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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment