Word of Advice for Lawyers Thinking of Using Social Media In Their Practice

How to promote your legal firm using social media best practices.

If you are a lawyer, chances are you have probably never made use of social media to promote your legal firm. You would be right in thinking that most legal firms have a website and believe that this is an effective way of promoting their business. However, this could not be further from the truth.

In the past decade, with the advance in technology and the surge in social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google +, businesses the world over are taking advantage of these platforms to market their companies, and this has yielded countless positive results for them. Sadly, companies who have not seen the benefits of this gold mine have been left behind, wondering why their counterparts are running circles them. Thankfully, for the legal fraternity, the good news is that legal firms have somehow not yet caught on to this trend, but it doesn’t mean that you should drag your feet. This is why you should be using the veritable gold mine that is social media…

Facebook.

Facebook has now become an essential tool for every business and is an extremely effective marketing tool to the extent that people sometimes use it as a search engine for goods and services in their local area. The reason for this is that Facebook allows you to create a business page for your company which is somewhat like a mini website of sorts, where you can display your company’s basic information.

Once you have set this up, post details about what your firm is currently doing, events and more. Be sure to invite people to “like” your Facebook page and keep your content interesting and informative.

Twitter.

As one of the most popular and fastest-growing social media sites in the world, Twitter has become a social networking staple.

Although they only allow 144 characters per “tweet,” if you keep your content catchy and fun, you will foster a lot of fans and potential clients.

A useful tool to remember when utilizing Twitter is to insert strategic keywords relative to your firm such as, “divorce law,” “criminal law,” etc.

Instagram.

This may sound strange, but Instagram us an excellent marketing strategy to use for any law firm. A very visual platform, Instagram is not only used by young people showing off clever photos of their food.

You can use Instagram to your advantage by posting pictures of your offices, any new team members, your partners hard at work on a case or any other photos you feel your fans would appreciate.

Always remember that people are more likely to do business with you if they can put a face to a name!

 LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a brilliant opportunity for professionals to network within their particular industries. This social networking site is great in that it allows you to create your business page as well.

You can also save money when recruiting staff as you can advertise vacancies on the site and look for potential candidates, too.

YouTube.

Thought that YouTube was just for looking at funny and cute cat videos? Think again! On YouTube, your firm can have its channel where you can post videos offering, for example, the public free legal tips. What an excellent marketing opportunity!

Now that you are aware of the many benefits of using social media sites to promote your legal firm, what is the best way to go about completing your profile on each of these sites?

Well, first of all, great care should be taken when completing your profile, and you should always ensure that you use your company name as your display name for maximum effect.

Always remember that your company’s online presence- whether it is your website or any social media networking site- is your business’ digital reception area. This should, therefore, be pristine at all times so that you can make the best impression that you can and impress wannabe clients. It is best to select a uniform username and profile picture for all your social media accounts so that your customers recognize your brand.

Secondly, your firm’s website should be displayed on each profile so that users can access it if they want to find out more details regarding the business. Conversely, your company website should include links to all your social networking sites to encourage website visitors to “like” or become a fan of your social media platforms.

If you are reluctant to join several social media networks at once because you believe you will need to come up with fresh content for each site, why not integrate them? This way, you need only come up with one idea per day and execute one post. What could be simpler? Plus, you are reaching a wider audience!

Engaging your followers is another crucial part of promoting your firm. An interesting way of doing this is by asking them questions. This will encourage your fans to comment, and you can then have a great conversation with them.

Overlooking social media as a powerful marketing tool in today’s fast-paced world is not only foolish but a real tragedy. The possibilities are endless, and once you discover the joys of marketing on these valuable platforms, you will find yourself having fun and seeing your firm grow.

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