The internet marketing industry for law firms is booming with many law firms spending a lot of money each month to strengthen their online presence and stay ahead of their competitors in a very competitive online space. Internet marketing for law firms so far has been focussed mainly on SEO and Google Adwords advertising. This makes sense since a lot of people use search engines to find information about law topics and to research different lawyers that they could hire for their case. While SEO and PPC advertising are still very important for law firms, social media marketing is becoming more and more important today in almost every industry including the legal industry. Many law firms and internet marketing agencies have not yet picked up on this, which means that there is a huge opportunity to start amping up your social media marketing today and jump ahead of your competitors. Let’s have a look at why it’s so important to have a solid social media marketing strategy in place for your law firm.
Social Networks are Important Research Tools for Consumers
A recent survey conducted by The Research Intelligence Group shows that 56% of all people who were looking for a lawyer during the year before the survey was conducted (March 2013) used social media in their online search. A fifth of the people that used social media to search for a lawyer said that they looked up law firms and lawyers’ social media pages to find out more about them and 17% of consumers indicated that the contents on these pages actually affected their decision. About 25% of the interviewed used Twitter or Facebook to ask friends for lawyer recommendations and about 20% consulted with social media contacts about the lawyers that they considered hiring. Eventually about 1/4 of all the people that were surveyed based their choice for a lawyer at least in part on the information they gathered from their social media friends and acquaintances.
Getting Started With Social Media
From what research is showing, now is the time to start developing a social media strategy for your law firm. The first step is to research on which social media networks your prospects are most active. Once you’ve figured this out, choose 1-3 networks to get started on and create your social media pages. Make sure your page looks clean and professional. Now the real work starts. You need to create interesting and engaging content to post onto your social media pages. It’s also important to seek out conversations regarding the niche you operate in and participate in these conversations. The best way to attract clients is to provide value on your social media pages and in your interactions with people on social media. Don’t forget to setup goals for what you actually want to achieve with your social media efforts and track whether you are reaching your goals. You may want to consider hiring a professional firm to help you out. The ROI will likely be worth it.
More people in younger age groups use social media when searching for a lawyer. This means that social media networks will likely only become a more important source of clients for law firms in the future. Investing in social media today will help you gain more clients in the long term.
Zane Schwarzlose is a writer at Alamo Injury Attorneys, a personal injury law firm in San Antonio, Texas. Zane thinks that evey law firm should have a social media strategy.
