How Lawyers Can Use TikTok To Generate Leads 

You’ve likely heard the buzz around popular social media platform TikTok, which now has 800 million monthly active users and is the third-most downloaded app globally. The social video sharing app allows users to craft short-form mobile videos — up to 60 seconds to be exact. And no, you don’t need to be a professional videographer to get started creating your own videos. 

Despite its potential, many lawyers are unsure how to approach marketing on the app and if it’s even worth their time. Well, it is. There are a growing number of lawyers using TikTok to achieve their business development goals and generate high-quality leads. In this blog, we’ll explore a few lawyers who are doing so and we’ll also dive into the steps you can take yourself to grow your brand presence and generate leads on TikTok.

Why lawyers should consider marketing on TikTok

TikTok is a valuable social media network right now for lawyers because it’s easy for everyone on the platform to get their 15 minutes of fame. It’s a lot easier for lawyers to go viral on TikTok right now than any other social network. Whenever a TikTok user opens the app, they see videos from people they follow and featured videos on the #ForYou page. When you first sign up, TikTok automatically features your videos on the #ForYou page a few times (similar to Instagram’s discover page). So your first posts can go viral and you can get major exposure around the world.

Furthermore, TikTok permits you to link your blog and other social media accounts from your profile. So your TikTok views can translate to a lot of traffic to your other channels. Lead generation therefore can come from a variety of ways. The most common will be from website links and strong branding.

These Lawyers are Going Viral on TikTok

We’ve decided to highlight 2 lawyers (although there are many more!) who are reaching and helping millions of people on TikTok. What’s the best part? They get more traction by being themselves and leaning into their strengths.

@adamjthelawyer

Adam S. Juratovac, known as @adamjthelawyer is a California employment lawyer who has a growing following of over 299k and 5.0M likes on TikTok. Adam includes a link to his law firm’s blog in his TikTok bio, along with a link to his YouTube channel. Adam utilizes his channel to post entertaining and informative videos that explain various tips on employment law. In one of his recent videos, he explains what folks should do if they get fired from their job and the paperwork they should acquire from their former employers. His approach to TikTok is all about consistency, persistence, and picking a niche. Of course, he also partakes in TikTok dance challenges (more on the importance of TikTok challenges below).

@lawyerkelly

Family lawyer Kelly Chang’s short videos are loved by her followers on TikTok. She has an engaged following of 286k+ and 5.3M likes. She does a great job mixing informative legal videos with funny videos. Her ‘Family Law Pop Quiz’ has over 20k plays. Kelly’s followers may not have family law issues right now, but if any of them do in a year, they will already know her.

10-Step Guide to Using TikTok

Here’s all you need to know to get started so you can begin leveraging TikTok to generate leads and new prospective clients for your law practice.

1. Define clear, and realistic measurement and ROI goals

As you’re planning your strategy on TikTok, it’s important that you first identify what your goals are and develop clear metrics to track them. If you’re not getting page views, and shares, and visitors aren’t engaging with your content, you’re not generating any return on investment (ROI). Some of the goals you may have for marketing on TikTok include brand awareness, traffic to your website, generating new leads, and acquiring new clients. Beyond likes and followers, you want to understand how many people interact with your content.

2. Identify and clearly define who you’re trying to reach.

Every video you craft is going to be geared towards nurturing and growing your target audience. So you should be as detailed as possible when considering who you are trying to reach. Think about age, gender, profession, marital status, etc. No detail is too small to be considered. Go beyond generalizations. Your target audience should not be as broad as “people who need a lawyer.” Rather, you want to define your target audience more specifically as to design TikTok videos that speak directly to them, and therefore engage them.

An important strategy here is to create buyer personas which are representations of your ideal client, based on real data from your existing clients and market research.

