Social Media Marketing for Attorneys

Intro

Social media marketing is a big question mark for most law firms. Do you need it? Which social media platforms should you choose? How do you keep your strictly professional brand voice and continue to build credibility while attracting clients online? We often get asked these questions by our clients in Chicago and all around the world. Here we will answer your questions and explain the important role that social media is supposed to play in your legal business.

Do you really need Facebook?

At Comrade, we strongly recommend that your law firm has a consistent social media presence. You may think you don’t really need a Facebook page, but according to statistics, 95% of millennials expect brands to have a Facebook presence. It’s not just millennials either—87% of Gen X’ers and 70% of those ages 45 to 60 think brands should have a Facebook page. Reason for that being is that it humanizes you, and gives people a window into what goes on behind the scenes. Most potential clients of law firms expect a stiff professional dressed in an expensive suit who only cares about generating profit. Through your Facebook page — and/or any other social media page — you can connect with your prospects on a more personal level by posting information about charity events, answering popular questions in your area of expertise and doing other “human” things.

Choosing the best social media platforms for law firms

Which social media platforms you choose for connecting with your audience depends on the type of law you practice. We recommend specific set of platforms to each of our clients. For example, a divorce lawyer offers a business-to-client service, which makes Facebook a much better choice than LinkedIn. However, if your law firm provides legal counsel to small businesses LinkedIn would be the platform to focus on for B2B. Typically, legal social media is best done on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, though you could also be utilizing YouTube, if you have the capability to provide consistent and relevant video content and build credibility through it if you’re thinking that you have more important things to do, consider the fact that your competitors are probably already on YouTube.

Speaking of videos, according to marketing industry influencer Krista Neher, the human brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than words. That means you can convey the same message in a 30-second video as you can in a 30-page e-book which one do you think your distracted prospects are more likely to engage with?

Another smart bet are paid video ads. Approximately 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week. That means you have ample opportunities to target them with pre-roll or mid-roll PPC video ads.

Social Media will boost your SEO and conversions

Beyond humanizing your firm and connecting with potential clients, having a social presence can boost SEO. Even though social media signals don’t have a direct impact on search rankings, they affect your search engine optimization efforts in primarily four ways:

• Increased online visibility and traffic to your website
• Increased authority and brand recognition
• Broader content distribution and longer content lifespan
• Improved local SEO

However, if you want to succeed on social media, you have to put some money behind it and develop a working social media ads strategy, in order to reach people currently or potentially in need of your services, and be able to take advantage of all the underlying SEO benefits that we listed above.