How Lawyers Can Use Social Media to Get More Clients

How Can Your Law Firm Stand Out on Social Media?

Lawyers are often reluctant to put a human face on their business, preferring to avoid the type of casualness that social media seems to invite. However, the humanizing power of social media is exactly why so many professionals are turning toward it. Things like humor, vulnerability, and authenticity can go a long way toward putting your audience at ease and making you appear more relatable than your competitors who stick strictly to black-and-white facts about laws or policies. If your primary goal is to stand out in the minds of prospective clients, then we recommend showing off some personality and not being afraid to be yourself.

What differentiates you from other attorneys?

You need to be able to identify what makes you different from other lawyers in your area. Consider the following questions:

• What are your strengths?

• How do you want people to view you?

• Who is your audience, and what are they expecting from you?

• What do you want them to know about your firm or practice that’s going to make them stop and say, “Oh, this is interesting”?

The more specific you are, the better it will be for attracting people who really resonate with what you have to say.

Where do your ideal clients hang out?

Lawyers who are seeking to attract more clients through social media would be wise to keep the following in mind:

• Who is your ideal client? Things to consider include their demographics (age, location, education level), interests/hobbies, and pain points. Are they mostly interested in social media platforms or are they mostly looking for answers on Google? Do they want quick info and updates or do they want something more personal? If you're a divorce lawyer, maybe your ideal client is someone who's going through a divorce but doesn't want to go with the traditional long-drawn out process. Whatever it is, having this clearly defined will help you when deciding which platforms to focus on.

• Where do these people hang out online? Once you know what kind of person you're targeting (and where they spend their time online), then it'll be easier for you to decide which platform(s) to focus on. For example, if your ideal client has a lot of disposable income and enjoys high fashion (like the Kardashians), then Pinterest would be a great place for them because most people use that platform as inspiration. And if you’re targeting that demographic, then chances are they use Pinterest too!

Share your advice and expertise.

One of the most effective ways to use social media is to give your followers a glimpse into your own life. This can be as simple as posting a picture of your favorite mug with a caption about how you need at least two cups of coffee before being ready to face the day. Or it can be complex, like sharing a longform article about how you managed to overcome an obstacle in your professional or personal life. The key is showing that you're authentic and relatable and that you're not just another self-interested lawyer looking for more clients.

Be generous on social media.

You've probably noticed how the most popular lawyers on social media are those who share a good mix of expertise and personal life. Lawyers often confuse “personal life” with “overshare,” but that's not necessary. You can be generous on social media without revealing every detail of your private life.

When you share your knowledge and skills, clients will see you as an expert in your field and will likely want to hire you for their legal matters. It also makes sense to make sure that if people are sharing pictures of your successes, you share them too. People enjoy success stories because they feel like they have something in common with the person being highlighted.

Additionally, sharing wins builds trust because it shows that others have been satisfied by working with you and are willing to speak publicly about it. Similarly, if there is an article or post online that's relevant to your area of law or practice, it's worth sharing—not only does this show that you're engaged with current events in your field, but it also shows potential clients that even when you're not representing them directly, you're still looking out for them by making sure they know about important developments within their areas of interest or concern."

Form partnerships with other law firms.

In the legal world, forming partnerships with other lawyers is a well-known method of building up one's client base. You can adopt this same strategy on social media.

Begin by searching for other law firms that have a similar client base as you. Maybe you're an immigration lawyer who wants to start working with clients seeking asylum in the US; search for immigration lawyers who already work with these clients, and see if they might be open to collaborating. Or perhaps you specialize in employment law, but want to expand your reach into the entertainment industry; seek out law firms that currently work in the entertainment sector and see if they'd be interested in teaming up on some projects online.

If nothing else, simply sharing posts that relate to your field of practice can help establish your expertise and reputation as a lawyer. The more relevant content you post, the more likely you are to draw interested followers who may turn into clients eventually!

Measure your results.

For all the hard work you put into developing a social media marketing strategy and posting content on a regular basis, it’s important to track which efforts are working and which aren’t. Just as you would measure your website traffic or the results of a pay-per-click advertising campaign, you need to measure your social media efforts. But don’t be fooled—social media is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. You won’t see an increase in website traffic or clients overnight. Growing your network takes time and requires effort over months or even years before you start seeing real results.

There are many ways to track engagement on your social profiles, but one of the most basic measures is tracking follower growth over time. If you notice that your follower numbers have been stuck at the same level for months, despite ongoing posting and engagement with followers, then something isn’t working right and it might be time to try something new with your strategy.

You can also use tools like Google Analytics or Hootsuite Impact to get more detailed data on who is visiting your website from each of your social media profiles, so you can determine which networks bring in the best results for you.

Here's how lawyers can get more legal clients through social media marketing.

Social media marketing is a great way to market your legal services, but it’s not always easy to understand. Luckily, the process of using social media to attract clients isn’t complicated and there are a few key steps you can take:

• Establish a strong social media presence. As with most things in life, first impressions matter. If you want potential clients to trust their case with you, you need them to see that you have an established brand and a strong online presence. You should be active on all three major social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. This means that your firm is posting regularly and engaging with followers by liking posts and commenting on discussions. Interested in having us do your social media marketing for you? Check out our marketing membership here!

• Use a social media management tool. Social media management tools are software programs that help businesses automate tasks like scheduling posts in advance or finding hashtags for popular topics on Instagram. These tools make your job easier by eliminating time-consuming processes so that you can focus on providing the best service for your clients. We use (and love) Plann! for scheduling our law firm's social media post. 

• Create content schedules for each network individually so that they are unique but cohesive at the same time (e.g., tweets might link back to blog posts while Facebook posts could include images). On top of creating content schedules, consider using an automated posting tool like Buffer or Hootsuite which will help ensure consistency across all platforms without having to manually post each time something new goes up.