The Complete Guide to Using Twitter for Law Firms

When used appropriately, Twitter can prove to be a catalyst for starting conversations with others in your areas of practice, sharing and cultivating useful information, and reading up on hot topics such as new court rulings and regulations. Twitter can also be a valuable source for building trust and engagement with existing or potential clients. However, Twitter requires a significant amount of time and resources in order to achieve success and generate a meaningful return on investment. Below are several tips for how your law firm can use Twitter to build its community and connect with influencers, clients, and prospects.

1. Choose a username that fits your firm.

This one is pretty simple! Make sure your @name aligns with your firm’s name so that it is recognizable and easy to find. 

2. Create an effective profile.

In addition to the 160 character description available, you can use Twitter’s custom profile background to add more information. Write a brief but descriptive summary and include relevant keywords and hashtags. 

3. Make sure you’re following industry leaders.

If you want to be an industry leader, you need to understand who the leaders are! Do your research on the top people in your industry and follow them. They might follow you back. Even if they don’t, you’ll be able to gain relevant insights and get an idea of what encourages people to follow. 

3. Check out who your favorite people are following.

The easiest way to gain followers on Twitter is to follow other people. Not everyone will follow you back, but many will, and that is the key. By repeating the following process regularly, you can consistently grow the size of your audience with targeted, interested followers.

4. Get personal and engage with your audience.

Twitter allows you to interact with your readers which can be very beneficial. Don’t just write about your business. Talk about your attorneys and things going on with your office. Try to get people to pay attention and respond. 

5. Don’t automate.

Well, don’t only automate. It’s important not to automate all of your Twitter activity. Post content at regular intervals, and stay present to actually engage with your audience. Take time to read others tweets and see what people are responding to. For example, if you post any new blog post to Twitter, don’t leverage automation to do so. Post with a personal comment and respond to any commentary. 

6. Ensure your profile isn’t private.

Keeping your profile private will seriously inhibit your firm’s exposure. This will also help your social media managers to keep in mind your audience when posting content. 

7. Repurpose content into tweets.

You can do some creative things on Twitter using already created content or content developed for distribution elsewhere. For example, a recently published client alert or eBook could be broken down into individual pieces of guidance posted over time to promote the alert. 

8. Don’t be overly promotional.

Twitter isn’t for selling. It’s meant to be a platform for engagement, connection, and information sharing. Seek to inform and engage your target audience and give them reasons to want to learn more. 

9. Be careful of going overboard on hashtags.

To get the content you share in front of as many eyes as possible—and hopefully attract new followers—make use of hashtags. Hashtags help you to categorize and call out your tweets, making them easier to discover by other Twitter users. However, you don’t want to overdo it. Each tweet you send out should contain one or two hashtags. Having too many hashtags can be distracting and off-putting to potential followers. There are many tools available on the internet that you can use to search for hashtags. See: How to Develop a Hashtag Strategy for Your Law Firm.

10. Include visuals.

Rich media such as photos and videos can help you better communicate your intended message and drive engagement. Twitter’s own research shows that tweets with photos generate 313% more engagement. The Twitter feed moves fast, and everything you can do to stand out will help you have success on the platform. 

Takeaway

Twitter averages 330 million monthly users, sending around 500 million tweets daily, which makes it a great social media channel for law firms looking to raise awareness of their services and enhance their thought leadership position. Law firms can raise their Twitter profile and connect with more potential clients when they focus on creating and curating quality content, gaining and managing followers, utilizing hashtags, and engaging with their target audience. 

Twitter may seem difficult to master at first, but starting slow and being consistent will enable your firm to maximize its online business development efforts. If your firm does not have the bandwidth to manage its Twitter or other social media profiles, reach out to us for help. We can work with you to develop a creative and engaging social media strategy that aligns with your overarching business strategy and enables you to attract more clients for your law firm.