On the 4th Day of Social Media, your SIG leaders are giving to you....Four Valuable Visual (Tools)!
Written content may be important, but visuals make a difference. HubSpot shares some fascinating statistics for why you should use visual content here. Some of the most important ones include:
- 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. (Sources: 3M Corporation and Zabisco)
- 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain text. (Source: Zabisco)
- Posts with videos attract 3 times more inbound links than plain text posts. (Source: SEOmoz)
- Visual content drives engagement. In fact, just one month after the introduction of Facebook timeline for brands, visual content -- photos and videos -- saw a 65% increase in engagement. (Source: Simply Measured)
- On Facebook, photos perform best for likes, comments, and shares as compared to text, video, and links. (Source: Dan Zarrella)
- Pinterest generated more referral traffic for businesses than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined. (Source: Shareaholic)
- 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter every minute. (Source: YouTube)
- Viewers spend 100% more time on pages with videos on them. (Source: MarketingSherpa)
So what are some visual tools you can use for law firms? We've picked our top four, and below, I'll share with you some of the ways you can use them!
- Pinterest
- Instagram
- YouTube
- Google+ Hangouts
Pinterest
Pinterest isn't just for crafters, and the above statistic noting that Pinterest generated more referral traffic for business than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined cannot be ignored. Another interesting fact about Pinterest? The average lifespan of a piece of content on Pinterest is one week - compared to only 80 minutes on Facebook and 5-25 minutes on Twitter (Statistic from Visual.ly). But how can law firms use it?
- Share substantive content that has an image in it - set up boards for each of your practice areas and share their substantive pieces.
- Create a board dedicated to firm events, and share photos from them - this should include charity work that the firm does.
- Share firm news that might be of visual interest, such as ad campaigns and new website launches.
- Create a board for the top things to do in the cities that your firms are located in - create a more well-rounded image of the firm.
- Create client-centered boards (where possible) - share the places that lawyers like to meet with their clients or images of the clients themselves.
For more ideas, check out these Pinterest accounts for law firms and legal providers:
And for some articles about Pinterest for lawyers, check these out!
Instagram
Instagram is one of my favorite tools, and again, it has benefits for law firms too! Some suggestions for how law firms can use it:
- Share photos from firm events, both webinars and seminars, and client parties, holiday gatherings, etc.
- Share other fun things the firm does, such as Henderson Franklin's Halloween costume contest (which was on Facebook, but you get the idea!), holiday decorating around the office, etc.
- Start a lawyer of the month feature - share a photo of the lawyer on Instagram, and link to the lawyer's bio, or an interview with them, in the comments.
- Start a client of the month feature (where possible) - share a photo of the client and link to their website or an interview with them.
- Instagram also offers a video option - you can create 15-second videos on Instagram. Start an interview series - post the question in the comments and then use the 15 seconds of video with the attorney or client to answer the question. Bring staff into it too to create more loyalty in the firm.
- Create a firm hashtag and empower users to use that in their comments when sharing photos involving the firm.
For more tips on how to use Instagram for law firms, check out these articles & posts:
YouTube
Of all of our tools, YouTube has been around the longest, and a number of firms have been using it successfully. Because it gives you the option of posting longer videos (Vine only allows 6 seconds, and Instagram only 15), it's a great choice for some more substantive content.
What are some ways that law firms are using YouTube?
- Videos that respond to common questions that attorneys receive from clients.
- Create a video version of your latest blog posts.
- Show the fun side of your firm, a la Allen Matkins "Call Me Maybe" parody.
- Repurposing other content - sharing webinar and seminar recordings though the firm channel.
Take a look at some examples of law firm YouTube channels:
We also have some resources for you to take a look at, for some inspiration and assistance in setting up a YouTube channel and vidoes for your firm!
Google+ Hangouts
Google+ on its own could take up an entire day to discuss, so we're only focusing on one of the visual parts today - Google+ hangouts! If you were a part of our 12 days last year, you'll remember that we hosted a Hangout as our "holiday party" on Day 12. But Google+ isn't just for fun video chats with your friends - law firms can also use it.
Here are some ways for firms to use Google+ hangouts (Thanks to Ruth Carter for these suggestions):
- Weekly video shows: One of our law firms does a lot of high-quality, substantive video shows - in-house. But you can also use Google+ hangouts to do these kinds of things. The nice thing about hangouts is that while you can view them within Google+, you can also use YouTube to both stream them live, and share the recording afterwards so they continue to live on. Google+ hangouts would also allow you to invite guests to be on the show from other locations.
- Webinars: Google+ hangouts are versatile enough to be used as webinar platforms as well - not only are you visible through video to your audience, but you can share your slides with them to give them the full impact of your presentation.
- Office Hours: I know attorneys get nervous about opening themselves up to answer questions, but consider an "office hours" type of application for Google+ hangouts - these can be scripted, so as not to get into any thorny areas of client confidentiality, or just prepare your attorneys to tell their guests that their answers would need to be offline, in a more formal setting. This can be like turning a blog post into live video.
Here are some resources for you to take a look at if you want to get your feet wet with Google+ Hangouts!
And although that wraps up our four valuable visuals on this 4th day of Social Media, we're bringing you an extra one to watch:
22 Social
This will be a new tool for all of you (I know it was for me!) - there's a new application on Facebook called 22 Social. 22Social is a Facebook application that allows you to create and install your own customized Facebook application in three clicks, and the best part is that you can host Google+ Hangouts within your Facebook page.
For more information, you'll want to check out this article from Reg Ervin. We SIG leaders haven't done much with 22Social yet, but we're keeping our eyes on it to see how it will work for law firms!
We know there are many more resources out there, and we invite you to share your suggestions with us in the comments! For some of our SIG resources, you may want to take a look at this relevant webinar!
You may also want to check out last year's 12 Days of Social Media if you're new to our SIG - you can find them all over here!
We look forward to sharing the next 12 Days with you - check back tomorrow to see what your SIG leaders will bring you on the 5th Day of Social Media!
And one last point - the 12 days of Social Media are just part of what you get when you're a SIG member. To get full benefits: join the Social Media SIG, join the LinkedIn LMA Social Media SIG private group, join the LMA Social Media Private Group on Facebook and if you're not already a member of LMA, join here. As a member of the Social Media SIG, these posts will be sent to you automatically via the Groups ediscussion Forum.
Happy Holidays from your Social Media SIG Leaders!
Lindsay Griffiths, International Lawyers Network
Laura Toledo, Bowman and Brooke
Nancy Myrland, Myrland Marketing
Gail Lamarche, Henderson Franklin
Lance Godard, JD Supra
Missed any of our 2013 12 Days? Here are the posts you'll want to see!