3. Produce genuine content that is helpful

With a clearly defined audience and realistic goals in mind, the next step is to create and share content that aligns with your goals and provides real value. It should be educational or help audience members solve a problem. You could, for example, post content on legal terms and examples, or news involving trials or changes in the law. Your videos should be focused around practical, actionable, bite-size advice that shows your expertise and how you add value to your clients. You can simply transform an existing blog into a TikTok video! Here are a some tips specific to the TikTok platform that will help your content achieve virality:

• Listicles, tutorials and how-to’s are particularly popular formats for TikTok videos
• Strive to be funny and entertaining even when you are conveying complex legal information
• The TikTok algorithm likes to see writing on the videos. You can add text to your videos in the TikTok app’s video editor like on Instagram.
• Include CTAs in your video and match your content offer with your target audience.
• Good lighting is key! TikTok wants to “see clearly” to make sure none of your videos have harmful content.

4. Include links to your blog and other social media channels in your bio.

This is MUST if you want your followers to find your thought leadership content and connect with you on other platforms. Include calls-to-action (CTAs) in your videos or in the video description to lead viewers to find out more when they click the link in your bio.

5. Explore popular hashtags and take part in challenges.

TikTok is all about connecting to others so make sure to participate in trending hashtags and hashtag challenges. Different types of challenges have started to go viral in the platform – from dance challenges to meme challenges. Keep an eye on new challenges and partake in them. Get creative and don’t be afraid to show off your personality and your sense of humor. Embrace the trends and put your own spin on them!  

Lawyers can look up what’s trending on the ‘Discover Page’ on TikTok (often contains the latest viral trend in the form of a hashtag) and that will help inform your ‘Challenge’ content creation and help you capture the attention of more users. Challenges often require more effort and crafting content from scratch, but if you come up with something that really resonates with viewers your reach could soar overnight. Sometimes it can be the most simple and relatable ideas that perform the best.

Tip: Use the #ForYou and #ForYouPage hashtags to try to get your posts on the TikTok main Discover page.

6. Post every day while you grow your following

It’s crucial that you post every day, ideally 5x a day when you first sign up for your TikTok account. Start posting in the afternoon, around 3:00 pm local time and continue posting until 6-7 pm, then again close to midnight. TikTok users are more active on the platform during these times.

If that sounds like too much, aim for at least once a day. You don’t have to keep up this pace forever – just for the first week or so. Remember, during this time the TikTok algorithm wants to highlight your new account so it’s crucial to take advantage of this boost when you can. You can also pre-record videos and have a bunch of them ready prior to launch.

7. Collaborate with industry influencers

Co-create videos with thought leaders and industry influencers on the app who might be a good fit for your brand presence. Find people with a substantial following that can help expose your name to a wider audience.

8. Save every post you make before you publish it

This is important for two primary reasons. I recommend recording or saving every post you make before you publish it. Sometimes, you post something at the wrong time and it doesn’t get much engagement. No problem – this way you can delete and repost later. Second, you can repost the same videos you create on Instagram and Facebook!

9. Respond to comments

After you publish your video, set aside 30 minutes to respond to all of your comments. This is crucial to the success of your post. All too often, people will post and then walk away.

Comments are a part of the TikTok algorithm. If you respond to as many comments as you can during this time, you can get back on the #ForYou page.

10. Trial and error works best

Remember the app is always changing along with viral trends so it can take time to achieve a big following. A particular friend of mine achieved 5M views and garnered hundreds of thousands of followers the same day and that was his 32nd post! So don’t get discouraged if you don’t go viral right at once. Keep posting and keep engaged. Follow other creators, like the ones we mentioned above, for inspiration.

Takeaway

TikTok is a growing social media platform that if used correctly, can help lawyers generate new leads and grow their practice. Follow our 10 steps if you’re just getting started or if you’re trying to grow your following. Most importantly – don’t be afraid to embrace the trends and show your personality. TikTok can definitely be used for lead generation, however, as with all social media platforms, careful planning and consideration is important.

Looking for more tips and tricks? Watch our free webinar.

Learn about the social media networks that will work best for your law firm and how to leverage them to get more leads by watching this free webinar – How Lawyers Can Use Social Media to Build Their Brand and Grow Their Practice.