How Lawyers Can Use Social Media to Promote Their Practice in Real Time
Real-time marketing in social media is a strategy that can and should also be employed by savvy lawyers and law firm marketing directors.
There are many social media monitoring tools available that will enable lawyers and law firm marketing professionals to monitor conversations and posts on social media and provide them with an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience in a particular area of practice. For example, lawyers can monitor social media conversations during important industry meetings or conferences and engage and promote their related content using the same hashtag that is being used at the conference.
Another example, called “news jacking” enables firms to take advantage of a developing news story by injecting their knowledge or experience and therefore generating media coverage and social media engagement. In today’s hyper connected world where anyone is a publisher, you don’t have to hope that a TV station will contact you for an interview.
For instance, when there’s an airline mishap you can inject your knowledge of aviation law by using social media to post interesting and useful content that can instantly go viral and reach millions of people around the world.
You can author a blog post that describes the top ten things consumers should do if they or one of their families are ever in a plane accident or provide advice on ways you can protect yourself with the proper insurance. There are many ways firms can take advantage of developing news stories to promote their knowledge and expertise. All it takes is monitoring social media for the right opportunity.
A word of warning however. Make sure you are sensitive to the situation. A firm might run into trouble if it doesn’t handle the situation in a delicate and sensitive manner. Social media can help you but it can also hurt you. Be smart about the way you use real-time marketing and think through what the outcome might be.
Make sure you are providing useful and valuable content consistently. Whether you are employing a real-time marketing technique or not, it is always a best practice to publish content that is informative and helpful to your target audience. Promotional content is almost always viewed as a sales ploy and usually people will not engage with that type of content.
Note that lawyers and firms should focus on publishing content where they have significant knowledge and experience. Don’t try to inject yourself into topics and conversations that have nothing to do with your firm or your practice areas.
In addition, don’t ignore negative feedback. Respond in a courteous manner and invite the person with the negative feedback to have a private conversation if you can. Remember, social media is out in the open. People will notice how you react to negative feedback and act accordingly. It’s an opportunity to win someone over.
Real time marketing, if properly used, can pay huge dividends in your social media and legal marketing strategy. Don’t be afraid to use it, just make sure you are smart and sensitive when you do. We work with individuals and firms to create specific or broad “real-time” marketing campaigns.
Updated and republished August 11, 2017.
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