Like it or not, social media is here to stay. If you aren’t on it, you will soon be the only one who isn’t. It’s not just for teenagers anymore. Social media is a great means of accomplishing your primary marketing goal of being in the right place at the right time – in the minds of those deciding on legal services (to use or recommend) when they are making the decision.
Which Social Media Platforms?
Where are your potential clients and referral sources?
Depending on your type of practice and locale, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook may be right for you. And there will be new ones that pop up and gain traction. Stay engaged, and you’ll know where you need to be. Get engaged, and you’ll discover where your target audience is. With most forms of social media, you can seek out individuals with whom you can connect. You will need to actively manage your connections (or pay someone to manage them for you). Once you connect with others, you can build your following and connections by commenting on the posts of others. If you never have any original posts, you are still making connections which can work to remind people who you are.
Communicate Consistently
To maximize the value and benefit of a presence on social media, you should create and post with some regularity.
Some people apparently spend all their time there. You don’t have to. But as with all marketing, you get out of it what you put into it, and what you put into it should be strategic. Say something that would be of interest to your potential clients or referral sources. Avoid controversy unless that is the type of practice that you have or want. Think of posting like a woodworking project where you measure twice and cut once – prepare your post, and review it more than once before you let it loose. While most platforms allow you to edit a post, it’s better to get it right the first time.
Include High Quality Graphics
It isn’t enough to include clever or profound text in your posts. They should include high quality graphics if you want to get noticed and to increase your chances of engagement. Videos are extremely popular as well.
Follow the Rules
The Rules of Professional Conduct apply to social media.
You do not have to include a disclaimer on every post so long as you have it on your “home” page for that platform. But the other rules regarding advertising and solicitations still apply. Even if your posts are technically compliant, they can still get you into trouble, especially if your account identifies you as a lawyer (or your posts do). When in doubt, create a separate account for you individually and personally from the one for you as a professional lawyer. Keep them separate.
Social Media Management
You can contract with someone to manage your social media for you at a reasonable cost.
For example, we prepare posts for our clients in advance (usually at least one month at a time) and send them for approval before they are ever posted. We then use systems which schedule and posts them to the various platforms. Having scheduled posts ensures your social media presence with regularity without you having to actually be on social media regularly. But, if you are and want to post something else or comment on the posts of others, all the better.
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