Paid Social for Law Firms: A Comparison of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

If your law firm has been doing any kind of advertising online, you’ve almost certainly purchased advertising on at least one, if not more, of the major social networks. They can all be extremely effective in reaching your audience and attracting new leads, but they do all have their own unique advantages and disadvantages too.

Following is a comparison of what have been the three top social networking platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We’ll take a look at the cost involved as well as the pros and cons each platform presents to your law firm.

Facebook Ads

Facebook has an average cost per click ranging from about $.20 up to $2.00. With high competition, bidding can go much higher, but these are the prices you’re likely to find in general.

Overall, Facebook’s major plus is the ability to laser target advertising to your exact audience. The biggest drawback is that sometimes their algorithms can seem a bit random and make it difficult to get a new campaign running successfully.

Facebook Ads Pros:

• Huge potential audience with billions of monthly users
• Reasonable cost per click
• Audience targeting options are unmatched in the industry
• Accurate tracking and testing options
• Likes and/or shares can increase reach organically

Facebook Ads Cons:

• Bad results are likely if unsure of your target audience
• Targeting flexibility can lead to complex options and a learning curve
• Ads must be monitored for inappropriate/unwanted comments

RELATED: Facebook Advertising for Law Firms: How to Develop Custom Audiences

Twitter Ads

Placing an ad on Twitter will generally cost your law firm between $1.00 and $2.00 per click.

The biggest advantage to Twitter is probably the sheer speed at which the network runs. If you want to test an ad to see how it performs, you will see results almost immediately. On the other side of the coin, lack of targeting options mean that a special kind of know-how is sometimes needed to get good results.

Twitter Ads Pros:

• Very quick and easy setup
• High network speed shows results immediately
• Easy targeting based on hashtags and conversation topics
• Retweets and engagement can increase organic reach

Twitter Ads Cons:

• Targeting is limited compared to other platforms
• New ads sometimes slow to be approved
• Limited options for optimizing ads
• Audience tends to be picky and have short attention span

LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn can get a bit expensive, with the average cost per click ranging anywhere from about $3.00 up to $12.00.

LinkedIn’s biggest advantage is the ability to reach professionals. If you’re in a B2B field, you’ll be able to get messages in front of the decision makers at companies all over the world. The network’s biggest disadvantage is probably a combination of the high cost coupled with limited options compared to Facebook.

LinkedIn Ads Pros:

• Excellent targeting for B2B
• Target based on job titles and employers
• Easy to set up ad campaigns
• Audience can be narrowed to very specific groups

LinkIn Ads Cons:

• No ability to target based on interests
• High cost per click compared to other networks
• Generally smaller audience than other networks
• Reporting options are somewhat lacking

RELATED: How to Get Started With LinkedIn Account Targeting

The Right Choice For Your Law Firm

The right choice for you is most likely going to be a combination of the three. Obviously, you should prioritize whichever works best for you, but depending on the area of law you’re involved in, it could be any of the three.

Remember, though, it’s important to look beyond just the cost of advertising and keep an eye on how much it’s costing you to bring in leads. It’s entirely possible that LinkedIn, with it’s high cost per click, might bring you more leads for less money than Facebook, for example. Test the waters and see what works best for you and your firm.