Many law firms and other professional service firms do NOT:
- Effectively brand their firm’s social
media posts. A few major firms brand
their social media posts very effectively, such as Bain & Company, EY, PwC
and Morrison & Foerster, among a few others. But most do
not. Check out Bain & Company on LinkedIn to see how every graphic the firm posts is customized
using the colors of the firm’s brand and how all the posts have a similar look
and feel. Bain also inserts branded borders or firm logos within images before
posting them. Most firms and professionals
do not brand the majority of their social media posts, which can be as simple
as applying a common border to all images before posting.
- Claim their firm’s Google knowledge panels. If your firm or individual lawyers have not formally claimed their knowledge panels on Google, you are missing out on a myriad of benefits, including increased search results and search engine optimization opportunities.
- Educate everyone in the firm on how to increase the number of followers on key social media platforms – especially LinkedIn. Very few firms and firm leaders ask (or require) all their lawyers and staff to connect to almost everyone else in the firm on LinkedIn, nor do they train them on how to do it. And most firms fail to offer training on how to effectively and ethically increase followers on the firm’s main social media pages. Here are five great tips.
- Update, communicate or enforce their firm’s social media policy and policy on the use of personal mobile devices at work. Most law firms’ social media policies are years old and not up to date. Nor do they include guidelines on the permissible use of personal mobile devices at work, which accounts for approximately five to eight hours of work lost per week for the average employee.
- Publish on Amazon. Whether publishing existing firm content or new content, the benefits of publishing on Amazon are tremendous, but few law firms do so.
- Participate in or produce podcasts. Staying relevant is important for many law firms, but many outsiders perceive law firms as being somewhat old-fashioned and stodgy. Participating or producing podcasts are a tactic many lawyers and law firms should consider because: the market for podcasts is growing every year; the demographics of listeners skews affluent; speaking is great training and exposure, and podcasts can be a talent attraction and/or retention magnet that lawyers value (especially younger lawyers and those with a consumer-facing practice). Podcasting is almost a billion dollar business with 86 million people expected to listen to podcasts in the U.S. in 2019 and grow to 132 million by 2022.
About the Author:
Julie
Savarino holds an MBA, a JD, and is a licensed
attorney. Over her 30+ year career, she has built a reputation as an award-winning
business and client development and service strategist, coach ad content
producer for lawyers, law firms, and other professional services providers and
firms. She has successfully served
in-house in client and business development positions for the law firms of
Dickinson Wright and Butzel Long and for the accounting firm Grant Thornton. Connect with
Julie on LinkedIn or contact her at +1 (734) 668-7008, Julie@BusDevInc.com,
@JulieSavarino.
