The words ‘Influencer marketing’ and ‘brand ambassador’ have become almost inescapable in digital marketing today. Many businesses, especially in the B2C or FMCG sector are collaborating with an array of personalities on social media and beyond to market their products and services. Some might think that Influencer marketing simply means a couple of lifestyle bloggers posing on a beach with their newest bottled superfood. And while that may be a small slice of it, influencer marketing and brand ambassadorship are so broad, and have so many different applications, that there really isn’t a strict template to follow.
Let’s take a deeper look at brand ambassadors for law firms, what shape they might take in the legal market, and how becoming a thought leader can play a role.
Brand Ambassadors For Law Firms
There has been a slight infiltration of the 2 tactics into the B2B digital marketing realm, but truth being told, it is pretty limited compared to the B2C market. Why though, is a good question.
Ultimately, influencer marketing is about getting leaders in your sector invested in your product or service, promoting your branding and messaging, while also having access to their audience (who also happens to be your audience). Are there not already loads of people on social media who represent that? Legal tips and tricks, legal education, legal comedy, legal expertise. Are you not a legal expert as well?
Influencer campaigns don’t have to be about the vanity metrics, and paying the person with the biggest platform, regardless of who actually follows or listens to them. If we really isolate what your key messages are, what your business represents, and align with someone who can provide value to your audience, then that’s ultimately what it’s all about.
Brand Ambassadors For Law Firms – The Most Important Influencer Is You
While looking externally to your business might seem like the way to approach this channel, it can and will be beneficial to look to build a reputation from within. Being a brand ambassador means understanding why your business does what it does. Of course, this person needs to know what you do, and who you do it for, but crucially, they need to know why you do what you do! No one knows this better than someone within the company, and better yet, the person running it.
The danger here though, is if you have someone who is delivering all this great content, but they’re delivering it to a network of people who aren’t in their target audience. Most legal professionals have a network of other legal professionals. These people are unlikely to be the best audience for this type of content. If you are able to build up a large enough target market audience there is no reason why you shouldn’t undertake the challenge of being a brand ambassador for your law firm. If however, you aren’t able to build that audience, looking externally to someone who you can leverage an audience off of, is a great alternative to start off.
You might also be thinking, should everyone within a firm be a brand ambassador? The quick answer is no. Everyone needs to have an understanding of the firm’s vision, the plans and goals, what the future looks like etc, but not everyone needs to be the embodiment of that to an active audience. That’s what your brand ambassador does. They have to communicate that effectively through their content. Find someone within the firm who has the ability to be the face of your brand, who has the personality to shine through on social media, and start building a platform to showcase that!
Building An Audience
Remember that people want to connect with people. That is the truth in life, and that is the truth on social media as well. Building an audience is much the same as building any relationship. It comes down to interaction; building trust, sharing expertise, asking questions, answering questions, starting conversations, listening, and sharing stories. People build an audience one person at a time, unfortunately, it’s not something that can and will happen overnight. The best method of creating content that your audience wants to see is by asking for and receiving feedback. Take suggestions and respond in turn!
Don’t forget that people’s primary use of social media is getting to know and interacting with people around them. While sharing legal blogs and video expertise are great, and can be a part of your core strategy, they shouldn’t be everything. Sometimes just quick sneak peeks into your personality, preferences, or interactions can garner the most traction.
Becoming A Thought Leader
Being a brand ambassador doesn’t necessarily represent garnering millions of followers. It’s not really a realistic goal for a law firm. What a brand ambassador will do is highlight your firm’s key messaging and your brand personality to their and your representative audience. However, if that person is someone who not only represents the law firm, but is also employed by it, they have the opportunity to highlight your expertise in a certain subject area, and you can become the leading authority on said subject. There’s an opportunity to grow as a thought leader.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking at influencer marketing, and brand ambassadors for law firms as part of your digital marketing and SEO strategy, it would be a great idea to look internally if at all possible. Understandably it takes time and resources to devote to such a subject, and that isn’t necessarily always possible. However, if there is availability to promote yourself as the face of your law firm, you’ll not only be providing great value to your audience, but you’ll open up a brand new lead generation route with your enhanced credibility.
If you’re looking for any help with your digital marketing strategy, please contact us here for a free consultation!
