Building ROI for Social Media Marketing

Published September 25, 2012

Social Media Levels the Playing Field

There is tangible marketing value in law firm social media use. The social media marketing efforts of small firm practitioners can generate awareness and get potential clients to initiate contact, leveling the playing field among all firms. Clients with a need can decide whether the lawyer’s skills match it, making the decision as educated buyers. As with advertising or a website, social media furthers the process of educating the public about what lawyers can do and how to contact the ones with the skills they need for their current matter.

Revealing Personal Qualities and Interests

Platforms like Twitter and Facebook give prospects a personal feel from what lawyers reveal about their personality in comments about family, hobbies and opinions. Similarly, practice opinions and insights on a blog build credibility.

Increased Use of Social Media by Law Firms

It’s no coincidence that the American Bar Association 2011 Legal Technology Survey Report (pp. xii-xv, not available online) found that 42% of respondents said their firms maintain an online presence in social media, compared to 17% in 2010 – and 65% of individual respondents said that they personally have an online professional presence, obviously including a sizable number who have such a presence even if their firms don’t.

How to Maximize Your Internet ROI

It’s essential for any lawyer who does have such a presence to maintain it and integrate it with the full range of online marketing tools. There are fundamental rules for maximizing social media and Internet ROI in ways that increase social media visibility.

  • Make your tools interact with each other – don’t build silos. Ensure that LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter content is consistent and feeds into both blogs and your own biographical profile on the firm’s website.
  • Create LinkedIn profiles that link directly to website bios and are consistent with them.
  • Create blog topics that demonstrate thought leadership and be prepared to update posts at least weekly, if not more often.
  • Link to others so they’ll link to you. Register your blog with blog directories and legal blog lists to increase your exposure to potential clients.
  • Social Media Use Can Increase Your Visibility

Law firms and lawyers that make social media interact in this way have far better marketing results, specifically more web visitors, inbound links and indexed pages. More website visitors mean more people to convert to leads and new business.

Blogging or active Twitter feeds in particular will likely increase the number of calls you receive from reporters, who are extensive searchers of blogs and other social media tools for sources. Blogging and other social media initiatives frequently lead to an increase in the number of speaking invitations attorneys receive. This is important for one reason above all: visibility. The more that your target market sees your name and knows who you are, the more likely they are to call you.

Categorized in:

Audience type: Large Law Firms, Small Law Firms, Sole Practitioners