Attorneys, the Time is Now to Embrace Social Media

Typically, when one thinks of an attorney, the image of a sophisticated professional surrounded by paperwork comes to mind. From online documents and filings to video depositions and sophisticated virtual models, the reality is that technology has made its way into law firms. Yet, we still find that many lawyers are slow to embrace social media.

Attorneys do use Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn but often for personal reasons: to connect with family and friends, to network, and to scroll aimlessly in hopes of getting their minds off their long to-do list. Few really leverage social media to brand themselves or their firms.

When done strategically, social media brings a high ROI, makes a law firm feel more approachable, provides potential clients an easy way to engage, and allows attorneys to easily and quickly be seen as experts in their industry.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

According to Statista, 3.02 billion people around the world are expected to be active social media users by 2021. That’s approximately ⅓ of the Earth’s entire population! As of 2017, 81 percent of the United States population has a social networking profile, and the number of social media users that interact with brands is increasing.

In any business sector, business owners and marketers have learned to go where their customers are. In the legal industry, there is no difference. Attorneys must go where their clients are, and their clients (and the majority of the world) are on social media.

Social Media Brings New Clients

As technology evolves, social media has become a way of life. The 2017 ABA Tech Report shows that attorneys who invest their time in leveraging social media have seen a positive return on their investment. The report states that 27% of the study’s respondents indicated that they had a client retain their legal services directly or via referral because of their use of social media for professional purposes.

Social Media Branding 101: Here’s How We Get Started

To build and maintain the social media brands of our current legal clients, we follow these steps:

• Audit the client’s current social media presence and remove irrelevant postings
• Develop a detailed online strategy that addresses the client’s professional priorities and explains how social media will be utilized for the brand
• Build an audience by using strategic content, which includes a mixture of informative, educational, and personable posts that adhere to Bar rules
• Integrate the social media plan with current marketing initiatives including public relations, email marketing, advertising, etc.
• Analyze, analyze and analyze the data

Building and maintaining a memorable social media presence can take time – time that INGAGE can dedicate. Contact us to learn more about how social media can be leveraged to bring you a high ROI and improve your online persona.