Social Media and the Legal Profession

Managing social media for lawyers comes with its own unique set of challenges. All sectors are increasingly using social media as an essential part of their marketing strategy, but among law firms, the competition for clients is particularly fierce. Disclaimer: many of the tactics listed below we’ve used for our client Law Office of Yuriy Moshes – employment lawyers.

To build an effective online presence and win clients and prospects from your competitors, you need an effective social media strategy.

Your social media strategy should tackle multiple platforms, so you need to learn how to get the most out of platforms like

There isn’t one secret formula for making your social media strategy a success – some law firms might do well on Facebook, while others might not. Social media for attorneys is a tricky business. We’ve included some examples in this article to help you find the right law firm social media strategy for your business. It’s also important to try different platforms and measure the results for yourself. Social media marketing for law firms can be incredibly effective if it’s well-executed.

YouTube for Lawyers

Lawyers often don’t know how to make optimal use of a YouTube channel, so they pass up an excellent opportunity to generate business.

Many people prefer to learn about things by viewing content in a video, rather than just reading an article. Videos can help to retain your audience’s attention span and allows the content creator to inject more personality into the video, creating extra interest.

Would you rather read an article about “how to tie a tie,” or find a YouTube video and watch someone do it? For many Americans, the answer is increasingly the former, and the same applies to many aspects of learning. The evidence suggests that YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google, beating out the likes of Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo.

for your legal practice, and YouTube advertising can be an effective tool as well. When advertising on YouTube as part of your social media strategy, utilizing the right approach can have a significant effect on the success of your law firm social media campaign. Here are five top tips for getting the most out of an advertisement on YouTube.

Video Advertising on YouTube

There’s nothing wrong with checking out your competition either. Make sure you have a look at other law firms’ YouTube channels and cherry-pick the ideas you like for your channel, but avoid plagiarizing actual content.

Practical Advice on YouTube Marketing for Your Law Firm

Ranking highly and appearing near or at the top of searches on YouTube demands that you follow some best-practice techniques when using the platform. Since lawyers aren’t always used to dealing with SEO, they can forget some of the most common, easy steps. That’s why we’ve drawn on our extensive experience of YouTube advertising options to provide you with applicable advice, based on some of the most commonly asked questions.

How Can I Find Related Keywords?

The first step in social media marketing for attorneys is conducting keyword research. YouTube is a search engine for videos, just like Google searches for web pages and content, which means keywords apply in both cases. A keyword is simply a term or phrase that a user enters into the search bar to try and find the content they want.

Once you know what your video will be about, you can start typing related keywords into YouTube’s search bar. It will come up with suggestions from the most popular related searches. This is the first step in finding out what people are looking for when they search.

How Can I Create a Great Thumbnail?

A thumbnail is a small picture which shows up in results and video suggestions to help attract users to the video. In many cases, this will dictate whether a user clicks on your video or not, so it’s an important yet often overlooked aspect of advertising your YouTube channel.

Studies have found that the thumbnail image is, in many cases, more important than the title when attracting a click from a prospective viewer. Even if you complete every SEO step correctly, an uninteresting thumbnail might mean nobody clicks on your video anyway.

While YouTube allows you to select a thumbnail by isolating random frames from your video, you can achieve the best results by using a custom thumbnail. Here are a few recommendations for creating a great thumbnail image.

Do:

Don’t:

Don’t worry if you don’t have graphic design or Photoshop skills. Utilities like Canva can help make the process of creating an image easy for anyone.

What’s the Best Way to Utilize the Video Description?

Don’t make the mistake of only writing a few sentences in your video description. Don’t just describe the video when there is so much more information you can include to attract your audience. Make sure you include calls to action, bios, and performer information, as well as useful links for any viewer who wants to know more.

Bear in mind that most of it will be invisible unless the viewer decides to click “show more,” so include the most enticing information or related video links right at the top.

In this example, you can see that it includes the phrase “find more,” encouraging viewers to click by presenting them with a value proposition. Add links to other resources such as your social media and websites, as well as useful information you can provide to potential clients.

What Video Tags Should I Use?

In most cases, viewers can’t see video tags, so don’t worry about how they appear on your video. This makes them one of the more useful tools for YouTube advertising. When choosing tags for your law firm’s video content, use keywords and phrases, and always maximize your reach potential by using your full allowance of 30 tags.

How to Get Viewers to Contact Your Law Firm

The end-goal of attracting attention to your YouTube channel is to generate more business for your law firm.

