Social Media for Law Firms-The New Word-of-Mouth for Lawyers

Kevin Quinlan of Cepac lawyer marketing gives his take on why marketers for attorneys & law firms should use social media platforms like Facebook to take advantage of relationship marketing

/lawyermarketing101.com/Kevin Quinlan/ 08/17/2010

In years past top lawyers marketed their firms and increased their clientele largely through referrals from satisfied clients and other attorneys. In today's marketplace that can still be true. What has changed is the venue for that conversation. Word-of-mouth, perhaps the greatest form of advertising for lawyers and other marketers is no longer conducted only around the water cooler. It takes place on the web on a variety of social media sites like legal blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

Word-of-mouth, or relationship marketing for attorneys, has made social media an incredibly powerful tool because consumers trust their family and friends, even those that they only know online. Both the place where the dialogue takes place and who takes part has impact on how the recommendation may be viewed by a consumer. Naturally, information from friends and family has been shown to be the most highly trusted, but research conducted by Invoke Solutions and reported by eMarketer also found that blog and Facebook posts by companies were also trusted. When rating what made social sites more trustworthy, consumers mentioned, among other reasons, quality of the content and the willingness of the company to be involved in a real conversation with visitors. In addition, the greater the number of participants and the continuing commitment to the dialogue were also considered important factors.

 

In addition to the research showing the impact of social media on consumers' choices, the American Bar Association conducted a poll that showed that more than 50% of attorneys and law firms have a page on one of the social media sites and 10% of respondents indicated that they had acquired a client because of that presence. Since the practice of law is a need-driven business it is absolutely essential to maintain a presence so that your law firm will be front and center when that need arises.

 

If your law firm would like to include the new social media platforms for lawyers in your arsenal to either enhance your traditional marketing efforts or to begin to market your law firm, now is the time to jump in with both feet. By creating a legal blog or creating a Facebook page and beginning discussions about topics that are relevant to potential clients your law firm can help develop your professional network by becoming a source for news and legal updates that make you the expert in your geographic area of influence. By balancing your content so that it shows both your legal proficiency and a bit of your personality, your law firm will have the greatest chance for referrals from consumers and other attorneys.

 

If you would like more information on legal blogs, social media for lawyers or marketing for law firms, contact Kevin Quinlan.

 

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