One of the most common questions we receive as a marketing firm is: do law firms need social media? Many might think that social media is not an appropriate medium for legal advertising and would prefer more traditional digital marketing channels. The idea of managing social media accounts might seem like too much time and too little reward to justify.
However, the reality is that social media platforms are an extremely powerful tool for law firms to promote their brand, engage with clients, and learn from the competition. According to the American Bar Association’s 2023 Websites & Marketing TechReport, only about 16 percent of firms don’t have an online social media presence. Social media, along with blogs, video, and email, is one of the most popular marketing channels for law firms, and over a quarter (27 percent) of firms report hiring an outside agency specifically for social media marketing purposes.
Suffice it to say that the benefits of using social media outweigh the negatives. This guide will cover some essential pointers for law firms looking to utilize social media and discuss some of the best social media platforms for lawyers to increase public visibility and engage with potential clients.
Why Law Firms Should Use Social Media
Virtually every business in today’s digital world either directly uses or interacts with social media, and law firms are no different. Below are just a few of the reasons why today’s firms should embrace social media platforms for their marketing efforts.
Improves Brand Awareness
Did you know that nearly 60 percent of the population uses some kind of social media platform? Social media is one of the most popular internet channels and gets billions of visitors, comments, views, likes, and more every day.
The sheer number of people on social media gives you unparalleled opportunities to get your firm in front of others’ eyes. Crafting targeted posts directed at your intended audience will help your brand become recognizable and improve your search rankings. Most people look to search engines like Google when looking for services, and a large social media presence can ensure that your firm shows up near the top of the rankings.
Build Trust & Expertise
Most people know very little about the law, so social media is a perfect opportunity to show your expertise and build trust and credibility as a relevant authority. Legal knowledge is a firm’s most valuable asset, and social media gives you various methods to showcase the knowledge, such as:
- Sharing blog posts and explainers on legal topics
- Q&A sessions with social media users
- Sharing client testimonials or case results
- Legal case reviews
- Updates about state or national-level legal developments
- Newsletter on the legal industry
Prospective clients are going to choose a firm they perceive as knowledgeable and professional. Consistent social media posts can build a brand image as a resident legal expert and leader in the industry, making it much more likely people will pick your firm for representation.
Drive Traffic to Your Website
Aside from search engine traffic, your law firm’s social media account can draw high-quality traffic directly from social media pages to your website. Here is how an ideal traffic-to-client interaction might go:
- Your firm posts a blog article explaining the tax advantages of using trusts for estate planning.
- A potential client interested in estate planning clicks on the shared post and reads it on your firm’s website.
- At the bottom of the page, there is a contact form asking the reader to get in touch if they have any questions.
- The reader puts their email address and contact information in the form.
The benefit of social media is you can target a specific demographic much more precisely than with general SEO marketing, generating more high-quality visitors and conversions.
Engage With the Legal Community
One of the biggest advantages of social media for law firms is it gives you a way to engage with the broader legal community and improve your perceptions as a thought leader. There are many lawyer-specific social media groups where you can stay up to date on the industry, offer commentary, and, perhaps most importantly, keep tabs on competitor firms.
Most law firms nowadays have some kind of social media presence, and observing their behavior can provide guidance and pointers for your own social media efforts. Look at firms that are the same size and have the same practice areas and use them as a base to build your firm’s unique image and voice.
Find Clients
Lastly, social media can itself be a source of clients. Nearly a third (31 percent) of individual lawyers themselves report having found clients through social media referrals. The personal nature of social media makes it very effective for word-of-mouth referrals and gives firms a simple method to communicate with existing clients.
Best Social Media Platforms for Law Firms
Social media is practically ubiquitous in the modern day, with nearly 70 percent of Americans having at least one social media account. So, what are the best social media platforms for law firms?
According to the ABA, LinkedIn is the single most popular social media platform for both law firms and individual lawyers, with 83 percent having a LinkedIn presence. LinkedIn is popular with attorneys because it is a professionally oriented platform, which differentiates it from its competitors’ focus on more casual users. According to data from Pew Research, about 50 percent of college degree holders in the US have a LinkedIn profile, and LinkedIn is more popular in high-income households.
The benefit of LinkedIn is it is specifically designed to promote your professional brand and connect with others in the same industry. It is a valuable resource to keep tabs on competitors and communicate with potential referrals and current clients. In addition to a firm page, each attorney and employee at the firm should also have an individual LinkedIn page that connects to the firm.
