Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn represent a great opportunity for lawyers to reach their target market, build their brand, generate referrals, and grow their practice. Here are five ways to leverage social media effectively:
1 – Define your objectives. What are you hoping to accomplish through social media? Increase your visibility, increase referrals, generate leads, impress your friends & family? We think that social media is best used as a channel for staying in touch with your referral network, reaching potential new clients, and positioning you as an expert within your area of practice. Whatever your hopes and objectives may be, take the time to think them through and define them. This gives you a framework to measure your results against.
2 – Define your target market. Who are your target clients? Where do they live? What’s their age range? Gender? Income level? Are their specific life events that make them more likely to need your services – such as divorce, birth of a child, retirement, launching a new business, etc? Think through these factors and then create a picture in your mind (or, even better, on paper!) of your ideal client. Use this information to guide your content strategy – run everything you’re doing through the filter of “will this appeal to my target clients?”
3 – Create your profiles and make sure they’re consistent with your brand. We recommend that most lawyers have a Facebook business page, Twitter profile, LinkedIn personal profile and business page, and a Google+ page. If that sounds overwhelming, start with Facebook (if you’re primarily B2C) or LinkedIn (if you’re B2B.) Fill out your profile information completely, including your address and hours of operation. With regard to the visuals, make your social media profiles as consistent as possible with each other and with your website. Your goal should be to create a consistent visual brand across all of your online channels.
4 – Post consistently. Consistency is everything when it comes to your social media presence – in terms of timing, as well as messaging. I recommend that you post daily if possible, or at the least several times per week. I can’t tell you how many lawyers I’ve seen get all fired up about social media and post multiple times per day for a week or two, but then lose interest and drift away. You can’t build an audience with sporadic posting. Even worse, it can create the perception that you’re undisciplined or not very committed to your practice. Understand that social media is about building relationships over the long run – it takes commitment and consistency.
5 – Always add value. This is the most important point. The key to building an audience on social media, the key to generating referrals on social media, the key to building a strong brand on social media… is to provide value for your audience. I believe it was Jay Baer who said “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” That’s a critical point on social media. Don’t use it to give a sales pitch. Instead, share information and ideas that your target market will appreciate. Become a resource. Become an educator and a curator of information. This approach keeps your audience engaged, and it positions you as the go-to lawyer when they are ready to make a hire.
Social media is a great marketing channel for solo and small-firm lawyers. But finding success on social media starts with the right strategy. If you’d like some help in this area, click here to schedule a Discovery Call with my team.
Daniel Decker
Latest posts by Daniel Decker (see all)
- Legal Marketing: Create an Exceptional Client Experience - August 31, 2018
- 5 Reasons Why Referred Clients Are the Best Clients for Your Law Practice - August 23, 2018
- Legal Marketing: The Best Clients Don’t Come From Google - May 31, 2018