Even if your videos are achieving a good number of views and your subscriber count is increasing, you need a good strategy to convert those numbers into potential clients. Here are two ways to make sure you’re presenting your company well in your video descriptions.

It’s also perfectly acceptable to include a screen with a call to action or information about your company and the speakers featured in the video, along with your firm’s logo and any other relevant details. Whatever approach you choose to market your law firm, always include useful links in your video descriptions to direct clients and prospects wherever you want them to go. Include social media channels, contact pages, and further value propositions, including other videos on your channel, to maximize your clicks.

Annotations, cards and end screens allow you to place links directly on the screen and provide viewers with a direct route, without even having to look at the description. However, bear in mind that too many annotations can be obtrusive, and many users may have annotations switched off. Prioritize your information and links effectively to make the route to your business quicker and easier.

When Should I Use a Call to Action in My Videos?

If you’ve finished watching a video from almost any major channel, you might see them asking you to subscribe at the end or other requests like, “Hit the like button,” or, “Leave a comment below.” These are all standard calls to action you will often see on YouTube videos, and the reality is that they work.

The end of your video should do the work for the user and provide them with a one-click option to support and keep receiving your content if they’ve watched all the way to the end. After all, that means they probably found it at least a little interesting.

That’s just the basics though. Here are some of the other occasions where you can make use of a call to action in your YouTube videos.

What’s surprising is the fact that many lawyers forget to include a call to action. Overlooking this makes it difficult for interested users to reach out and convert into prospective clients. While some users might not enjoy your content or feel it isn’t relevant to their situation, you need to consider the viewers who do watch your video to the end and need a clear next step to securing your services.

YouTube advertising lets you reach a wider audience and communicate in a way that people are becoming increasingly acclimatized to. Make sure you form a plan for creating content. Include enough time in your schedule to brainstorm, shoot, edit, and upload videos, as well as working on advertising your YouTube channel. A sophisticated plan for building a YouTube channel can form an excellent part of any law firm social media campaign.

For questions regarding YouTube advertising for lawyers, please send us a message and we’ll be happy to help you.

Instagram for Lawyers

Although it might not be an obvious first choice, there are some key advantages to featuring Instagram as a viable platform for social media marketing for attorneys. This may depend heavily on your area of law. A business contract attorney might not see the same benefit as a real estate or marriage contract lawyer, but generally, the more platforms you use, the better.

For the right law firm (drop us a line to find out if your field considers “right”), Instagram offers many creative ways to target potential customers. One example is to target life events such as moving home or getting engaged and advertise to users who might need your services without waiting for them to do an online search.

General Recommendations for Law Firms Using Instagram

Professional services industries rely heavily on building great business relationships and, of course, the legal sector is no different. While posting a picture on Instagram won’t necessarily get your phones ringing off the hook, it presents a professional image of your firm and your team, which can cement your reputation in the eyes of existing and prospective clients.

1) Always Start with a Plan

Think about what you want to achieve on the platform and what you expect as a return for your time investment. Consider what is realistic and form a plan that will directly help you achieve your goals.

One helpful idea is to use a social media content calendar to plan the release of content, so you can prepare images and videos to release over the coming months. Doing it all at once might make it easier and mean you don’t have to interrupt your work as often by taking time out of your schedule to post messages and videos individually.

Focus your content on potential clients, existing clients, or anyone you want to target. Offer interesting information about your firm, as well as any value propositions you can provide. Remember that it’s a visual platform, so you want to post pictures that look attractive on the timelines of Instagram’s one billion monthly users.

2) What Should Lawyers Post to Instagram?

As an image-sharing platform, Instagram is potentially more useful to show what you do as a lawyer, rather than talking about it. A good way to think about creating content for Instagram is to try and focus on how you do something, to engage existing and prospective clients with your firm’s exciting and unique ideas.

Look at the people in your practice and look at its practices. See if there is a way to humanize your firm by showing behind-the-scenes images of your team. Focus on any good work you produce, and let your followers find out a bit more about your personalities as lawyers, focusing on any positive traits or work that benefits the community. This Sprout Social article has some helpful ideas for forming an Instagram marketing strategy.

3) Don’t Give Legal Advice Directly, But Encourage Users to Contact You

There is a difference between sharing legal information and advice. When you receive comment on posts, users will often ask legal questions. It’s important to respond in a friendly and considerate way, but we generally recommend sending them a private message, directing them to contact you for a consultation. When you do this, reply publicly to let other users know you have done so. Otherwise, it might seem like you’re ignoring comments.

