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Podcast Ep. 75: Jennifer Malin on Using Facebook to Promote Firm Culture and Recruit Talent

by Kevin Vermeulen • January 8th, 2019 • Uncategorized | Podcast

In this episode of Legal Marketing 2.0, Jennifer Malin of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP discusses her firm’s Facebook strategy. Shumaker ranked No. 2 in the Facebook category of in our 2018 Social Law Firm Index.

Podcast Show Notes

Jennifer Malin is the Director of Marketing at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP. Jennifer oversees the firm’s integrated marketing activities including branding, advertising, public relations, digital marketing, social media, and internal and external communications. She is also responsible for increasing visibility for the firm’s brand as well as raising awareness for its practices and offices. Overall, Jennifer ensures marketing initiatives are strategically aligned to advance the firm’s business goals.

Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn

How has Facebook effective for your firm?

Facebook has been effective for Shumaker in terms of promoting firm culture and for recruitment. To showcase firm culture a law firm can share anything from community involvement to firmwide events which serves to help attract potential employees.

At Shumaker there’s a brand promise: to be involved – with clients and the community – and there’s no better place to share this involvement than on a network like Facebook. After choosing a brand promise, Shumaker felt that the platform was the best fit to convey this message and share all of the ways that the firm is involved across all seven Shumaker offices.

What types of content works best on Facebook?

It’s actually the “silly stuff” that gets the most likes. For example, there was an attorney in Shumaker’s Sarasota office that went on vacation in Antarctica. When he came back, other attorneys filled his office with blow-up penguins. This was the perfect Facebook opportunity. Posts like this show that attorneys at Shumaker have fun — while they work hard, they also play hard. Other types of posts include featuring what firm staff and attorneys are doing, how they’re succeeding and what accomplishments they have.

Encouraging Employee Engagement on Facebook

Shumaker actively encourages all employees to “like” the firm’s Facebook page, from there employee engagement is exponential. Once one employee shares a post, their colleagues tend to follow. The firm also uses tools to help increase employee engagement like employee advocacy tool Clearview Social.

Many lawyers are reluctant to use social media because they’re unsure of what to share or the best practices to follow on different platforms. This is why Shumaker trains employees on how to use social media effectively. Currently the training only focuses on LinkedIn, but Shumaker plans to expand social media training in the new year. It can be a challenge to for legal marketers to prove the value of social media to attorneys and encourage them to use it. Often attorneys feel that they don’t have the time to use social media, but engaging on social media in today’s digital landscape is essential.

The ROI of Facebook

While Shumaker isn’t actively tracking the ROI of their Facebook presence, they often hear directly from clients and recruits that their online presence was a key determining factor in choosing the firm. There have also been a number of attorneys who have made connections on Facebook that have led to new business.

Takeaway

Legal marketers need to get their firms to recognize the benefits of social media, especially when it comes to Facebook. Facebook can be an excellent tool for the entire firm to showcase firm culture and community involvement in a way that resonates with potential clients and potential employees alike.

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