations team secured coverage in global business, legal and financial industry publications, such as Bloomberg, The American Lawyer and Private Equity News. A Legal Dive article on the research was among the publication’s most read of 2022.

The report drove 320 visitors to the BRG website within the first month of its publication and has been viewed over 560 times. The web page that hosted the report had a bounce rate of 38% on BRG’s website (rates between 26% and 40% are considered excellent), while web traffic increased generally. The biography page of a BRG director involved in the survey analysis saw a 14% increase in traffic. On social media, some LinkedIn posts had engagement rates of 5.1%, higher than BRG’s average 3.3% engagement rate on the platform.

BRG also used the report as a business development tool, presenting the data in webinars, client dinners and receptions and the Thought Leaders 4 Disputes Corporate Disputes Conference – a key industry event.

The M&A Disputes Report helped BRG thought leaders deepen their relationships with clients by providing them with data and analysis that directly impacts their practices.  

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Challenge

Northwestern University’s chemistry department (NUChem) came to Greentarget looking for ways to better promote its research, scientists, and resources. The goal was simple: Stay competitive for top faculty and students. 

The department had more than enough talent, research prowess and pedagogical expertise to compete with the nation’s foremost chemistry departments, including MIT, CalTech, UChicago and Stanford. By fostering collaboration and supporting a diverse community of students and faculty members, the department had been at the forefront of scientific discovery for well over a century.

What NUChem didn’t have was a culture of publicizing that work to the next generation of STEM leaders or thriving businesses. So many of the institution’s breakthroughs were going underreported and uncredited. Academic leaders in the field knew the program was good — they just didn’t know how good.

Solution

When a client’s goal is to outperform its rivals, Greentarget starts there first. The initial proposal to NUChem underscored the importance of two types of research: primary research aimed at uncovering how students and faculty members viewed the department; and secondary research comparing NUChem’s reputation and promotional efforts against departments in close competition to be viewed by peers as the top chemistry department.

To help chemistry academics embrace the leading-edge marketing tactics Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management was already known for, Greentarget then developed a comprehensive competitive assessment. Its findings revealed that the department’s aversion to self-promotion wasn’t a sentiment shared by its peers. In fact, many of the institutions NUChem competes with had robust PR and marketing programs in place actively demonstrating their authority.

But the program’s biggest shortcoming was social media. Not only did Northwestern’s five peer universities maintain an active presence across multiple social media platforms, but their individual chemistry departments did as well. This gave NUChem’s competitors the opportunity to solicit success stories from within their departments and share them with a wide audience. And as industry publications and associations covered these stories, NUChem’s competitors were able to amplify them on their own social channels. Their social media presence also enabled other departments to drive engagement among current students, alumni and faculty — a crucial step toward achieving world-class reach and influence.

Impact

By showing NUChem how their peers were winning the reputation battle — and crafting a unique social strategy on their behalf — the department was able to counter. In less than two months, NUChem’s LinkedIn audience went from zero to twice that of its closest competitor.

More importantly, chemistry leaders were the ones engaging, with professors and publications mentioning the department more than any other in the competitive set during the first month of the campaign. For academics with an ultimate goal of being the top chemistry program in the country, there was no better proof point than the attention and respect of their peers.

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Following the widespread racial reckoning of the past few years, legal and executive decision makers are paying closer attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues than ever before. It’s no surprise, then, that these leaders are looking for useful content to help them navigate an increasingly complex set of DEI-related challenges and initiatives within their organizations–especially given the heightened focus on environmental, social and governance factors. 

But Greentarget’s latest research shows decision makers aren’t finding the depth and breadth of DEI guidance they need from their professional services providers.

This presents a tremendous opportunity to position your firm as an authority on this evolving and complex subject. Crafting thoughtful content that demonstrates your firm’s understanding of DEI pain points and challenges— and how those differ between legal and C-suite executives — can spark conversations with clients seeking to advance their organizations’ DEI agendas. And if your own progress on this front is especially compelling, it can reinforce your authority and even serve as a roadmap for clients to follow.

To that end, here are three content strategies to champion a DEI-focused sea change at your firm and beyond.

1. Collaborate With Diversity Chiefs to Create Your Recruitment and Retention Narrative 

According to the 200 executives we surveyed for Greentarget and Zeughauser Group’s  inaugural State of DEI Content Report, in-house counsel and C-suite executives are seeking actionable guidance on how to recruit and retain diverse talent. In fact, 69% of law firm CMOs said that clients ask for content around this topic more than any other.

