5 Tips for Law Firm. Direct Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Everything About Benefits of Social Media Marketing When you start to consider online social media marketing, it's probably because of the huge numbers of lawyers starting to use this kind of outreach as part of their marketing campaigns. Social media marketing statistics indicate that social media and blogging can generate anywhere from $5,000 to $200,000 in new business for a small law firm every year. If you want to know more about the benefits of social media marketing, keep reading: you'll find out how blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more can bring in business and referrals. Benefits of Social Media Marketing: Blogs One of the best ways to put your writing skills to good use is with a legal blog. Not only do you get to opine about the biggest legal issues affecting your practice area today, but you can also use blogging as part of your online social media marketing strategy. Social media marketing statistics show that when you blog, your business gets up to 55% more web traffic. Much of that traffic can be highly geographically targeted, generating great leads for your law firm and helping you to grow even in tough economic conditions. Why? Because blogging is a form of online social media marketing that increases the number of searches your company will show up in, and one of the benefits of social media marketing is that the increased number of links will put you closer to the top of search results. You may think that a blog would take too much time, but given these social media marketing statistics, it's tough to believe that any lawyer can afford not to maintain a blog. Benefits of Social Media Marketing: LinkedIn Social media marketing statistics show that for a large number of attorneys, LinkedIn is the beginning and end of their firm's online social media marketing. LinkedIn is the gold standard, and the benefits of social media marketing with LinkedIn cannot be overstated. As recently as last year, social media marketing statistics indicated that LinkedIn was up to three times more likely to generate leads for a firm as Facebook or Twitter, the next most commonly used social media marketing services. The biggest benefits of social media marketing with LinkedIn are connections to other attorneys. Social media marketing statistics show that over 1.5 million lawyers currently have LinkedIn profiles, with many more joining the website every day. Online social media marketing through LinkedIn can even reach in-house counsel, who often doesn’t participate in many other social media sites. LinkedIn has fewer of the benefits of social media marketing if you're primarily marketing to consumers. While other professionals are very likely to use LinkedIn (including, according to social media marketing statistics, over 90 percent of small law firm attorneys), consumers can find the emphasis on workplace networking overwhelming. That's why for most attorneys, online social media marketing with LinkedIn isn't enough. To get all of the benefits of social media marketing, you need to diversify. Benefits of Social Media Marketing: Facebook and Twitter While Facebook started as a site for college students to connect to one another, it has grown into an online social media marketing behemoth. Social media marketing statistics show that over 50 percent of adult Americans have a Facebook account, and the vast majority of these adults check their accounts regularly. Facebook not only gives you a place to have promotions or connect with potential clients, but also allows you to create “apps.” While it might take an outside contractor to develop a brand new app for your firm, some app creators allow you to generate quizzes with only basic computer knowledge. Social media marketing statistics indicate that as of 2012, about 15 percent of online Americans use Twitter, a figure which has doubled from 2010. Because Twitter allows you to join in quick-paced conversations and “re-tweet” things others have found interesting, it's a great way to get people looking at your online social media marketing conversations. With an increasing number of people accessing the internet through mobile devices, Twitter's quick, easy to digest tidbits of information are becoming more popular by the day. Beyond Clicks: What Else Can Online Social Media Marketing Do? The benefits of social media marketing go beyond just generating more clicks to your website and more awareness for your firm or client leads. When you use online social media marketing, you'll also get more media attention and publicity. Social media marketing statistics from ALM Legal Intelligence show that 58 percent of firms with blogs report that they receive more calls from reporters due to their blog entries. Even more—61 percent—say that their blogs generated invitations for speaking engagements. If you want to expand your online social media marketing presence, there are also benefits to social media marketing that is directed toward other lawyers. Social media marketing statistics show that advertising to attorneys makes them more aware of your firm and its branding, and can generate additional referrals for the types of cases your firm excels at. You can do this by establishing and maintaining connections to other attorneys using LinkedIn, or by maintaining a blog that contains content that would be interesting to attorneys outside your legal practice area. Benefits of Social Media Marketing Outsourcing Social media marketing statistics from the LMA Intelligence Briefing show that outsourcing is an increasingly common solution to firms' social media needs. If you have too much on your plate to handle your online social media marketing yourself, hiring a specialty firm can be a great way to make sure that your web presence is maintained and monitored. In addition to providing all of the benefits of social media marketing, outsourcing firms often include extensive measurement and analytics. Using social media marketing statistics from your own website and the latest best practices, these firms can help you see what aspects of your brand are working and what is turning potential clients off. This makes it easier to optimize your online social media marketing for the best client satisfaction and the most return visits.