Social Media Advertising for Lawyers — Best Practices and Pitfalls

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Social media has become an increasingly essential tool for professionals in all industries to build authority and make connections with potential clients. Lawyers are no exception. Now that a majority of consumers are online, law firms need a strong online presence that showcases their knowledge and experience. Here is why your law firm needs a social media marketing strategy, as well as some best practices and pitfalls to know.

Why Your Law Firm Needs a Social Media Marketing Strategy

Here are several reasons why your law firm needs a social media marketing strategy:

  1. Your Clients Are There

Your marketing efforts should meet customers where they’re at, and a majority of them are regularly on social media sites. According to recent data, there are over 4.95 billion social media users worldwide, which equates to more than 61% of the global population.

  1. Your Competition is Doing it

According to 2022 data released by the American Bar Association, 89% of law firms surveyed maintain some type of social media presence. A majority of law firms (87%) use LinkedIn. Many firms also use other social platforms, like Facebook (62%), Twitter (38%), and Instagram (17%).

  1. Sends More Traffic to Your Website

As you focus on getting more traffic to your law firm’s website, don’t ignore the potential of social media. You can post informative content on your social profiles, which leads people back to your website. This can also help your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

  1. Builds Valuable Brand Awareness

Your law firm’s brand is an essential part of its overall digital marketing strategy. As more people recognize your firm’s name, they’ll know where to turn when they need your services. Social media is one place where you can build brand awareness and trust.

  1. Gets You New Clients

A common marketing goal most law firms have is to get more clients. Because so many of your potential clients are already on social networks, this makes these platforms ideal places to form valuable connections that can lead to new business.

Social Media Best Practices for Lawyers

If you’re interested in launching your law firm’s social media presence, you may not be sure where to begin. Here are some social media best practices for lawyers.

  1. Determine Your Social Media Goals

When you approach social media for marketing purposes, it’s always helpful to establish some goals. This allows you to properly focus your digital marketing efforts so they achieve the desired outcome.

For example, your goal might be to establish yourself as an authority in your field. Or it may be to simply generate more brand awareness among potential clients. Regardless of your goals, you’ll want to choose some key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure and track your progress.

  1. Choose Your Social Media Platforms

Whether you consider this good news or bad news — there are a ton of social media platforms to choose from. But you don’t have to have a presence on all of them to be successful. In fact, some networks will be better suited to your business than others depending on things like your primary areas of practice, your target audience, and the type of content you plan to post.

If you are a business attorney or are only trying to make connections with other professionals, LinkedIn may be the best option. However, many law firms are also choosing to have a presence on Facebook due to its massive reach. YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram are other popular choices.

  1. Set Up and Optimize Your Profiles

Whichever social media platforms you choose, make sure you properly set up your account and optimize your profile. If a business account is an option, this is what you should choose in most cases unless you are trying to build a personal brand. It’s essential that your law firm’s data (name, address, phone number, URL) match across all social media platforms.

  1. Create a Social Media Content Strategy

Your social media content strategy includes the type of content and the timing of the delivery on your various social media platforms. To be most effective, you’ll want to deliver engaging, valuable, and relevant content to your target audience as consistently as possible.

Most law firms choose to post a variety of content on social media. For example, you can share your website’s blog posts, share others’ content, and post some original content, such as videos, graphics, polls, and statistics, to inform and spark conversation.

  1. Monitor Conversations Around Your Firm

“Social listening” is a valuable tool for learning more about your target audience and making connections. Fortunately, you can automate part of this by setting up keyword “alerts” on social media tied to your brand name or other specific terms. If you choose, you can weigh in on those conversations or find ways to take advantage of new opportunities.

  1. Share Others’ Content and Participate in Conversations

Social media isn’t meant to be a one-way conversation. If you are only “pushing out” content and hoping for amazing results, you’ll likely be disappointed. When you share others’ content, they are more likely to reciprocate, which can help broaden your reach. You can also participate in conversations on other pages to begin building brand-name recognition for your firm.

