Social Platforms for Legal Marketing
Staying up-to-date with the latest trends and platforms is essential for businesses to effectively reach their target audiences. For law firms, social media is a powerful tool to connect with clients and prospects, establish thought leadership, and build a strong online presence. In this blog post, we’ll explore the top 5 social media platforms for legal marketing, examining the pros and cons of each, and suggesting effective ways law firms can use these platforms.
With over 740 million members, LinkedIn remains the go-to platform for B2B and professional services marketing, making it an ideal choice for law firms. Here’s why:
Pros:
- Professional Network: LinkedIn is the hub of professionals, making it an excellent platform for lawyers to connect with other professionals and potential clients.
- Thought Leadership: Sharing informative content and articles can help establish your firm as a thought leader in the legal industry.
- Targeted Advertising: LinkedIn offers robust targeting options to reach specific industries, job titles, or demographics.
Cons:
- Niche Audience: While it’s great for professional connections, the audience might be smaller compared to platforms like Facebook.
- High Competition: Many law firms are active on LinkedIn, making it a competitive space.
How should law firms use LinkedIn?
- Share in-depth case studies and legal insights to position lawyers as thought leaders.
- Participate in relevant industry discussions.
- Post articles and legal explainers to attract professionals seeking legal services for businesses.
- Use Showcase Pages to highlight expertise in specific practice areas.
- Share company updates to reach other businesses.
- Encourage lawyers to publish long-form posts to establish credibility.
With over 425k followers, Baker Mckenzie use their LinkedIn presence to share an array of engaging content. Their content ranges from introducing new hires to the firm and celebrating company events and awards, to discussing industry trends and posting informative articles. Their LinkedIn popularity contributes to them being seen as a thought leader in the industry.
Facebook is the world’s largest social platform, making it a versatile option for law firms.
Pros:
- Large Audience: With over 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook grants access to a staggeringly broad audience.
- Visual Content: Easy to share images and videos that will engage your audience.
- Community Building: Create groups to build a community around your law firm.
Cons:
- Algorithm Changes: Facebook’s algorithm can make it challenging to reach your entire audience without paid promotion.
- Casual Nature: Facebook is more casual than LinkedIn, so it can be difficult for law firms to appeal to Facebook’s audience while remaining professional.
How should law firms use Facebook?
- Give behind-the-scenes looks at law firm life to humanise the business. Share photos of lawyer team events and pro bono work.
- Publish client testimonials and reviews to showcase law firm successes.
- Create short videos where lawyers give legal tips and explain processes.
- Respond to comments and messages to build relationships with your local community.
- Promote your blog, podcast and other content types.
Cooley LLP have created a strong brand image through their Facebook activity. Their page reflects them as a brand and communicates their company values to their audience. They tend to post every week day, and their content includes articles and blog posts they’ve created on popular legal topics, as well as employee and company achievements.
While Instagram might not seem like an obvious choice for law firms, it can be effective when used creatively. Instagram is rapidly growing in popularity, and with over 1 billion monthly active users, it’s definitely worth investing your time and resources into Instagram marketing.
Pros:
- Visual Storytelling: Allows you to showcase the human side of your firm through images and videos.
- Hashtags: Using relevant legal hashtags helps you to connect with potential clients and legal professionals.
- Engagement: Instagram users tend to be highly engaged with content.
Cons:
- Limited Linking: You can only add one clickable link in your bio, so driving traffic to your website can be a bit challenging.
- Youthful Audience: The platform is mainly used by younger audiences, which may not be the ideal demographic for all legal services.
How should law firms use Instagram?
- Post photos and videos highlighting law firm culture, like charity events or lawyer retreats.
- Share visual case highlights through infographics and statistical snapshots.
- Create aesthetically pleasing graphics or carousels with legal tips and FAQs.
- Use Instagram Stories for behind-the-scenes office views and employee takeovers.
DLA Piper use their Instagram account to share images from team holidays and charity events, showcasing their company culture and humanising the company.
Twitter is all about real-time conversations and concise messaging, making it suitable for law firms in specific scenarios.
Pros:
- Newsjacking: You can quickly engage with trending legal topics to show expertise.
- Quick Updates: A great platform for sharing legal insights, news, and updates.
- Broad Reach: Twitter allows you to reach a global audience.
Cons:
- Character Limit: The 280-character limit can be restrictive for conveying complex legal information.
- Short Lifespan of Tweets: Tweets have a short lifespan, so consistent posting is crucial.
How should law firms use Twitter?
- Monitor legal hashtags and contribute insights to relevant discussions.
- Provide quick legal advice and tips on trends and changes in the law.
- Share law firm press releases and announcements about cases, hires, achievements.
- Retweet legal news from authoritative sources like professional associations.
Hogan Lovells are avid Twitter users. They share company news and events, blog posts from new legal appointments and various different accolades and achievements. They use graphics and videos to ensure their content is engaging for their 33k followers, and to help keep engagement high.
YouTube
Video marketing is on the rise, and YouTube is the platform of choice for sharing video content, with over 2 billion monthly logged-in users.
Pros:
- Visual Engagement: Legal concepts can be effectively explained through video.
- Search Visibility: YouTube is the second-largest search engine, making it excellent for SEO.
- Long-Form Content: You can showcase your expertise through long-form content, such as webinars, tutorials, and Q&A.
Cons:
- Time-Consuming: Creating high-quality videos can be time-consuming.
- Competition: Many law firms are exploring YouTube, so standing out can be challenging.
How should law firms use YouTube?
- Create explainer videos for legal processes like divorces, wills, lawsuits.
- Host Q&A videos or webinars where lawyers give advice on common legal issues.
- Share recordings of lawyers presenting at conferences or seminars.
- Publish compilation videos with tips on useful topics such as property law and consumer rights.
- Show insights into working at your firm.
White & Case have a YouTube channel where they share industry insights, educational webinars and content from company events. Their most popular videos by far are their ‘Working at White & Case’ videos, which showcase days in the lives of their employees, employee spotlights, information about their training programmes and tips on how to start a career with White & Case.
Final Thoughts
The choice of the right social media platform for legal marketing depends on your firm’s unique goals, target audience, and content strategy. A well-rounded approach would involve using multiple platforms to maximise your reach and engage with potential clients. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each platform, you can tailor your legal marketing efforts to achieve optimal results.
Contact us today for a free consultation and check out our case studies to discover how we’ve helped law firms like yours build their social media strategy.
