By Peter Boyd, a Florida attorney who founded PaperStreet. He has helped over 1,500 law firms with their websites, content and marketing.
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Many law firms want to use social media for promotion, but they’re not sure how to follow the “rules.” Always post on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Use hashtags. Never post something with a red background. Always include a cat video. Never use hashtags. The advice is endless, constantly changing and probably wrong.
Instead of obsessing over the details, it is helpful for law firms to take a look at the big picture to discern how to get the biggest return on investment in social media. Here are some key factors to consider and focus on.
Figure out the target audience.
A law firm can create posts that go viral and get viewed by a million people and still be wasting valuable time. It doesn’t matter how many people read a post or watch a video if none of those people have the potential to become or influence clients. A post that resonates with injured cyclists in Maine does a firm no good if the firm practices divorce law in Oklahoma.
The first critical step is to define the target audience for social marketing efforts. A firm with diverse practice areas may have two or more target audiences, and it may be necessary to adopt a different strategy for each or choose to focus only on one at a time.
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It is imperative to be as specific as possible. The smaller the target audience, the easier it will be to create an effective campaign that will truly speak to that audience. “People in Nevada getting a divorce” is a broad group. “People in the Reno area who want a collaborative divorce” would be a much more targeted audience.
Choose a preferred social media platform.
It is essential to define a target audience before choosing a social media platform because it makes sense to use the platform where an audience is most likely to interact. It may take a little research to figure out the right medium for a message, and if a firm has several messages to convey to different audiences, it might make sense to focus efforts on a different platform for each target audience.
One way to find an effective social media platform is to look at where the competition is spending their time. However, it is also important to take into consideration the skills and temperament of the person who will be responsible for keeping up with communication on that platform. Firms can hire a marketing firm to produce regular content, but it is still a good idea to have someone at the firm who can monitor and respond quickly to interactions. It is also wise to establish some standard policies to keep interactions consistent and in line with corporate culture.
Focus on quality over quantity when it comes to content.
No one likes to be interrupted with telemarketing calls, and being blasted by ads on social media has become just about as bad. Advertising can be effective, but it needs to be informative or entertaining rather than annoying.
When a social media post offers information that can solve a common problem, it is more likely to be appreciated and shared. Because social media is all about developing relationships, it is a good idea to initiate or share some content that does not focus on the law firm. For instance, sharing an article about psychological strategies for dealing with a narcissistic spouse won’t sell a law firm’s services, but it does put out the message that the firm cares about the well-being of those going through a divorce.
While it can be effective to invest in advertising to a target audience on a chosen social media platform, the ads should be “social” and read like an informative post. The difference is that with an ad, the firm can direct its message to a broader audience.
Define goals and measure results (really, you have to measure the results).
Goodwill is hard to measure, and many marketing efforts on social media focus on increasing awareness and goodwill. However, there are some aspects of social media marketing that are measurable, and it is important to track results.
How many people saw the content? How many interacted with it? Were the results different when the same message was used with a different image? Tracking performance can give a firm an idea of what is working and what strategies need adjustment. When posts provide good organic results, it may be worth additional investment in advertising with similar content.
Nothing is set in stone — value the experiment!
Remember that the approach that works for a firm this week may not be effective in six months. It may be necessary to start over by considering target audiences and the social media platforms that are most likely to engage that audience. While the process is not fast or easy, it can pay off with big results.
