TOP 10 REASONS YOUR LAW FIRM SHOULD USE SOCIAL MEDIA

1. VISIBILITY. Engaging in blogging and social media helps achieve constant visibility. Facebook Info Page and Notes are indexed by Google. Discuss your new practice areas, cases or articles on Facebook Notes. Search engines will index and deliver up notes in search results.


2. AUDIENCE. Where is everyone? On Social Networks. It’s too big to ignore. Online social space is valuable territory.

Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year

72.2 million Americans accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, an increase of 37 percent in the past year. (from comscore press release 10.20.2011)

People on Facebook
■More than 800 million active users
■More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
■Average user has 130 friends

Activity on Facebook
■More than 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages)
■Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events
■On average, more than 250 million photos are uploaded per day

Global Reach
■More than 70 languages available on the site
■Approximately 80% of users are outside of the United States
■Over 300,000 users helped translate the site through the translations application

Platform
■On average, people on Facebook install apps more than 20 million times every day
■Every month, more than 500 million people use an app on Facebook or experience Facebook Platform on other websites
■More than 7 million apps and websites are integrated with Facebook

Mobile
■More than 350 million active users currently access Facebook through their mobile devices
■More than 475 mobile operators globally work to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products
(from http://newsroom.fb.com/)

3. COMPETITION. If you are thinking about building a social media strategy and promoting it, chances are your competition is already doing it. The legal community is very competitive. Branding, niche practice areas and defining your competitive edge is important part of marketing your practice. Social Media should be a market space to extend those messages. Firm’s sometimes avoid it because of fear of the unknown. Don’t let your competition get an edge on you because they are embracing technology.

4. MANAGE YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION. Branded searches are happening every day. People are checking out attorneys by name and by the firm name every day. What are they finding? When the firm has a complex and complete web marketing strategy, the social media pages will often show up on the first page of Google. This is part of controlling the firm’s online reputation. Instead of irrelevant directories, old cases or poor reviews, internet searchers are finding the firm’s linked in profile, Facebook page, and blogs after the firm’s official website.

5. REPLACE SNAIL MAIL NEWSLETTERS. PDF or snail mail Newsletters are the past. Facebook wall posts are a constant reminder to your followers. How do you remind past clients about the work you do? Sporadically provide relevant, interesting info on your wall posts.

6. BE RELEVANT. Link Firm Blogs to Facebook and Twitter. Are you relevant? When a firm is blogging, the blog posts can automatically feed facebook and Twitter. Clients, potential clients, opposing counsel will know you are relevant and embracing today’s technology.

7. ATTRACT TALENTED INDIVIDUALS. Don’t ask for resumes. If a potential employee does not understand social media, do they really have the relevant skills needed for your firm? A social media savy individual is one that embraces new technology, understands current communication trends and will help your firm do the same. No linked in profile- no hire.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203750404577173031991814896.html

“Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates' suitability for a job.”

8. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION. It’s great for your SEO. The more pages and links you have into your firm’s website the higher it will rank on Google and other search engines. Having pages on facebook, twitter and LinkedIn are a great way for you to control routes to your service. Every one of your social media spaces should link to the firm’s website.

9. TELL YOUR FIRM’S STORY. Social media has proven that people like to do business with companies they know. Share your community involvement. Congratulate firm members for personal successes and contributions outside of work. (Partner Smith ran a 5k yesterday for MS. Congrats on your great time and fundraising success!) Social media is the perfect platform to tell a more casual story of the firm and its members.

10. ITS FUN! People want to feel connected. Social media connects you to past clients, referrals sources and future clients. Engaging in social media is a fun way to discover more and share more.