The Attorney’s Guide to Social Media Marketing

These days, most businesses have engaged in some form of social media marketing—but some face steeper challenges than others.

Case in point: Law firms can benefit greatly from embracing social networking as a marketing avenue, yet they also face some significant risks in terms of compliance and general cost-effectiveness. A lot of firms have begun making efforts at social media marketing, but not all are effective at it.

What does that mean for your law firm? Not that you shouldn’t try! Instead, make sure that as you seek to make the most of modern marketing tools, you do so strategically—with one eye cast toward your compliance team but another eye cast toward the client.

How Law Firms Make the Most of Social Media Marketing

Some general tips to consider:

1. Be strategic in the platforms you choose. There are many social media options out there, from Facebook to Pinterest, but your firm doesn’t necessarily need to devote resources to every single one of them. Pick the platforms where your clients are. LinkedIn is usually a good option, as it’s a great place for forging professional connections and establishing thought leadership. The image-heavy Instagram, meanwhile, may not make much sense for your firm—but it’s really up to you and your appraisal of where the clients are!
2. Set your goals. Don’t charge into a social media marketing campaign with no clear idea of what you want to achieve. You may want to increase visibility among clients, to boost prestige among other firms, or simply to drive traffic to your firm’s website—but do work with your marketing team to establish some clear and measurable goals.
3. Set some content policies in place. Talk with your marketing and compliance teams about the topics you want to address and the kinds of content you’re going to produce. Will you be offering legal tips? If so, what are you and aren’t you allowed to say? Set some clear, written policies to guide all of the firm’s social media posts and content creation. This may sound rote, but it is necessary for maintaining consistency and compliance.
4. Get everyone in your firm involved, including content posted about all the areas in which your firm practices—but make sure everyone has a copy of your guidelines and that there is a clear channel in place for content to be created, reviewed, approved, and posted.
5. Use an editorial calendar! Have a schedule written for who is going to post, on what topic, and when.
6. Appoint someone to monitor your social media channels, remembering that they often serve as key customer service touch points. If you have clients making inquiries on social media, you want to make sure you have someone to assist.

Social media marketing is a process, not a one-time thing, so it takes some dedication—and strategy. To learn more, we invite you to check out our course offerings on social media marketing and law firm branding!