You don’t have to go searching for clients when you have social media. Social media has come to make work easier for attorneys. In a survey conducted in 2017 by the American Bar Association, only 23% of lawyers do not use social media. In this blog, we will cover the effective social media platforms applicable to attorneys and why they are effective.
Why Is Social Media Important To Attorneys?
A good number of people search online for legal representation and advice. Social media in this day and age is the turning point for almost everything. Studies show that more than a third of the clients are driven by social media.
Social media gives clients an easier way to find a law firm. However, not all social media platforms are beneficial to attorneys; some are largely effective than others.
The following are the most commonly used social media platforms for proffesionals.
LinkedIn helps build your credibility. It’s all about connection and allowing others to give you endorsements and recommendations you need on your profile.
For you to create an effective linkedin account, you should implement the following;
- Configure your feed so that it provides your interests well.
- Create an engaging profile, detailing all your firm is about.
- If you think like a client you will have a great idea of what to put in your profile.
- Add keywords to your profile to increase search results
- Consider joining LinkedIn groups that provide valuable connections.
Facebook is the most popular social media platform. Over two billion people use Facebook around the world, it has the largest audience meaning it has a lot of chatter. Facebook brings about most clients and in order to achieve this you have to create and customize a web page address to make it more professional.
For lawyers with no social media venture yet, Facebook is the most ideal place to start. To use Facebook effectively, you have to be consistent. If you can’t post consistently you can hire a virtual legal assistant to post your content.
Facebook has a chatbox for any private consultation and that is paired up with the Facebook live video feature for virtual meetings.
Twitter limits its post tweets to 280 characters. This seems restrictive but it encourages the users to see the main point. It has more than 300 million daily users. Unlike other social media platforms, Twitter runs on trends and hashtags, which is a great way to know what to follow.
Twitter is a great place to put links in your work with the law firm. It engages real discussion between the client and their attorneys. To make Twitter the perfect place to grow your firm all you need to do is;
- Create an account.
- Choose a name (handle)
- Draft a biography and look for people and organizations you wanted to follow.
Instagram is a social media platform that involves sharing photos largely. It involves building a following of users that are using the platform. Instagram can be used by lawyers to give their clients a deeper meaning to their work. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so it would be very effective if taken seriously.
How To Use Social Media Effectively
- Be consistent- You can’t post and not follow up on your work. Following up on your work shows the seriousness and the consistency lets you know the amount of feedback you are getting.
- Be authentic- Be real and show facts to your followers.
- Be trustworthy- Show your expertise to your followers. The users should trust that you can help them.
- Connect with the audience- When you get clients you have to connect with them by replying to their messages and comments.
Don’t Forget About Ethical Advertising Rules
- A lawyer should provide competence to their clients.
- Communications concerning the attorneys’ services using social media must comply with the rules of advertising and solicitation.
- Unless a lawyer is certified by the accrediting body in a particular area, they should not advertise their areas of practice.
- Attorneys have to periodically monitor their social media blogs.
In conclusion, an average of 3.8 billion people currently use social media and spend an average of 2hrs and 24 mins on every single day. Therefore, social media can be used as a supplement to your law firm’s web presence. However, attorneys should be responsible for whatever content they post on their social media sites.
