Must Read: Facebook Marketing Tips
From solo practitioners to the biggest firms in the industry, lawyers today are looking for Facebook marketing solutions that work. Three out of four clients today are looking at online resources before they decide who to hire, and Facebook is by far the most popular social media website among consumers. Keep reading to learn seven handy Facebook marketing tips that can take you from social media zero to social media hero at your law firm.
Facebook Marketing Tips #1: Groups vs. Pages
Right at the start of your social media campaign, you'll have some decisions to make. You should never let your personal Facebook page suffice as your firm page, even if you're a solo practitioner, so the choice becomes: group or page?
If you've never used Facebook groups or fan pages before, you may not really understand the difference between these two terms. However, your Facebook marketing solutions will largely depend on how you choose.
While some Facebook marketing tips will suggest using groups for maximum viral exposure, the truth is that you may not need to worry about making the perfect viral videos just yet. Instead, focus your Facebook marketing solutions on creating fan pages, which don't allow you to send messages to every group member but do allow you a great deal of control over how you represent yourself.
Because fan pages make more sense than groups for most attorneys and law firms, the rest of these Facebook marketing tips will be about pages. You may want to search for groups-specific Facebook marketing solutions if you feel groups would be more advantageous for your firm.
Facebook Marketing Tips #2: Link to Blogs
Blogging is one of the best tools attorneys today can use to attract clients to their websites. Over half of lawyers with blogs report that they've gotten business as a direct result of a blog entry. Other Facebook marketing tips can focus on blog content, but there's no reason to stop with just having a blog.
One of the best Facebook marketing solutions possible is to actually post some content from law blogs written by other attorneys, as well as blog entries written by people at your own firm. Why? Because when you share links about a firm, they're more likely to talk about you.
You can also use links to other blogs to generate great conversations on your own Facebook wall, all without even having to write an entry of your own. This is one example of how you can get creative with your Facebook marketing solutions even if you don't have a lot of time to create new content for your Facebook wall every week.
Facebook Marketing Tips #3: Make Unique Content
Of course, the best Facebook marketing solutions will always involve creating something original. If you're able to give your Facebook fans the best new original content, they'll keep coming back to your page again and again.
If you want your content to go “viral,” that is, to spread by word of mouth online, you'll need to make sure that it's inventive and different from anything else out there. Facebook marketing tips should always caution you against trying to make lightning strike twice—don't imitate something that has already gone viral in an attempt to get your message heard by more people.
Facebook Marketing Tips #4: Get Help
Your Facebook marketing solutions don't all have to come from inside your firm. There are already services that specialize in giving law firms Facebook marketing tips and techniques. You may want to hire one of these services to provide your company with Facebook marketing solutions.
Services can get you started if you're just unsure of how to begin your social media campaigns, or they can provide you with a tremendous amount of ongoing support and content. Of course, the more elaborate your Facebook marketing solutions are, the more a service is likely to charge for providing them. You'll have to find your own balance between your budget and great Facebook marketing solutions.
Facebook Marketing Tips #5: Keep Posting
So you've started your Facebook page and you've posted for a couple of months, but not much activity seems to be happening. Instead of seeking new Facebook marketing solutions, too many firms abandon their Facebook pages when this happens.
Abandoning your page is the exact wrong approach. When potential clients see an abandoned Facebook page, it does not inspire confidence about the firm. Facebook marketing tips won't work overnight—social media marketing can take months or even years to have the effects that you're hoping for, and there's no reason to throw in the towel just because you're not seeing instant results.
Facebook Marketing Tips #6: Promote Your Facebook Page
One of the best reasons for getting a page instead of a group is that you can customize the URL for your fan page. With a well chosen URL (try to make it simple, not keyword packed), you'll be able to share your page far and wide even beyond the confines of Facebook. Groups, on the other hand, only allow you to have a long URL with a long numeric string.
Consider promoting your Facebook fan page using other forms of advertising, including direct email marketing and print advertising, as well as any radio or television spots your firm is airing. Even the simple business card method can get you more Facebook fans every time you network at a conference or other event.
Facebook Marketing Tips #7: Don't Neglect Your Fans
In Facebook, fans mean everything. Your fans can be your biggest marketing resource, so your Facebook marketing solutions should always consider them. Make sure that you're conversing on a regular basis with the people who regularly comment on your Facebook wall.
If one of your fans makes a request to see a particular topic covered, make sure that you honor the request if it's at all possible. By the same token, if your fans are consistently objecting to some part of your marketing, you should probably take it off your wall.