Content Ideas for Lawyers Using Instagram

How to Get Noticed on Instagram

Additional Instagram Tips for Law Firms

Instagram can be an excellent tool for marketing your law firm on social media. Humanize your law firm by offering behind-the-scenes looks at your premises. Show your team working hard and having fun. Provide real information on unique cases and highlight positive work you are doing for the community, along with changes in your legal roster or new services you’ve started offering.

It’s best to be expressive and unique, as you want to draw attention to your practice, but that doesn’t mean you need to invest all your time in it or reinvent the wheel. Simply allow the positive aspects of your law firm to shine through. Your users will appreciate it.

If you’re not used to using a social media network, it can seem like an incredibly challenging world to navigate. However, Instagram is worth the investment because it has a vast user base. If you need some help working out the kinks and peculiarities of Instagram, don’t worry. Lasting Trend can help you out, so drop us a line.

Snapchat for Lawyers

Snapchat is an excellent option for targeting millennials and other younger generations. Like Instagram, it also tends to be more popular among female users.

The unique feature of Snapchat is that messages are not permanent. When Snapchat users view a message, it will disappear almost immediately, so it resembles face-to-face communication more closely than other instant messaging apps.

It also includes location-based information which can be useful when trying to reach residents in your area. As with Instagram, it’s important to consider your potential clientele and recognize that Snapchat might not be ideal for senior or business-oriented law firms.

User Demographics and Behavior

Snapchat is an app that is more popular among a younger audience, with more significant correlations in its user base than many other social media platforms. Here are a few statistics about the Snapchat user base.

Using Snapchat in Your Law Firm Social Media Campaign

Probably the most useful feature is Geofilters, which allows you to design a custom filter for Snapchat members to use in a specific location. Although they aren’t free, it’s a way to reach Snapchat users in a specific area. Running Geofilters where there is an event or a gathering of people can be a great way to target situations relevant to your areas of legal practice.

As a personal injury law firm, it might be relevant to add a filter to a motorcycle event with hundreds of riders. If you are a criminal defense or DUI lawyer, a Geofilter on a street within your city’s nightlife area during a Friday and Saturday night could be a great way to find some business. Use your creativity to find ideas and target locations relevant to your business.

Snapchat as Evidence

One reason to get a handle on Snapchat is that jurors can use Snapchat stories as evidence in courtroom trials. It captures and stores a lot of data like times and locations. In July 2016, a jury convicted two people of rape after photos of the incident sent through the app were used as evidence in the trial. A photograph taken with another Snapchat filter that can measure speed was used to show how fast a motorist was traveling moments before a fatal incident.

While Snapchat stories don’t last long, users can take screenshots of them using their smartphones’ built-in capture features. Additionally, forensics experts can recreate deleted snaps in some cases, while Snapchat stores a log of sent snaps. Keep up with the technology and consider how you can apply it to both your marketing and legal strategies.

Give Snapchat a try and learn what it’s all about. It might be unsuitable for your firm or your target market right now, but that might change in the future, and it’s always good to have a handle on the latest trends. In some cases, it could help you build business relationships with the millennial generation, who are statistically more likely to use the platform.

Quora — Answering Legal Questions

Quora is a social media network where users submit questions and other users provide answers to them, developing a steadily improving database of responses to common and specific questions.

Users can upvote the best answers, creating a democratic system. Quora presents excellent opportunities for lawyers, who will have a greater degree of expertise than most of the other people answering. Responding to legal questions on Quora can help you build status on the platform, and there are multiple ways this can lead back to your firm.

Start by following a few basic steps:

Bear in mind that Quora is still a social media site with user-made content. Don’t spend hours finely crafting each answer because it might not be worth it. However, you can share a few links to your website. Over time, it can help improve your online prestige and drive traffic to your landing pages.

Reddit for Attorneys

Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website, fueled by user ratings on every post and comment. It can be a useful element of social media marketing for law firms.

Some people consider the front page of Reddit as the home page of the internet. It features top news stories and interesting discoveries, as well as entertaining distractions. While Reddit hosts countless smaller communities, or “subreddits,” the front page displays the top content currently featured on the site and can achieve upward of a million hits.

How to Use Reddit Marketing to Your Advantage

As you build up your prestige on Reddit, you might find you want to know more about how you can boost your website traffic using the site. Contact Lasting Trend — we’ll be happy to answer all your questions.

