October 24, 2012 was a date many LMA Capital Chapter members looked forward to - the Chapter's annual Half-Day Program. This year's program was moderated by Kashmir Hill, a staff writer at Forbes and author of the very successful privacy column, "The Not-So Private Parts," where she writes about the intersection of law, technology, social media and personal information.
The three-panel program addressed best practices and trends in law firm social media, video, and analytics tools.
According to the panelists, the goal of social media is conversation. The strategic use of social media helps you engage your audience and build trust as you position your firm as a knowledgeable and reliable source and thought leader. Firms need to be aware of what their audience cares about and use social media as a tool to address the interests of their audience.
As a marketer, once you decide to take the plunge, or enhance your current social media campaign, you should keep a few things in mind:
- Not all platforms are created equal and each require a different approach. Facebook and Google+ are highly visual platforms. The focus of these tools should be on photos and infographics, while Twitter is best for sharing links. Tailor your approach to each platform accordingly.
- Research the times of day for optimal posting. Weekends tend to be low-hanging fruit, as there is less competition from other businesses.
Video use is still relatively low among law firms, but some are doing it and using it well. There are many ways to use video, like featuring a brief firm introductory video on the homepage of your website (a.k.a. your lobby to the world) and/or recording video made for inter-office circulation only. The latter can be a great resource and reminder to your attorneys and staff about why you do what you do. Best practices for video include:
- Having a good plan, a loose script and quality video services. Remember that extensive preparation doesn't necessarily equate to a quality presentation; over preparation can look less natural.
- Keeping the topic basic enough for anyone to understand.
- Tell a compelling story...in three minutes or less. Ninety seconds is optimal.
No matter how you decide to engage your audience, utilizing the proper analytic tools helps you track effectiveness, response rate, and allows you to tailor your approach on an ongoing basis. There are quite a few options available that track everything from referral traffic to click-through rates and more.
Think about how you can fit these ideas into your firm's business development and client engagement plans.
By Kristin Keen, Director of Marketing/Business Development at Watt, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP for the November/December 2012 Issue of the Capital Ideas Newsletter