However, our research found those same decision makers think their professional services providers have room for improvement when it comes to advancing their own DEI goals.

While CMOs tend to link those internal challenges to a shortage of qualified candidates, diversity officers say firms could move the needle by expanding their recruitment strategies and looking beyond traditional talent pools. Retention plays a significant role in improving DEI metrics — especially at leadership levels. After all, if junior and mid-level associates leave, they never have a chance to advance into managerial and senior positions.

Tell a Better DEI Story

CMOs need to collaborate with diversity officers to advance an authentic and compelling DEI narrative — one that moves beyond optics and percentages.

Like clients, diverse candidates want to see what the numbers say about DEI at your firm. And they want to see more representation of people who look like them in your content. But more than that, they want evidence that your firm is serious about creating and maintaining an inclusive and welcoming culture. Your current employees want this, too.

By working closely with your firm’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion leaders, you can:

  • Uncover and highlight ways your firm is maximizing contributions from individuals in traditionally underrepresented groups — and help them to secure strategic work
  • Elevate diverse subject-matter experts through earned media, thought leadership, and publishing efforts that showcase a range of perspectives in your content
  • Create narratives that foster a stronger ethos of belonging and support

It’s important to avoid a “check-the-box” mentality here. Your content should reflect a genuine commitment to growth. Achieving this kind of authenticity requires you to demonstrate a willingness to listen to people whose lived experiences differ from your own.

Once your firm has walked the walk in this area, you can more effectively help your clients address their own recruitment and retention challenges.

2. Communicate a Broader DEI Value Proposition to Stakeholders

As the chief marketing officer, you shape how your firm is seen by your stakeholders. Through the lens of your organization’s mission and values, you make the case for the value proposition your firm offers to the world. As one GC put it: “Marketing has the credibility and expertise to tell stories about the journey of the underrepresented so that they are in a position to secure more strategic work.” 

Deepening your commitment to DEI while also advising clients on their most pressing DEI priorities bolsters your value and strengthens your position as an authority. 

How? Our 2022 State of Digital & Content Marketing Report shows that corporate legal and C-suite executives look for — and trust — expert advice in the form of articles, webinars/conferences, research reports, and traditional media. Meanwhile, editors and reporters at traditional media outlets want diverse sources to bring richer and more varied perspectives to their journalism. That’s historically been a challenge in areas such as business and financial media, where “expert” voices have typically been white and male. 

Being deliberate about elevating and promoting diverse subject matter authorities in your external comms and content strategy underscores your organization’s breadth of talent and experience. And it’s a powerful way to distinguish your firm in the market.

3. Tailor DEI Content to Your Audience’s Needs

Creating content that’s centered around your own firm’s DEI initiatives is undoubtedly valuable, especially since it’s a way to establish your credible POV. But producing content that addresses the range of pressing DEI topics and issues with which clients are grappling today is arguably what they will find most useful.

Our research shows that key decision-makers unanimously want more content on DEI issues. But understandably, the types of content they’re looking for differ based on the role they hold in their firm.

What the C-Suite Want from DEI Content

Chief executives and management teams think about DEI in broad terms. As such, they tend to view the issue as they would an operating plan — something that requires goals, milestones, and metrics in order to make and measure progress. Since much of their DEI agendas are board-driven, they want advice on developing tangible KPIs so they can report quantitative progress.

You can meet their unmet need by infusing your owned media content strategy with guidance on issues such as how to incorporate DEI as a strategic priority and who should be involved in developing and implementing key initiatives.

What In-House Counsel and Other Departments Need

By contrast, corporate legal officers and other leaders who are responsible for implementing DEI initiatives are looking for detailed, tactical advice to help them carry out their firm’s strategic vision. For example, legal officers want advice from law firms on the “right” way to focus on social justice and speak out on sensitive social issues. 

Other DEI topics that resonate with in-house counsel include:

  • How to create affinity and/or peer mentoring groups to foster a deeper sense of belonging and grow diverse leaders
  • Ways to broaden recruitment practices to attract a wider pool of qualified candidates
  • How to clear the path for members of underrepresented groups to share their ideas and feedback
  • Strategies to increase buy-in and support from mid-level managers and employees across the organization

Despite these different priorities, C-suite and legal department leaders alike need to understand this important truth: Using a business case alone to justify DEI initiatives can actually erode their effectiveness by undermining underrepresented groups’ sense of belonging. Therefore, it’s also important to reinforce the moral aspect of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In other words, your content strategy should emphasize that caring about DEI is not just good for business. It’s the right thing to do.