Facebook Ads for Lawyers

There are two fundamental ways to get more clients and build relationships on Facebook — organic Facebook marketing and advertising with Facebook Ads. We’ll be covering both methods to help you figure out which approach will be best for your practice.

Examples of productive uses of Facebook Ads for lawyers include:

Boost Your Practice Areas

This simple approach makes use of current news stories to boost your traffic significantly.

It’s critical to capitalize on stories relating to your area of expertise quickly, as interest tends to die down after a short while. When the story first emerges, there will be a lot of traffic, and users will be looking for more information about it. Make sure your call to action includes a relevant value proposition for prospective clients.

Build Awareness of Your Law Practice

Video is a great way to improve awareness, as video ads tend to receive more attention and interaction than static ones. Use subtitles so users can receive your message if they are hard of hearing or happen to be browsing without audio. Invest some money to make sure the videos are of professional quality and check out examples from other firms, like this promo video from a criminal defense attorney.

Be Creative with Life Events Targeting

Facebook holds a wealth of information about the significant events in its users’ lives, such as starting a relationship, getting engaged or married, and moving to a new house. You can use this when targeting to help form connections with people who are about to get married or are recently divorced, for example. Facebook allows you to do this with a life event targeting parameter, scheduling ads that target the people experiencing these events.

This is a unique feature of Facebook and one that targets particular individuals. Make sure you investigate and use any relevant options when running Facebook Ads for your firm.

Here are some general tips for using Facebook effectively:

Facebook is useful as a supplemental channel. It might be the place a prospective client goes when they want to check out your online presence, reputation, and attitude, so consider the image you present on your page. You could look upon Facebook as a social Wikipedia or a digital alternative to the Yellow Pages.

Here’s an example of an effective strategy we employed for a New York client. They post a blog from a website at the start of the week, with some useful information for prospective clients. On Wednesdays, they make a longer post of 300 words or so, concerning the industry and including an interesting, relevant image. Then, on Fridays, they typically share something more humorous for people who have endured a long week at work and are feeling tired going into the weekend. Think about the mentality of your potential clients and the sort of content they might enjoy at any given time.

Whatever kind of law firm you run, it’s essential to have an online presence on Facebook. Since Facebook acts as a directory, you could be throwing business away if you aren’t searchable or don’t have up-to-date contact information on the platform. You should make sure the page looks active, showing your law firm as a thriving and successful practice. Although it might seem like a lot of work, you can always ask Lasting Trend for assistance – feel free to contact us for a complimentary consultation.

LinkedIn for Lawyers

LinkedIn can be an incredibly useful tool for many law firms. However, far too many practices use the platform only to look at other firms’ posts. Bear in mind that LinkedIn has much greater potential for B2B legal services than almost every other platform. You need to learn how to leverage its tools and employ best practice to achieve your own business goals.

Basic LinkedIn Tips for Attorneys

LinkedIn Clients Outreach for Lawyers

Outreach on LinkedIn is the way you build your audience on the platform by forming connections with others. Start by connecting with people you already know to give yourself a good base. Once you’ve made connections with your existing contacts, you’ll have a sufficient audience to start making an impact with your content and updates, as well as a springboard from which to grow your LinkedIn network.

There are few general tips which should be applied before you start outreach:

Starting Your LinkedIn Outreach

LinkedIn Groups for Lawyers

One useful feature of LinkedIn for lawyers is groups, which can help you to reach your audience with more efficiency. It’s also a valuable way to participate in productive discussion, raise your prestige, and expand your network.

LinkedIn groups are networks for professionals in the same industry and people who share similar interests. The function of groups is to allow for discussion and content sharing and to facilitate online networking.

For instance, you could probably find a general “Personal Injury Attorneys” group with many members around the world. You might also find a “New York Personal Injury Law” group that purely focuses on personal injury lawyers in your region.

Here are some good ideas for groups to join, but remember to look for options that are relevant to your local area:

Here are a few things law firms should be aware of when using LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is likely the social media platform with the most potential for lawyers. There are superb opportunities to generate business and expand your network, building relationships with potential future clients. Finding the right balance and getting value out of your interactions and time investment in LinkedIn can take some judgment on your part.

If you want help finding the right groups or general guidance on navigating the landscape of LinkedIn, Lasting Trend can walk you through the process from start to finish.

Twitter for Lawyers

Twitter is a free microblogging platform. It has a post limit of 280 characters, allowing users to share small nuggets of information, along with photos and videos.

