Social Media for Law Firms: 5 Tips to get you started

One of the challenges I hear from law firms all the time is that of whether it is right for a law firm to get involved in social media, and if they do, where and how the best approach to get started is.
Here are my five top tips for those with concerns – watch out for more similar posts to help you think through your social media as we move into 2010!

1. Audit the environment before you begin

Whilst you may see this as another way to put off getting started, it makes good business and planning sense. Auditing your social media environment in advance of getting started helps you to:
• Build your business case by being able to show what buzz there is (or isn’t!) around your firm or the business areas you want to be known for
• Helps you spot where the highest concentration of effort is already
• Helps you see what your competitors are doing, and how your use of social media compares to theirs
• Gives you a benchmark for taking future action against.

Creating a thorough audit by analysing the environment with a Listening Audit definitely helps keep you aware and empowered about the right actions to take.

2. Go where the people already hang out online

This makes good sense –from listening you are more likely to know who is out there, what they are talking about and which sites they are present on. This is a real gift for helping you target your social media activities. It helps you avoid spending lots of time creating content and discussion in areas where your target market isn’t present. It also means that you are working with people on sites they already visit often (LinkedIn is a good example of this) rather than forcing them to use yet another site they aren’t getting the value from

3. Find an area you can get started on.

If there is resistance within the firm, one thing you can do is to suggest you work within just one area of the firm, or speciality to see how that goes. Again, your listening strategy will help you inform which may make the most sense for your individual firm. Getting started by focusing on just one area at a time will help you to manage the effort that goes in, test the results, and respond to feedback. It helps you feel in control. A social media area some firms are starting in is the graduate recruitment area, as firms recognise that graduates are used to working using social media.

4. Utilise the strengths you already have

Knowing what your own strengths are will help you apply that knowledge back into your social media success. Think about what areas you get the most PR and news discussion around – these may well be another place you can leverage social media marketing in your business to co-exist with your existing online and offline marketing plans. Another key strength is your partners and associates – listen out for those already utilising social media themselves on a personal level, such as having an up to date LinkedIn profile, or blogging themselves – these can help you in your quest to widen social media beyond the marketing team.

5. Create yourself a plan

When you are getting started it can be easy to get overwhelmed with what to do on social media and how much time to spend on it. One good tip is to give yourself an agreed amount of time. Another is to create yourself a content plan to help keep what you are doing on track, and ensure that everything you do links back to your key purpose for being on social media, whether that is to show your thought leadership, create additional brand awareness, or build business.

Social Media for law firms: Deal with the fear factor

Another area I hear a lot being discussed is the contrary nature of social media, and the nature of law firms.

Law firms want to protect their clients and confidentiality. They are filled with people who are, by their own words (via a LinkedIn group I am a member of) cautious in nature, and defensive over how they share content, reveal information and protect the reputation of both the firm and the client. Add to this the large size of many law firms, and the number of people working with them, and it’s easy to see just why this can be a concern. There are some tips to help you deal with this fear factor, if it is a concern for your own firm:

• Consider creating a policy which says what is and isn’t ok to share on social media if you work for the firm. This will help set out clearly acceptable behaviour and give people who work for you a good framework for their online reputations. Some elements you may want to think about are:

  • People starting their own blogs / twitter accounts etc

  • What happens if they talk about the firm

  • What happens if they talk about a client (either generally or in specifics)

  • What information can’t be shared for confidentiality, legal and regulatory reasons

• Talk to the people who you hear (or know!) have the most concerns, to find out what they actually are, and then you can think about how to ensure that these concerns are answered

• Start small, with a passive / reactive social media campaign rather than with a huge plan that will concern people more. Prove it one step at a time

• Think about what as a professional service firm you can bring as a strength to working in social media. For instance, you may be able to add support and information via these new media, in a more interactive way than you could before.

• Monitor what is already being said about you and your firm on the web, so you can decide what responses are appropriate.

• Work with the people within the firm who already understand how social media works, so it is less likely they pose a risk in terms of how they respond on your behalf.

In conclusion, dealing with the fear is about recognising what the particular fears are which are present in your firm. In understanding the fear, you are able to understand, and from understanding, to propose the most effective course of action. You’ll be able to call on examples and case studies of what works within other firms, whilst recognising that they may not all be appropriate for you, provide a guideline and framework for you to share.

Law firms who are active in social media:

• Fulbright & Jaworski
• DLA Piper
  
• Fenwick & West LLP
• Pannone (although they are just pushing info on their Twitter acct, not really getting the "social" bit of social networking)
• Blake Lapthorn
  
• Inksters