Start a Smarter DEI-Focused Conversation

Creating a truly equitable and inclusive workplace — and communicating about it effectively — can be a challenging and messy process. And we all know that real, meaningful change doesn’t happen overnight.

You, your firm, and your clients will undoubtedly face difficult conversations and navigate challenging circumstances along the way. The team at Greentarget can help you participate skillfully as you seek to direct a smarter DEI-focused conversation at your firm and beyond. Just reach out — we’d love to hear from you.

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Executive leaders facing pressure to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) want more guidance on those efforts from their law firms and professional services providers—and say advisors must also do more to demonstrate their own DEI progress.

That’s according to Greentarget and Zeughauser Group’s first-ever State of DEI Content Report. An extension of our 2022 State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey, the report takes a deep dive into the increased demand for actionable DEI content among clients of professional services firms. Drawing on the perspectives of 200 C-suite executives and in-house counsel, the report uncovers what types of DEI content decision-makers are seeking, and the extent to which their outside firms are meeting those needs.

Our research also examines the hurdles that law firms and professional services providers face in advancing DEI initiatives at their own organizations. And we’ve paired this year’s DEI-focused results with practical guidance for marketers on how to navigate critical issues surrounding DEI to provide the guidance clients are seeking—and bolster their own DEI efforts, to ensure that content is authentic and credible.

We’re confident this year’s inaugural report will help legal and professional services organizations better understand and address their clients’ growing demand for more effective DEI content.

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For decades, PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have been used in everything from non-stick pans to firefighting foam. The so-called “forever chemicals” make things durable because they are resistant to efforts to break down their atomic structure – but that fact also makes disposing of the chemicals extremely challenging. In recent years, PFAS’ durability ran headlong into a growing awareness of their potential dangers as early (and still developing) research suggests that PFAS may link to certain cancers, liver and kidney issues, and other health problems.

Lathrop GPM, an Am Law 200 law firm, has an industry-leading environmental and tort practice with a focus on PFAS. The firm first dipped its toes into PFAS work around 2009 and spent the following years studying this emerging contaminant and figuring out what to do with it. By 2019, with a decade of experience under their belt and insight that this was going to be a growing area of demand, they dug into a marketing and business development plan.  As predicted, public and regulatory pressure around PFAS began to increase in 2020 and companies whose products included PFAS faced liability issues going back years, if not decades, and needed guidance on how to navigate the evolving landscape. Lathrop GPM’s team of lawyers had the knowledge and experience to provide that guidance – and reached out to Greentarget for a strategy to stand out as a voice of authority amid a crowded landscape and while much of the world’s attention was fixed on COVID-19.

Solution

Greentarget first identified individual PFAS topics that were in line with Lathrop GPM’s knowledge base that might fuel a thought leadership campaign. Then, to be sure that the firm’s point-of-view aligned with its audience’s most critical concerns and expectations, Greentarget turned to tools that measure search engine activity to identify terms that PFAS-related users were searching for.

Greentarget sought out terms with high relevance, robust monthly search volume, and little if any relevant legal content in top search results. Greentarget was able to pinpoint white space that Lathrop GPM could own by publishing novel, relevant, and useful perspectives. Together, Lathrop GPM and Greentarget decided on the topics of “PFAS in groundwater,” “PFAS in food,” “PFAS Action Plan” and later added “PFAS in cosmetics,” among others, as the focuses offering the best opportunities to assert Lathrop GPM’s authority.

Several calls with Lathrop GPM’s thought leaders and Greentarget were held to discuss the SEO-informed topics with the goal of creating articles stemming from the above terms and showcased Lathrop GPM’s knowledge and practical guidance.

Results

The campaign earned more than 42 media results, for 9 million impressions. That included bylines in Food Safety Magazine, Bloomberg Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Industry Today, HAPPI, Food Industry Executive, Law360, FDCC Insights and DRI’s For the Defense, and Lathrop GPM lawyers being quoted in 16 articles in such publications as Law360, Bloomberg Law, Water World, Agripulse, Food Safety & Quality, Environmental Health News and Cosmetic Design.

Additionally, Bloomberg Law now regularly turns to Lathrop GPM as legal authorities on PFAS. The campaign also led to several new business inquiries as well as outreach from current clients and a prominent environmental lobbyist — who said Lathrop GPM was analyzing the issue in mostly uncovered ways.

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