Twitter can work well for your law firm because:

Twitter Tips for Your Law Firm

How to Use Twitter in Your Firm’s Marketing Strategy

Here is a great list of helpful tools for discovering and selecting the best hashtags for use on your firm’s social platforms.

You can improve your experience on Twitter by using each of these tools and combining their functions. A proper understanding of the tools at your disposal can help you to get more out of the platform and take advantage of opportunities for growth at a faster rate. Take some time to understand hashtags and improve your level of audience engagement to draw more attention to your business, with the end goal of generating more clients.

With the basics in hand, you now have the tools to begin using Twitter effectively. Create your account and start sharing. However, remember there is a correct way to use Twitter if you want to see real growth and enjoy substantial gains in your potential to reach new clients. As a lawyer, your time comes at a premium price, so it might be challenging to justify disrupting your schedule. If you need help managing your social media, Lasting Trend can handle it.

Social Media Marketing for Law Firms FAQ

Q: Should lawyers use social media?

A: Yes. Almost all companies can benefit from social media as part of their marketing strategy. In service industries, where building relationships is critical, social media is essential for building a network online.

As social media made its mark on many industries, law firms increasingly shifted their perception and attitude toward online interaction, which is a trend that is likely to continue. According to the American Bar Association’s 2017 Legal Technology Survey, law firms of all sizes and their teams, are increasingly interacting online via blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Q: Why should law firms use social media?

A: Along with the potential to increase your prestige on global platforms, social media also facilitates interactions with potential clients. People are increasingly used to contacting companies via social media pages, and some clients may even expect that level of interaction. Capitalizing on that consumer demand to appeal to your client-base is just one of the benefits of social media for law firms, along with the many listed throughout this article.

Q: How do law firms use social media?

A: The answer to that question may differ depending on your area of law, your location, and a slew of other factors. Your social media strategy must fit in with the specific nature of your firm and its business goals. Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic formula to create a perfect social media strategy for everyone. A free consultation with our professional team can help to help you get started.

Q: How many lawyers use social media?

A: One survey found that 81% of lawyers they asked had used social media in a professional sense, and 77% responded their firms had a presence on social media platforms. The most likely age group to use social media was 40-49-year-olds (93%), followed by those under 40 years of age (90%), then ages 50-59 (86%), and finally, lawyers aged 60 or over (73%).

There is also some variation between lawyers who specialize in different areas of law, with employment and labor law specialists being the most active at 89%. Reasons for using social media for law firms also varied, with career development and networking the most common (67%), followed by client development (56%), education and current awareness (39%), and case investigation (21%).

Q: What are the benefits for lawyers using social media?

A: While the benefits are extensive, here are some of the main advantages.

Bonus – Avvo

Avvo is a useful service for accessing legal resources and helping attorneys manage their reputation online. Users can rate and review attorneys, and lawyers can interact with the Avvo community. It offers a premium-level “Advisor” service, as well as a free Q&A forum. It’s a popular service with a high level of credibility among its extensive user base.

Why Should You Be on Avvo?

Since Avvo populates its site using the State Bar Association’s publicly available records, if you’re a lawyer, you’re probably already on the site, along with approximately 95% of U.S. attorneys. Here’s why you should take control of your listing and optimize it to improve your image on the website.

Step-by step Avvo Marketing Guide

Avvo is a crucial part of forming your online brand as an attorney. There’s no reason not to claim your profile and gain control over your image on the site.

Start Taking Action on Your Online Presence

The field of law is a highly competitive industry, and law firms need to use all the tools at their disposal to secure new clients. While law firms and social media have had an occasionally rocky history, that’s not a reason to neglect this excellent business opportunity.

Social media for law firms is a crucial aspect of any overarching marketing strategy, along with traditional approaches, SEO, and word of mouth.

Instead of neglecting social media because you aren’t sure how to approach it, consider drafting in a professional for your law firm social media management. After all, just as your clients seek professional legal advice, you could benefit from professional digital marketing.

Benefits of Social Media for Law Firms

Legal social media can be tricky to navigate, especially with all the other work involved in running and marketing a law firm. However, the benefits are tangible, allowing you to form an online presence, increasingly the go-to place for people to find professional services. Both social media and the legal profession take time and require patience.

At Lasting Trend, we know how to tap into client psychology and get results when building a strategy of social media marketing for lawyers.  Why sacrifice your own valuable time trying to get a handle on new concepts when you could work with a digital marketing agency, who already know the landscape of online marketing for the law industry?

When you book a free consultation with us, you’ll be meeting with experts who can deliver measurable results for your legal practice.