How Lawyers Can Use LinkedIn Live Streaming and Events to Reach Their Audience

You’ve probably noticed an uptick in online events lately, and maybe even hosted or participated in some. With a surge of Covid-19 shutdowns, many seminars, networking events, and launches have moved into a virtual space. In a timely move, LinkedIn has enabled their live streaming and live events tools, allowing lawyers to connect with their audiences in real-time. Think of it like Facebook Live, with a more professional twist. This is great news for lawyers because these tools create a new avenue for reaching clients and prospective new business. Here’s our guidance on how you can utilize LinkedIn’s live streaming and events to best effect, with a range of tips and pointers to assist in your strategy.

LinkedIn Live versus LinkedIn Events

LinkedIn Live: How it works

LinkedIn Live is the social platform’s live streaming option. Lawyers can use a third-party streaming tool to actually create their content, which is then broadcast to their LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn Live by itself is a good option when you want to achieve top-of-funnel goals like brand awareness and reach. It is more likely that only your page followers will view your live video since they’re the only ones who will get a notification as soon as you go live. In this case, stick to content that you know appeals to your audience.

LinkedIn Live videos cannot be planned ahead of time and you’re not able to see the list of attendees that watch your video.  Here are a few tips before you get started:

• Do not go live more than 1x per day
• Use a second device for monitoring live comments
• Refrain from being overly promotional
• All streams should be happening in real time – do not use pre-recorded content
• Streams shorter than 10-15 minutes don’t allow your audience enough time to grow and interact

What types of videos work best for LinkedIn Live streaming?

1. Thought leadership: Consider hosting a panel with those inside and outside your firm to talk about current events, new precedents, etc. 
2. Recruiting: Showoff workplace culture, introduce team members, and answer questions that recruits may have. 
3. Showcase expertise: This is a great way to share knowledge that your followers would be interested in. Brainstorm topics ahead of time so you can share valuable, compelling information. 
4. Announce a new service or partnership: You can bring on representatives of both companies to discuss the partnership and answer questions. 
5. Announce the launch of a new podcast: We often suggest podcasts as part of an overall marketing mix. If you create one, consider using LinkedIn Live to share the exciting news.

LinkedIn Events: How it works

The LinkedIn Events feature provides lawyers with an easy way to create and join professional events that interest them. LinkedIn Events are held live and they can be planned and promoted weeks or months in advance. You’ll have options to engage your audience before, during, and after your event. Unlike LinkedIn Live, with Events, you’ll be able to access the list of attendees.

To keep your LinkedIn Event top of mind and build interest, you can engage with attendees inside the event feed. Only people who’ve accepted the invitation to attend the event will see posts in the event feed. As with the posts you share in your personal LinkedIn feed, you can add images, video, and documents to your posts inside the event. You’ll also be able to promote your LinkedIn Event’s unique URL outside the platform, which we certainly recommend doing via email marketing and social media.

What types of videos work best for LinkedIn Events?

• Networking events for your connections to meet face-to-face
• Workshops or seminars
• Alumni meetups
• Conferences or summits
• Webinars

Who can use LinkedIn Live & LinkedIn Events?

It used to be that LinkedIn Live and LinkedIn Events were only available to select lawyers with active communities. You had to apply and those with more than 1,000 followers had priority in the vetting process.

Now, due mainly to the skyrocketing demand for better work-from-home tools, LinkedIn released these tools for general use early, along with a number of other LinkedIn features. Keep in mind, the features are still in their beta phase, which means that you may encounter issues and limitations.

Why use LinkedIn Live or LinkedIn Events?

Making use of LinkedIn’s live tools do not require a lot of justification. LinkedIn is the largest professional social network, it’s free to use, and if you’re organizing a virtual event, any channel that can reach potential attendees is worth utilizing. 

Furthermore, according to LinkedIn, LinkedIn Live broadcasts generate 23x more comments, and 6x more reactions per post than native video. Used strategically, LinkedIn Live and LinkedIn Events can be a powerful tool to help raise your law firm’s visibility and your personal thought leadership.

Takeaway

With in-person conferences and face to face networking meetings on hold, lawyers are looking for tools to help them explore digital alternatives. LinkedIn Live and LinkedIn Events features are designed to make it easier for lawyers to grow their networks and build authentic, face-to-face relationships with their contacts, clients, and prospects. While a global pandemic might be the worst possible reason to gain access to these LinkedIn beta features, that’s no reason not to start making use of them.

If you need help creating a strategy around LinkedIn live streaming and events – just ask. We have vast experience helping lawyers and law firms achieve measurable success on LinkedIn.