  1. Track Your Results and Make Adjustments

You’ll never know what’s working and what isn’t with your social media strategy if you don’t track your results. Go back to those KPIs you chose at the beginning and see how you’re doing. Even better, most social media platforms offer detailed insights to make tracking easy so you can adjust as needed.

Social Media Pitfalls for Lawyers — Mistakes to Avoid

While it’s vital for law firms to be present and active on social media, there’s a right and wrong way to approach this type of marketing. Do it wrong, and it can harm your firm’s reputation instead of producing the results you want. Here are some common social media mistakes your law firm should try to avoid.

  1. Not Responding to Comments

Social media marketing needs to be an ongoing conversation between your law firm and its target audience. This sounds like a massive undertaking, but the results will be worth the effort. Each post you make can prompt readers to ask questions or make comments, which you can reply to and create lasting connections, eventually leading to new business.

  1. Being Inconsistent With Engagement

If you’re only posting on social media when you have time or feel inspired to do so, you won’t get positive results. People need to see your law firm’s name consistently to begin recognizing your brand and feeling a connection to it. Instead, create a content calendar and stick to a schedule.

  1. Too Much Self-Promotion

Of course, you have goals you want to achieve. But you won’t get there with blatant self-promotion. Today’s consumers don’t respond positively to that. Instead, you’ll get better results by posting helpful, educational content that builds trust with your target audience.

  1. Posting from the Wrong Profile

If you have personal social media accounts, keeping your personal and professional life separate can be challenging. But it’s important. You don’t want to post your happy hour or vacation photos to your law firm’s Facebook page. Company social media profiles should remain separate and professional.

  1. Not Choosing the Right Content

Many people are on multiple social media platforms, and you risk alienating these groups by posting identical content across multiple channels. Some sites, like Instagram, are more suited to visual content, and others, like YouTube or TikTok, are more suited to video content. You’ll get better results by adjusting your content to match the platform.

  1. Misuse of Hashtags

Hashtags originated on Twitter but have expanded to all social media platforms as a means to expand reach and organize content. But overuse of them can appear spammy and annoy your readers. Try to stick to two or three relevant hashtags if you choose to use them.

  1. Not Respecting Confidentiality

Attorneys have a duty to protect and respect the confidentiality of their client’s information, except in specific instances where a client has given consent. When offering advice or answering questions on social media platforms, it’s essential that attorneys don’t breach the confidentiality of past or current clients.

  1. Ignoring Solicitation and Advertising Rules

The American Bar Association has created Rules of Professional Conduct governing attorney advertising and solicitation. For lawyers and law firms, advertising must be truthful and not create unreasonable expectations.

Get Help With Your Law Firm’s Social Media Marketing Strategy

If your law firm isn’t using social media to increase its online visibility and attract more clients, it’s time to start. Without this valuable strategy, you are missing out on opportunities to make connections with potential clients. At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we will help your law firm create a customized legal marketing strategy that includes developing and maintaining a strong social media presence. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

Just How Important is LinkedIn for Attorneys? 

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Social media marketing is one of the most leveraged strategies for growing your law firm’s business. You might think that your focus should be on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. And perhaps some of it should be depending on your target audience. But any attorney that leaves LinkedIn out of the equation is leaving a lot of marketing potential on the table.

How Important is LinkedIn for Attorneys?

LinkedIn launched in 2003 and has grown into the world’s largest online professional network. The platform now has over 310 million monthly active users, with close to 40% accessing the network daily.

There are roughly 800,000 attorneys on LinkedIn, and the American Bar Association reports that 75% of lawyers use the site for professional purposes. But a majority aren’t making full use of it to promote their brand and drive new business.

Here are several reasons why you should be harnessing the power of LinkedIn to promote your legal services:

  1. Build Relationships With Potential Clients

You can use LinkedIn to network with people that might need your legal services today or in the future. You start on LinkedIn with people you already know. But the platform makes it simple (and not awkward) to form new connections. Most people on the platform are looking to grow their network, so you can begin building relationships with people that will eventually bear fruit.

  1. Nurture Relationships With Existing Clients

Once you get a client, you should do your best to keep that relationship. Even if your client doesn’t need your services again for years, staying in the front of their mind can ensure you’ll be the first name they think of when one of their friends or family needs a referral.