Facebook is the largest social media platform in the US and the world more broadly, with a grand total of over 3 billion monthly users. It is also highly popular with law firms, with about 60 percent having an account. Facebook’s high user count gives it an incredibly high daily search rate, meaning that users search through millions of businesses a day. As such, your firm should maintain an updated Facebook profile with current contact information and post on a regular schedule.
A unique benefit of Facebook is its highly personal and social nature. It lets firms and attorneys connect with their community in a more personable way than many other platforms. You can show snippets of daily life in the office or communicate directly with your audience through things like Q&A sessions. You can also repurpose previously existing content for Facebook, like videos, blog posts, and podcasts.
X (Twitter)
X, formerly known as Twitter, is less popular with lawyers than LinkedIn or Facebook but is still a viable platform for law firms. Twitter’s key characteristic is the fast-paced, second-by-second nature of updates on the platform, which can seem unwieldy and chaotic at first glance. However, a firm that is dedicated to a regular posting schedule and interacting with replies and direct messages can build a following.
Twitter shines for businesses with its emphasis on brand-to-consumer communication through its post-reply-quote structure. However, the fast-paced nature means that posts can rapidly blow up and generate dogpiling and negative sentiment. If you want to use Twitter, you should have a firm policy for addressing negative responses, even though most firms can avoid controversy with some thoughtfulness and common sense.
Instagram is primarily a visually-focused platform with an emphasis on static photo and video content. Generally, Instagram is not too ideal for attorneys because the user base is disproportionately young and outside of the demographic that would typically need an attorney. However, Instagram boasts over two billion active monthly users and can generate an enormous amount of impressions.
As such, we would recommend an Instagram account be used as a supplement and not the core of your social media activity. You can also use Instagram’s visually-oriented design to draw traffic and funnel them to your website through video posts and pictures.
How Often to Post
A pressing and relevant question for law firm social media teams is: how often should you post? If you post too little, you risk your audience losing attention and brand visibility falling. If you post too much, people will think your posts are spammy and have a low quality-to-quantity ratio.
Traditional wisdom states that law firms should post on their social accounts about three to five times per week, though the ideal posting schedule depends heavily on the specific platform. For instance, on a fast-paced platform like X (formerly Twitter), multiple posts a day could be ideal. For more professional platforms, such as LinkedIn, you should limit posting to two to three times per week.
Below is a general breakdown of how often businesses, in general, post on social media:
- Facebook – 18 times per week
- Instagram – 12 times per week
- LinkedIn – Eight times per week
- X – 18 times per week
- TikTok – Six times per week
These figures represent the high-end of posting activity and may not be ideal for law firms, but it is still good to know the general lay of the land.
Tips for Law Firms Using Social Media
Below are some of our expert tips on how to get the most out of your firm’s social media presence.
Review the Rules
Be sure you understand the rules surrounding legal social media advertising from the FTC and your state bar. For instance, most local state bar associations have restrictions on claims law firms can make on their social media accounts and do not allow directly soliciting clients through direct messaging or other social media communication channels.
More generally, most bar associations restrict the usage of specific terms like specialist or expert in legal marketing materials. Running afoul of these restrictions can have negative consequences for your legal practice.
Create a Social Media Plan
The first step in planning is figuring out your goals. Are you trying to get new clients? Build your firm’s public awareness? Increase website visitors or contact form submissions? You need to define concrete and realistic short-term goals to direct your marketing efforts. Goals need to be specific enough that you can measure them and have a defined timeframe to complete them.
Establish Your Firm’s Social Media Policies
Each firm needs a detailed policy surrounding its social media activity. The policy should address issues such as:
- What kind of content will you post?
- Who will be responsible for making posts?
- What is your posting schedule?
- What is your policy regarding employee personal social media use?
- What is the process of responding to negative comments or backlash?
Staff members should have easy access to written policies for training and onboarding.
Track Your Efforts
Legal marketing is not a one-and-done kind of thing—you need to constantly track your outcomes to know where best to allocate resources. Important marketing metrics that law firms should track include:
- Total number of phone calls
- Amount of form submissions
- Client growth rate
- Testimonials and reviews
- Post view counts/shares
- Unique and repeat website visitors
- Website bounce rates
- Session durations
- SEO rankings
- Social media mentions
- Conversions
Leverage Your Knowledge with Social Media for Lawyers
Lawyers spend years and years building their legal knowledge, but what about their marketing knowledge? Getting your firm in front of potential clients’ eyes is almost as important as the practice of law itself, and social media is an invaluable resource for firms looking to take advantage of digital marketing channels. If your firm is not taking full advantage of social media, it is missing out on opportunities for future growth and development.
Would you like to learn more about social media marketing for lawyers? If so, contact Above the Marketing online or call today to book a free consultation with our team!
