Robin Jones and Kelly Newcomb, of LexisNexis, spoke about the importance and the future of social media for law firms.
Social media has changed law firm marketing by making a firm more accessible to its clients and potential clients. It allows a firm to inform and engage the legal, business, and media communities about particular areas of practice. Social media features give a firm a virtual presence and an extension of the firm’s website. Firm news appears as a live feed and helps alert the press of breaking news. Today, most journalists and the associated press are pulling story ideas from Twitter because it provides the most current information.
Research shows that both corporate and outside counsel are significantly more likely to report being a member of an online social network this year as compared to last year where only three quarters of counsel reported such memberships. Similarly a very high percentage of firm’s clients and target members are also members of an online social network. Most Fortune 500 companies are Tweeting and use the tool to follow/listen to their clients.
Online networking offers myriad benefits, including exclusive content, collaboration and quicker selection of counsel. Some top advantages of participating in an online legal professional network include:
- Access to info I couldn’t get elsewhere
- Easier exchange of information/experiences
- More quickly identify , evaluate and select
- Facilitates finding the “right” attorney directly
- Accelerate speed of collaboration
- Creates a formal and exclusive forum
- Ability to increase my visibility among peers
- Lower costs of traditional networking
- Increase speed of selection/decision-making
- Improves the reliability of information
The September LMA MPC program highlighted social media and the splash it has made within the legal market. By thoughtfully and strategically using social networks to connect to your audience, your firm can have a robust web presence while avoiding related safety and privacy concerns.
To view the presentation given by Robin Jones and Kelly Newcomb, click here.
This event recap was written by Stacey Kracher, the Director of Marketing at Zarwin Baum.