Why Social Media Marketing Is Important for Your Law Firm​

With technology feverishly evolving, not only are we able to communicate with people all over the world, but we are also able to communicate with each other faster than ever before. According to statista.com, 82% of the United States is active on social media and there are 3.78 billion active social media users worldwide (that is almost 50% of the global population). This number is expected to grow to 4.41 billion active social media users globally by 2025! For any form of marketing to be successful, you need to know your audience and meet them where they are at. With 82% of the U.S. population actively using social media and growing, it is clear, your clients/prospective clients are on social. If you haven’t started leveraging social media for your own law firm, this is your sign to start.

Understanding and Interacting With Your Target Audience

Whether you decide to use social media for your own personal use or not is up to you. If you are running a business (big or small) you technically don’t “need” to be on social media, but you really should be. Social media is a cost-effective way to market, and we already know it works. Not only that, but it is also a great way to communicate with prospective and current clients in real time through commenting and messaging. It also gives you a better insight of what your audience looks like so you can better understand how to create content and messaging that is relevant to them.

Figure 1.1 shows Colorado Legal Group’s audience on Facebook

Establish Brand Awareness​

Having a strong social media presence can increase your brand visibility and awareness. Prospective clients are scrolling through various platforms every day, all day. A client could find you from clicking on the blog you shared on Facebook, now they are on your website. Strong consistent messaging on social media will also help you build trust with new followers that could potentially turn into clients.

Showcase Your Expertise

We can share just about anything on social media, including professional achievements. Social channels can be a great space to showcase your businesses expertise, by sharing small wins and big wins. LinkedIn is a great place for any professional content and allows others in the same industry to see what you are up to. Facebook and Instagram are great places to show off your firm’s skills, reviews, and highlight employee achievements as well.

Figure 1.2 shows aFacebook Post from Nebraska Legal Group highlighting former Managing Attorney Todd Engleman becoming District Court Judge.

Figure 1.3 from Colorado Legal Group’s Instagram includes a post highlight Attorney Joseph Cash’s nomination for Super Lawyers 2022 Colorado’s Rising Stars.

Building Relationships

Engaging through commenting and messaging on social media will help you build a strong relationship with your audience. Acknowledging your followers goes a long way and shows an extra level of care. You can also build professional relationships through platforms like LinkedIn. Social media is a great space to scope out what your friends and the competition are doing and it can help you stay up to date on current trends.

SEO and Social Media

You’ve most likely heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by now if you have carried out any type of digital marketing campaign. SEO is crucial to any business, because it makes your website more visible and drives traffic to your website, which helps turn leads into clients. While keywords are a crucial part of SEO marketing, so is content. Content comes in a variety of forms, but specifically let’s talk about why social media and SEO go hand in hand.  SEO and social media can be a bit of a gray area. Google has said themselves social media does not have a direct impact on ranking. While there is truth to this, here’s the rebuttal. Social media itself may not have a direct impact on rankings, but it does indirectly through social media engagement (likes, shares, comments, etc.). Engagement helps to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty, which all attribute to boosting your online presence and traffic. Regardless of where you stand on the grayscale, there is correlation between SEO and social media as it pertains to brand visibility and organic search ranking in search engines.

With so many people actively using social media, it can be a great space to increase your firm’s visibility, which in turn can lead to more link clicks and shares. This can increase the average amount of time spent on your website, which is ranking factor taken into consideration by Google. Social data can tell you what content works well with your audience and what content doesn’t. This will also help you improve your SEO content.

Creating a Social Media Plan for Your Firm

When done correctly social media can help any business grow, including your law firm. Think about your firm’s goals and what it is you hope to achieve through social media marketing. Is it acquiring new clients? Is it creating brand awareness? Maybe it’s both. The next step in creating high quality and engaging social media channels is to create a social media plan that is aligned with the rest of your firm’s marketing goals. A well thought out marketing plan will help your firm grow its online presence, establish authority, increase visibility, and help turn leads into clients.

If you are ready to establish your online presence as it pertains to social media but aren’t sure where to begin, we can help. Social media is just one of our many areas of marketing expertise. We have tested various social media campaigns with our own Divorce & Family Law Firms so we know what does and doesn’t work, saving you time and energy. Contact us today!