People do business with lawyers they trust and like. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to stay connected with people.

  1. Connect With Potential Referral Sources

Where LinkedIn really shines for attorneys is its massive potential to drive referral business to your law firm. Remember, there are close to a million lawyers on LinkedIn. Start connecting with a bunch of them outside your geographic and main practice areas. Then, when an opportunity comes up, one of those lawyers might remember you and refer business your way.

  1. Boost Your Credibility

Speaking of your peers, one of LinkedIn’s features is the ability to recommend or endorse a connection. When you do this for other attorneys, they are likely to return the favor. You can also get these endorsements from past clients. Having these on your profile increases your credibility and the likelihood that someone will contact your firm.

  1. Become a Thought Leader

If you want to attract new referral sources and clients, you can do so by being a regular participant on LinkedIn. This involves publishing original content, commenting on others’ posts, sharing relevant information, and expanding your connections. When you do these things, you’ll be top of mind as a thought leader in your practice area.

  1. Stay On Top of Legal and Industry News

When you join LinkedIn groups, you can stay at the forefront of current issues, trends, cases, and changes in the law related to your area of practice. Many of these groups feature interesting discussions on current events and give you another opportunity to make connections.

  1. Showcase Your Legal Abilities

Law firms can (and should) create a LinkedIn page, but attorneys should have their own separate profiles on the platform. This gives you an opportunity to showcase your personal brand as well as your legal abilities.

  1. Increase Brand Awareness

LinkedIn is a vital marketing tool for every law firm and attorney when you consider that your current and potential clients, as well as your competition, are on the platform. You should use the network to make strong connections with people and your peers and set yourself apart from your competitors.

Getting Started With LinkedIn for Attorneys

As you can see, LinkedIn is not only an impressive tool for networking but also a goldmine for attracting and fostering referral business. So, how can you use this platform most effectively? Here are a few tips to get started with marketing your legal services on LinkedIn.

  1. Create a Strong First Impression

The first thing you want to do is create a strong profile. Many lawyers make the mistake of just duplicating their CV in digital format and calling it a day. Try to avoid this approach.

Start with a professional headshot (no selfies) and a background photo that reflects your personal brand. Include a headline that reflects your main area of practice. Finally, make sure you include an engaging description in the “About” section, list your skills, and state the geographic area you serve.

  1. Grow Your Network

When you first start on LinkedIn, you’ll want to give the platform access to your email contacts so that you can make instant connections with people you already know. From there, you can expand your connections through “2nd Connections” (connections of your connections) and people you meet in Groups.

  1. Get Active

Don’t just be a lurker on LinkedIn. Get active to get the most benefits from the platform. This involves liking, commenting, and sharing other people’s content. Go to the Recent Activity section, where you’ll find new content posted by your connections waiting, fresh connection requests that need your approval, and opportunities to congratulate someone on a professional milestone.

  1. Post Content

One of the best ways to start enjoying the benefits of LinkedIn fast is to post your own high-quality content. Publish articles and video content on LinkedIn, where your connections will have the opportunity to like, comment, and share. You can write informational pieces, post company news and announcements, give industry updates, and discuss your thoughts on recent cases.

Get Help Developing Your Legal Marketing Strategy

If you aren’t using LinkedIn to promote your legal services, it’s probably time to start. But first, you need to make sure your online presence (website, social media profiles, Google My Business) is in order so that you can maximize your referral traffic from LinkedIn.

Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing specializes in helping law firms get found online and then get heard through our comprehensive digital marketing solutions. Contact us today to learn more.

Social Media Marketing – Does It Work for Law Firms? 

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Social media has been a popular and successful marketing channel for consumer brands for many years. You see brands like Airbnb, Nike, and Wendy’s generating a ton of engagement with their effective social media marketing strategies.

Seeing how easily these super brands can reach consumers might make it seem like social media success is available to anyone. But, many smaller, B2B businesses struggle to find the right recipe for social media “home run”. Many tend to avoid social media marketing altogether, but the legal industry is using it more often and with positive results. In fact, law firms are finding that having a presence on social media is a great way to get the results they need to grow their firms.

Does Social Media Work for Law Firms?

In this digital age, it’s not surprising that a lot of business happens online. Your clients are on social media, and there’s a good chance that many of your competitors are as well. Social media does work for law firms. If you want to remain competitive, it’s a good idea to get active on social networks. Here’s why:

Social Media Gives Clients Another Way to Find You

When people have a problem, they now overwhelmingly turn to the internet for answers. They’ll ask Google questions, hit up friends on social media, and even put the issue out to strangers in various online groups.

If you have a presence on as many online platforms as possible, there’s a good chance your name and your firm’s brand is going to come up or show up in a search. Prospective clients might see your Facebook post or ad and will remember your name when they are ready to take action. Or, someone else might have seen your name and will drop it when a person has a need for an attorney.

Social Media Gives a Prospective Client a Way to Confirm Your Credibility

Even after potential clients become aware of your law firm and its services, many will want to investigate you a bit further before making a commitment. This often involves reading Google reviews, browsing your website, and searching for you on social media. If you are active on social media, this boosts the credibility of your law firm. You can establish yourself as an authority in your practice area, show you are a firm that is responsive, and one that cares about its clients.

Social Media Allows You to Engage With the Community

Social media gives your law firm an excellent platform to engage with various communities. You can use Facebook and Twitter to engage with potential and past clients. LinkedIn is a great platform to engage with local business leaders and the legal community. You can stay up to date on legal trends and build relationships with others that can be mutually beneficial for your legal practice.

Social Media Gets You New Clients

If you haven’t guessed already, social media can get you new clients when it is utilized correctly. According to one ABA survey, 35% of respondents reported that social channels helped them gain clients. For small firms, that figure increased to 42%.

How to Promote Your Law Firm Using Social Media

If you want to take advantage of the benefits of social media, you’ll need to position your law firm properly on various social media platforms. Here are a few strategies you can follow to promote your law firm on social media.

  1. Understand Your Target Client

Similar to any successful marketing initiative, you’ll want to begin your social media strategy by researching your target audience. If you’re just posting random content to have something online, you’re not going to get the results you want.

Who is your target client? Are they car accident victims? People going through a divorce? Claimants who are struggling to get Social Security Disability benefits? Figure out what questions they will have and post content that will resonate with them.

If this is your first time using social media for your law firm, start with just one or two social media profiles. Choose the ones where your target audience is most likely to be and focus your efforts there. As you get results, you can begin expanding your efforts.

  1. Position Yourself as an Authority

It will take some time, but there is immense value in positioning yourself as an authority in your area of practice. Not only does this build trust with potential clients, but it can also get you referral business from past clients, other professionals and other attorneys.

Social media makes it fairly simple to position yourself as an authority. Just say you are and continue to bring value to your audience. Answer questions, post useful content, and share meaningful data about your area of the law.

  1. Interact With Your Audience

Social media is more of a conversation than a one-way outlet for posting content. Your audience wants and expects you to interact with them. If you don’t, you’re likely to lose their attention and trust. Ask clients for reviews and thank them for their feedback. Answer questions within reason. And don’t be afraid to share some personal stuff, such as pictures of a weekend outing, your favorite movie or your how your favorite football team is doing this season.

  1. Join Relevant Social Media Groups

It’s also a good idea to join some social media groups where you can interact with your target audience and others who might make referrals. For example, there are usually Facebook groups specific to cities and towns where people ask questions and ask for recommendations. You can participate in these groups and respond if your name or law firm gets tagged.

  1. Use Paid Social Media Ads

Many social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, offer paid advertising options. Similar to Google ads, you can pay to have your ad displayed to your target audience on a particular platform. Some sites, like Facebook, give you many ways to segment your audience so that you can get the most out of your ad dollars.

Add Social Media to Your Legal Marketing Strategy

If your law firm isn’t leveraging social media to increase its online visibility and get more clients, it’s probably time to start. Without a social media presence, you are missing out on opportunities to reach potential clients. At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, we will you help craft a customized legal marketing strategy that includes the development of a strong social media presence and management of your existing profiles. Call us today at (800) 649-1764 or reach out to us online to schedule a free consultation.