Make LinkedIn Work for You: A 3-Month LinkedIn Marketing Plan for Lawyers

With over 950 million users worldwide, LinkedIn’s social network reigns supreme for professional networking. Any lawyer who hopes to attract new clients and be known as a thought leader in their practice area can benefit from having a strong presence on LinkedIn. If you don’t know where to begin to start using the platform to grow your business – you’re in the right place. We’ll walk you through an easy 3-month plan to create a winning LinkedIn marketing strategy of your own. Lawyers can follow these steps to begin spending intentional, impactful time on the platform.

A 3-Month LinkedIn Marketing Plan for Lawyers

Many lawyers don’t start using LinkedIn because they’re not sure where to start. Since it’s so feature-rich, LinkedIn can feel overwhelming for beginners. In order to start slowly and get comfortable, try following a phased approach. Throughout this 3-month LinkedIn plan, remember to maintain a professional and authentic tone in all your interactions. LinkedIn is a platform for building relationships and trust, so your approach should reflect that. Over time, this consistent effort can help you establish yourself as a reputable legal professional, attract clients, and stay top of mind in your industry.

Month 1

Determine the specific niche you’ll focus on. 

Start by assessing your own skills, experiences, and passions. What are you truly knowledgeable and passionate about? What are your strengths and areas of expertise? Identifying your own strengths and interests can guide your niche selection. 

To effectively convey your worth, it’s essential to directly address the audience that resonates most with your message. Consider who you want to connect with on LinkedIn. Are you looking to network with professionals in a particular industry, job function, or geographical location? Understanding your target audience will help you tailor your content and engagement strategy.

When it comes to demonstrating thought leadership, LinkedIn is one of your best bets for gaining authority in your niche, with a large number of engaged executives and decision-makers serious about honing their craft and learning new things. 

Focus on your unique industry and work to become an insider that can be trusted. Whether you’ll be posting content or sending messages, all of your activities will be more effective if you narrow your activities down to a defined niche. 

Create your profile. 

On LinkedIn, you need to develop your personal brand and position yourself as the go-to lawyer in your niche. Whatever you share should lead people back to your profile, so you need to do a good job of writing it.

Consider adding career highlights to your experiences that have directly led to your current practice and business focus, and make sure everything that appears in your professional history reflects your current experience and goals. Avoid simply pasting points from your resume that focus on education and credentials only. Instead, focus on what problems you solve and how you add value.

In addition to experience, you should review your profile picture, headline, and summary. Choose a professional and clear profile photo of yourself. A headshot with a plain background works well. Craft a concise and attention-grabbing headline. This is your professional tagline and should reflect your current role and key skills. Write a compelling summary that provides an overview of your professional journey, highlighting your skills, experience, and career goals. Use keywords relevant to your industry for SEO.

In LinkedIn for Lawyers: 10 Steps to The Perfect Profile, we dive into specific tips and best practices to help you improve your LinkedIn profile and reach All-Star status

Month 2

Start building up your network. 

Once you feel your profile is optimized, begin attempting to grow your connections.

Determine your networking goals. Are you looking for job opportunities, industry insights, mentorship, or business connections? Your goals will shape your networking strategy.

In order to tap into your existing network, try syncing your email contacts and using LinkedIn’s search bar to find friends, co-workers and colleagues.

If you’re trying to connect with someone you’ve never met, simply search using the function on LinkedIn to find and filter people you might want to “meet”. Narrow down by industry, job title, geography, etc. If you come across someone you’d like to connect with or learn from, consider sending a polite, well-crafted message explaining your purpose and interest in connecting.

After connecting with a diverse range of first-degree connections, you’ll have access to a broader network of second-degree connections. You can request introductions through your mutual connections. 

Carve out time to spend on LinkedIn. 

Before you allocate time to LinkedIn, define your objectives. Are you using LinkedIn for job searching, networking, industry insights, or content sharing? Knowing your goals will help you prioritize your time. Sit down with your calendar and block off time on a regular cadence. Treating it like a scheduled appointment can help you stick to your routine. Commit to taking the time and keep the commitment if you really want to move the needle.

Engage with your connections (and theirs). 

LinkedIn users need to become comfortable on the platform and gain visibility. You start to engage by liking, commenting on, and sharing content. Spend time reviewing the home page, updates from your connections, and activity within LinkedIn groups.  When something is interesting to you, comment on it or share it for others to see. This is a great way for others to see your name – and possibly click through to your profile – as well as to potentially reciprocate once you begin sharing more content. 

Engaging with your connections on LinkedIn is a process that involves consistent effort. By actively participating in discussions, sharing knowledge, and recognizing the achievements of others, you can build and strengthen your professional network while also enhancing your own LinkedIn presence.

Month 3

Develop and share content. 

This is one of the most important aspects of a lawyer’s LinkedIn marketing plan. The best way to use LinkedIn is to become a thought leader, building a reputation and a following. To begin with, create compelling and relevant content that provides real value for your readers and future followers. Then, try these tactics:

• When you have content published on another platform such as your blog or another website, write a short summary and post it using the “LinkedIn Status Update” in your LinkedIn Profile. Remember that if someone likes or comments on your content, then it will be shared with their followers. Your goal is to earn this kind of spread. 
• On LinkedIn, posts with visual media get more engagement. You can upload Slideshare, PowerPoint, PDF files, or video content to support your posts. Keep your content concise by sharing interesting stats, key points, and quotes–instead of dense legal content.
• Add value for your audience by sharing content that you find helpful or relevant. Your content doesn’t need to be original to resonate with your audience, you can share content from reliable sources and add in your 2 cents. Ask your audience what they think about a new law or legislation. Look to start a conversation.

Engage and interact. 

The benefit of LinkedIn is that users can gradually build relationships that lead to business opportunities. One shared post or comment can turn into a business proposal. You can interact directly with people through the messaging service (in a way that respects their privacy). You can also tag relevant connections in posts and encourage your network to engage with it by asking questions, requesting feedback, or prompting discussions in the comments section. Look for opportunities to add value in discussions or by sending people digital content that they might find helpful. 

Nurture your leads offline. 

Digital platforms are great for finding and generating leads, but that can only take you so far. Once you’ve established connections, consider tactics for taking the conversations offline. 

Send them a personalized message to express your interest in connecting and propose continuing the conversation offline. Politely request their contact information, such as their email or phone number, to facilitate further communication. 

Use the contact information you’ve obtained to schedule a face-to-face meeting or a phone call. Ensure the meeting has a clear agenda and purpose, whether it’s a business discussion, a product demo, or a collaboration opportunity.

Consistent follow-up is essential. Maintain regular contact by sending helpful articles, industry updates, or invitations to relevant events. Keep the relationship warm and nurture it over time.

Takeaway

Lawyers can break down their LinkedIn marketing plan into manageable 30-day chunks. It’s a great way to keep perspective on end goals and accomplishments, set sensible priorities and much more. Just like with any marketing endeavor, not every effort will lead to success. That being said, being intentional and strategic with your LinkedIn programs is a lot more likely to lead to success than just posting a few updates sometimes. Consistency is key. Start slow and follow these steps, and then move onto more advanced efforts with LinkedIn. If you need any help developing an effective LinkedIn strategy, contact us today.