There is a plethora of social media platforms today. For all, but the largest legal firms, there is a perpetual feeling of overload trying to build and promote a strong online presence while ensuring that you effectively represent your clients.
Here are the four social media platforms that are going to give your law office the best results with details for why each is important to you. Additionally, I will share one or two actionable steps that you can take today to get your started.
The four platforms are
- YouTube
Be sure to check out a special bonus 5th platform at the end!
Why Is It Important
With more than 2.5 B users worldwide, Facebook is the 800 lb gorilla of social medial platforms. A large portion of your potential clients are on the platform and it is a great place for you to show up where they are active.
- Of Americans who use Facebook, more than 74% report that they use it every day.
- According to estimates, the average Facebook user is on the platform for 38 min per day. (Note: This estimate was published for 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic which would suggest actual usage could be higher.)
There are opportunities for both organic engagement through relationship building as well as a data-rich advertising platform.
Success on Facebook comes from a two-front strategy focusing on your community (location) and associations (communities of interest). The synergies produced by this combined approach is your winning strategy.
The attorney who exhibits authority in my community and shares my affinity for a particular sports team is my likely choice when I need representation. She only needs to be listening and recognize my situation!
What To Do Today On Facebook
If you do not have a Facebook Business Page, follow the instructions in this post to create one.
Once created, commit to at least once per week posts in each of the following areas.
- Community-based (This can be a story about some place or business in your community that you visit. Take pictures and review the meal. Snap photos attending the local high school football game. Share a group photo and story of your experience speaking to your local Rotary Club.)
- Interest-based (This post will speak to your values and those things important to you. Celebrate your college’s big win. Enjoy (just a little) your college rival’s big loss. Post an explanation of how valuable your favorite charity is to your community.)
- News-based (Share and comment on a story important to your community. Explain the legal considerations related to a recent decision relevant to your area of practice. Recommend better options or a solution to a problem impacting your audience.)
The goal is to elevate you and your firm above the noise of the timeline. This is achieved by connecting with and engaging your audience.
Work toward the long-term goal of authentically fostering in their mind that you are the attorney near them most like them.
YouTube
Why Is It Important
There is legitimate debate (albeit largely philosophical) of whether YouTube is a social platform or a search platform.
Leaving philosophy to philosophers – It is, in actuality, both for our purposes!
It is a social platform in that a content producer’s main objective is to build and engage an audience. It is a search platform in that, owned by Google, its content-search features make it the #2 used search engine in the world!
It is mostly unrivaled as a platform where content producers can be found by an audience and nurture engaged relationships with them.
This is definitely an online space where legal practices can consistently build brand and attract prospective clients.
Note: There is a technical reason that growing your exposure on YouTube is a valuable benefit. On Google’s Search Engine Results Page , it returns YouTube videos below only Google Local Service Ads. These videos organically display in search results above Google My Business (Maps) and some ads.
As long as Google’s Search Engine Results Page is laid out in this manner, a solid YouTube strategy is a powerful engine for a growth-oriented law firm.
What To Do Today On YouTube
If you do not have a YouTube channel, follow the instructions in this post to create one.
Once your channel is created, develop an at least once weekly schedule to upload a video related to your legal niche, area of service, or personal interests/experiences. (For best results and as a stretch goal once you gain proficiency, aim to produce one video of each type every week.)
While either one-per-week (or three-per-week) might seem daunting, it is totally achievable once you begin to take advantages of the opportunities currently being overlooked.
- If you visit a restaurant or bar, take 10-15 minutes to interview the owner. Local businesses need exposure and these enable exposure for both the business and your practice to each other’s circle of influence.
- Interview government, business, and civic leaders with whom you come in contact on a day-to-day basis. This elevates your standing in your community.
- Share interactions at ballgames or civic clubs to show the human face to your businesses and practices.
- Film and post answers to common legal questions as a means to identify yourself and your practice as experts within your community.
Each of these increases your standing within your community and gets your recognized as an expert. If there is a legal question (or a question about your area of service), your audience is already looking to you.
Why Is It Important
Instagram, overall, targets a younger demographic than other platforms like Facebook or Twitter. However, with over 1B users in its own right and owned by Facebook supporting cross-posting across both platforms, it sits as a fertile space for legal firms who have attorneys that relate to a younger audience.
More uniquely visual than some of the other platforms, pictures, graphics and short video sequences do very well on the platform.
