5 Reasons your Lawyers Should Have Strong LinkedIn Profiles

Of all the social media platform options, LinkedIn should be part of every lawyer’s marketing and business development strategy. Not having a profile on this well-respected platform puts lawyers in the dark ages category of doing business in today’s digital age. If you need any more convincing, here are 5 reasons your firm’s attorneys should have strong LinkedIn profiles.

1. Create a positive public image and reputation

Online activity is today’s word-of-mouth. Prospects are getting increasingly savvy about looking people up on social media and attempting to understand if their expertise, past experience, and even personal values align with their interests. 

To show off collective expertise, make sure that your lawyers update their profiles with accurate skills, experience, and accomplishments. It’s especially important that the managing partners in the firm manage their profiles with more than just past experience – they need to demonstrate the core values and mission of the firm and make sure it resonates with people.

2. Increase your firm’s visibility

Ideally, all lawyers will link to the firm’s LinkedIn Company Page. That alone is a great way to get more eyeballs on your firm’s Company Page. However, lawyers can go further by writing a description about what they do at the firm, using well-researched keywords and links to internal sources. They should also follow the company page so that it shows up in their interests, and they might follow top thought leaders too. Another tactic is to endorse colleagues for relevant skills and to share thought leadership content produced by those within your firm. All of these ideas keep your firm’s name more present as your network scrolls through LinkedIn, and also keeps the firm top-of-mind for people who frequently visit your profile. 

3. Generate leads and nurture them

80% of B2B leads generated on social media come from LinkedIn. Connecting on LinkedIn is a tangible next step when you’re introduced to someone at a meeting, event, conference, etc. If anyone is curious about what it’s like to work with your lawyers or your firm, you can bet they will be checking LinkedIn. 

As people connect on LinkedIn, the profile creates an opportunity to not only promote your knowledge and services, but to curate content that will resonate with them. Your lawyer’s activity on LinkedIn provides opportunities to connect with people on a more personalized level. 

See: LinkedIn for Law Firms: A 12 Step Plan for More Quality Leads

4. Expand your brand reach

LinkedIn research shares that, on average, employee networks have 10 times as many connections as a firm’s Company Page followers. That means that your firm can reach significantly more people by having your lawyers behave as “brand ambassadors”. They should share firm posts, engage in dialogues, post new thought leadership, etc. The more engagement a post receives, the more likely it is to move to the top of someone’s feed. That means that even by just commenting on a post, they are helping it to be viewed by a lot more people. 

5. Drive more traffic to your firm’s website

Any effective digital strategy involves getting more people to your law firm’s website. LinkedIn is almost always a top referral source for professional service websites, typically driving a large percentage of traffic. The more that lawyers leverage all of the tactics above, the more opportunities people will have to click through to your website. 

Related: Social Media Bio Tips for Lawyers

Takeaway

Prospective clients are getting increasingly savvy about looking people up on social media and attempting to understand if their expertise, past experience, and even personal values align with their interests. Having lawyers put together comprehensive, thoughtful profiles that promote the firm and all of their expertise can only benefit themselves and the firm.

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