Are you a lawyer or law firm struggling to reach your target audience and attract new clients?
Discover the top five social media marketing tips that every lawyer should know to help you establish a strong online presence and grow your business.
Digital marketing has become integral to new and established businesses of varying scopes within any industry. Although some people still underestimate the impact that social media has on business growth, many modern enterprises are now expanding the entire digital marketing concept by turning to these platforms. With millions of users scrolling and visiting social media profiles daily, it can no longer be denied that social media marketing is a useful tool for sharing content that allows your legal firm or practice to reach new audiences and tap into new geo-target areas.
Before dismissing social media marketing for your law firm entirely, keep in mind that this a channel you can use to expand your opportunities for your voice, values, content, and the people you interact with. Today, most people search for law firms with active social media profiles, having a genuine social media presence can work in tandem with improving your online rankings on Google.
However, not all law firms create social media platforms and become successful. If you don’t work with the right people or don’t know how to implement effective social media marketing strategies, the whole concept can take a toll on your business’ online reputation–doing more harm than good. Herein are some helpful tips to help you use social media to your advantage as more and more people are researching legal services and counsel online before even calling for a consultation.
Fish For Success
Incorporating social media marketing into your law firm’s strategy is not just about creating a profile and waiting for people to find your business. You have to do more than that. Think of it this way–using social media is like going out to fish. First, you need to determine where there is a lot of fish and cast your net to catch as many fish as you can. Secondly, you need to understand that you have competitors fishing in the same area and your aim should be to take the biggest haul.
To make your social media profile(s) work to your law firm’s benefit, you need to go beyond just signing up for an account. Since you’re advertising your brand, you will need to fill out your profile thoroughly with custom images and logos and most importantly, make regular posts. Another key point to remember while creating a company profile is to list all of your services and areas of expertise. Though it might seem counter-intuitive, You don’t want people calling to ask if you offer particular legal services. Most people will not even go that far; they will search for a profile with the particular services he or she needs. Utilize the reports and analytics that social media platforms offer to determine the demographics of your audience(s), so you can target your legal offering better.
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Stay Personable
Attorneys may not have the time to post content online, but the moment you choose to use social media as your marketing strategy, which you should, then you need to forget about the limited time you have to delegate and prioritize this marketing channel. You’ll need to create the time– there’s no shortcut to that. Although it takes a lot of time to find genuine followers online, the moment you start auto-posting your content, you begin seem like a spam account. This is the first step to losing clients, so you will want to avoid automating your social media strategy too much. However, auto-posting is different from scheduled posting which we’ll cover in the next tip.
Also keep in mind that different social media platforms have different styles of posting. For instance, you cannot create a post with more than 140 characters and post it on Twitter; some of the words will be cut out. Therefore, it’s essential to make the time to customize your content when posting on social media–start out by mastering one platform instead of managing multiple profiles. You should ensure that you have active people behind the posts that you create, as this will translate better to potential followers.
Slow and Steady Growth Wins The Race
Growing your law firm’s reach on social media and having a high number of fans, followers, or friends will take ongoing commitment and time. Most people associate social media marketing to the number of followers that one has, but you also ought to consider the type of people following you.
Maintaining a social media account with thousands of followers who don’t even need your legal services is like stocking your fridge with food that you’re allergic to, which is unbeneficial and inefficient. Some attorneys may resort to buying fans and followers, but these types of accounts are mostly fakes and owned by people who don’t need your services. Instead of buying a social media fanbase, you should focus on building your followers and fans organically. Growing your fans organically will help you attract people who are interested in your firm’s services and practices, meaning they are most likely to convert into clients.
Schedule Posts
With attorneys, timing can be tricky and you want to be posting consistently rather than sporadically for a successful social media strategy. Scheduling your posts saves you and your team time while also allowing your firm to build a steady stream of social media content. It is therefore vital to find the best time to post your content, and this will require that you access analytics and reports on how your content performs when posted. Posting at the most optimal times will allow for the most traffic and impressions, giving your law firm the opportunity to remain ever-relevant and stand out in someone’s feed.
As a practical example: when you post your content on Facebook or Twitter, the post will remain relevant as long as you have the right fan base and how much the post engages people. Your historical data will play a significant role in determining the times when your post reaches and engages the highest number of people. Choosing the wrong time may, for instance, mean that you will not be seen and consequently, the post is no longer timely or relevant to your audience.
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Remember To Network and Interact
As an attorney, you will always be invited to many corporate events, and these are opportunities to network with colleagues and other legal professionals. As you know, networking involves introducing yourself and your company to others in your field to establish important business connections and relationships. Social media works in the same manner–it just takes place online. Once you create a social media profile, you need to go the extra mile and interact with your followers and peers.
Creating a social media account and waiting for people to find you is like going to a corporate event and sitting alone and waiting for people to come and ask what you really do. You’ll need to be more proactive than that to see higher ROI from your digital marketing efforts. Keep in mind that social media marketing is very similar to conventional networking–you will need to reply to posts, join other relevant conversations, introduce yourself, and tell people what you do to see any sort of results.
Engage With Other Lawyers
The best thing about social media marketing is that it gives you an opportunity to interact with people from different fields or practice areas–including other lawyers. Most people overlook the fact that by interacting with other lawyers, you can actually get referrals. The legal field is expansive, and there is not one time you will find an attorney that handles both criminal and civil cases, and even those who do specialize in both leave some categories out.
By interacting with other lawyers, you let them know about your specialty, jurisdiction, or practice areas. This way, other lawyers can keep referring clients to you, and you will naturally increase your followers and client base.
It’s important to remember when connecting with people online that you need to avoid engaging in arguments with others. As much as your opinions might differ from others, staying calm online only bolsters your overall reputation. Online bashing can decrease your level of credibility, and instead of proving how much law you know to people online, you should consider saving it for the more appropriate platform–the courtroom.
Another critical thing to keep in mind when interacting and posting content on social media is to avoid being over-promotional. Sharing your awards and accolades can be a good social media strategy, but you should not cling to this, and in fact, this content should only be done once in a while and never over-done. Bragging about your achievements will only alienate your followers and make them think of you as a braggart. When using social media, a majority of your content should be related to your area of practice or jurisdiction. Focus on sharing content that is helpful to potential and existing clientele.
The Bottom Line
Social media marketing requires thoughtful strategy and messaging in order to reap conversions and growth. Sometimes all you need is the right digital marketing company to get started. For over 15 years, GoMarketing has established itself as a full-service agency that delivers custom marketing plans targeted towards online growth and client retention. We offer results driven online programs that focus on converting your online visitors into prospective clients. Our company utilizes SEO, web design, link building and more to create a dynamic digital presence for your law firm. Before implementing a social media marketing strategy, we ensure that you have a comprehensive set-up and ongoing scheduled content that will appeal to your audience(s). For more information about our social media packages or to get started on a custom marketing plan today, please call us directly at 805-413-7893!