Of particular interest to law firms who can develop their messaging in this fashion, Instagram Stories can unlock strong growth potential. There is particular opportunity to “story-board” problems and solutions that can drive attraction and engagement very quickly.
Relatively new for Instagram Stories for businesses or firms interested in advertising, there is the capability to add CTAs (call-to-actions) embedded within the Stories which can drive traffic (and conversions) to other landing pages or websites.
Instagram – Visual, visual, visual! Pictures of your listings. Videos of your remodels. Play here is Instagram Stories that combine a set of pictures into a flow.
What To Do Today On Instagram
If you do not have an Instagram account, you can create one here. (Note: If you already have a Facebook account, be sure to login/create your account on Instagram using it! In this fashion, you can manage both platforms within similar administration pages.)
Once created, take some time over a 2-3 day period to watch how engagement on the platform works. While owned by Facebook, it is a different platform serving a somewhat different audience of users. Any time you are new on a platform, just introduce yourself and watch the interactions. You’ll pick up quickly what works and what doesn’t.
Take small excerpts from other content (videos, blog posts, etc) to create rich graphics and snippets. This is a practice called “Content Decomposition” and is something used by influencers to re-purpose their existing content to a different audience and platform.
Why Is It Important
Most people just look at LinkedIn as a “job hunting” or online resume site. While it may have started as such in the past, it has developed into a socially-active site in its own right.
Delving into LinkedIn demographics, we find the following
- 49% of users make >$75k
- 51% of users hold college degrees
- 61% of users are in that 25-34 demographic
LinkedIn is an accumulation and associative play for those who learn how to publish on it. Due to the fact that its advertising platform has not fully matured, it still has organic reach potential unseen on some platforms like Facebook in a few years.
On LinkedIn, you want to be building your personal and practice brand. There are opportunities for partnership and collaboration that can only be found among like-minded individuals on a platform like this.
- If you are looking to attract attorneys to your practice, here each side can learn a lot about each other.
- If you are looking for partnership arrangements or to negotiate among other “shoulder” niches, this is a great place to grow your brand visibly and organizationally.
What To Do Today On LinkedIn
As noted before, LinkedIn is about connections. Assuming your practice is already proficient and executing on the earlier three platforms, here you will grow your brand among your peers and among potential prospects in your community.
See to the left the panel where you can select Groups or Events or Followed Hashtags.
Identify a few relevant to your legal niche and your area of service to follow.
After following them, watch what content build engagement and where your firm can bring value into this ready-made audience.
Do not go overboard with “spammy” automations on LinkedIn. Too many “marketers” are mimicking the worst practices of Direct Marketing or Email Marketing in online platforms and it is a massive misuse!
Online platforms are primarily about relationships. Brute force automations are an attempt to get the results (sales) without the relationships (effort) and it only serves to poison the environment for us all!
Special Bonus: Reddit
Why Is It Important
Reddit is primarily a question and answer platform.
The often-overlooked value it provides as a “question and answer” platform is the breadth and depth of topics (functioning like “rooms”) where the conversations occur.
If you identify 3-5 threads relevant to your legal niche, you will see up-to-date problems, concerns, challenges that your prospects are experiencing. You will see them as described by your prospect.
The value of Reddit as a listening tool to your target audience or prospects is immense.
As a social platform allowing engagement, you can respond to them with possible solutions that you could later develop to marketable solutions for clients.
What To Do Today On Reddit
- Identify 3-5 threads to your niche
- Set aside 15-20 minutes per day just to monitor what other users are talking about in that thread.
- Where appropriate, engage and offer solutions.
- Follow up with them to determine their results and get feedback for how you might offer it differently the next time.
Reddit is a prime location to prototype solutions to previously-unsolved problems. As your influence grows, your brand will grow and Reddit can be a good launching point for marketable solutions and services that your firm can offer.
Conclusion
Being active on the right platforms and becoming proficient on them is an achievable goal for your law firm. The benefits far outweigh the costs as a vehicle for growth.
Building that coordinated social media strategy does take work. However, as a means to speak directly to prospects needing the exact representation that your firm provides, there is not a better place to invest your effort.
Take a few minutes every day to familiarize yourself with the platforms and how communication/engagement works on each of them.
With that knowledge, you will be well on your way to unlocking growth for your law firm that you’d never expect.
Our goal is to help law firms more effectively represent their clients and we accomplish that by [a] helping them find clients & [b] freeing them to best represent their clients.
If you have questions or need some help, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email.
