This article was submitted by our friends at Get Staffed Up, a staffing company that provides virtual assistants to law firms and other small businesses to help you free up valuable time and get more done!
You know you need a consistent social media strategy, but you either don’t have the time to do it yourself or the resources at your disposal to have someone manage it effectively. Frankly, your marketing needs are a tough position to fill effectively. Unicorns that can take over all your marketing simply don’t exist. Our solution? Hire a marketing virtual assistant (MVA) and supercharge your social media game! Here’s how:
First of all, why should lawyers embrace Social Media Marketing?
- Social media gets you new clients: Social networking provides exposure to a large audience. As the ABA’s 2018 Survey reported, 35% of those surveyed who use social media channels for professional purposes have gained clients. The result is even better for small firms: with 42% gaining new clients through social media marketing.
- Social media gives clients another way to find your law firm: Social media profiles can drive people to your law firm’s website — where potential clients can find the information they need to hire your firm. It’s a tactic that consumer brands have perfected.
- Social media is a place to engage with the community: Lawyers can also use social media to build their profile within the legal community. By participating in social networks with other attorneys, you can stay up-to-date on what’s trending in your legal community, and even offer your own commentary to boost your thought leadership.
Your clients are spending some serious time on social media. Did you know that around 3.8 billion people currently use social media? And before a potential client decides to reach out to you, they’re looking at your social media. According to the Spotlight Branding Legal Marketing Trends Report, 77% of lawyers have a social media presence, but only 68% post consistently. Of those, 85% are on Facebook and 71% are active on LinkedIn.
The three main channels you should be making a presence in are:
- LinkedIn: Specialization and Lead Generation. Attorneys can gain a reputation for being a go-to source of expertise and information that leads to new referrals.
- Facebook: This is the most used network platform. Thanks to its ever-changing features and customization options that give you the chance to connect meaningfully with potential clients. From individual attorney profiles to firm pages, experts say that the best way to relate to followers on Facebook is to interact naturally.
- Twitter: This allows you to position your firm as an authoritative resource providing valuable information for your target audience (sharing articles, stats, etc).
Source: Social media for law firms: which channels should you be on? (2018)
So how can a marketing virtual assistant can help supercharge your social media?
Managing your social media: Customers often look to social media accounts to learn more about your services, ask questions, look for clients’ testimonials, and more. Your MVA will be monitoring, posting, filtering, replying to inquiries, and measuring the social media presence of your firm. Plus, since a personal online presence is crucial these days, your MVA can also manage your personal accounts and share relevant information to engage with your community.
Creating content: The content posted on your social media platforms serves one purpose, to connect with your audience. The role of an MVA is to create and share different content pieces for your firm’s digital and print media. This includes sending weekly newsletters, creating eBooks, resources, and social media posts, as well as content (i.e. blogs) for your website.
Editing videos: Hands down, sharing videos is one of the best ways to connect with your audience. Were you a speaker at a recent virtual event? Your MVA can be there recording to then edit and share clips of the event on social media. Do you want to share video reviews from clients or interviews to generate more leads? Your MVA can coordinate it, record, edit, and share the clips. If you want to learn more about how to create 30 pieces of content from just one video, please click HERE.
Coordinating webinars and trade shows: If you want to get more serious about growing your personal and your firm’s online presence, you need to start participating in speaking opportunities, be a guest on podcasts, offer webinars, and/or sponsor trade shows. Your MVA can send invites, work on the content, create the webinar registration link, find events to sponsor and plan the logistics, contact podcasts and send your speaker profile sheet to book podcast interviews, and more!
Our suggestion
Be clear on what you want to get from social media. Once you have identified how much you want to grow on social media and how much content you want to share with your audience, list all of the tasks your MVA will need to complete. Share the list with your MVA and provide the tools and resources needed to succeed.
Be consistent. Define your brand colors and style guide. This will provide the framework for uniformity and will establish how you want people to recognize you online. Additionally, have templates ready for your team on how to respond on social media when customers ask questions, share your content, or engage with you. Your MVA can work on drafting these templates and share them with you for feedback and final approval.
Have a Content Calendar. It is an easy way for you and your MVA to plan the content and be on the same page. This will also help to segment the content across channels. Some information is more relevant to specific channels. For instance, IG posts should be very visual. Facebook tends to be more social and a bit informal, while Linkedin posts need to be concise, informative, and extremely professional.
Download the “Content Creation Guide For Your Marketing Virtual Assistant” HERE to learn how to easily create 52 pieces of juicy content for your social media per week with minimal effort.
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