Twitter Best Practices for Lawyers: How to Enhance Engagement

There are currently 328 million users active on Twitter, however most of those users are not lawyers. Part of the reason most lawyers are not on Twitter is that most lawyers do not understand the benefits of being active on Twitter.

Twitter Best Practices for Lawyers

Although this platform can sometimes seem like the wild west with heated discussions over politics and other topics, Twitter can also prove to be a catalyst for starting conversation 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. The one caveat here is that with only 140 characters to convey your message and make a connection, you will need a little know how on the best way to get your message out there and be HEARD.

Below are a few tips and tools to help you tweet like a pro:

Best practices to help you create Tweets that spark conversations and keep your audience engaged.

• Keep it short. A concise Tweet makes an impact. … (only 140 characters)
• Use visuals in your Tweets. …
• Incorporate relevant hashtags. …
• Ask questions and run polls. …
• Curate content and connect with influencers by retweets and mentions.

Follow the rule of thirds

• 1/3 of the time: Share relevant or educational information
• 1/3 of the time: Engage with others (replying, re-tweeting or mentioning)
• 1/3 of the time: Take the time to read and discover influencers and relevant content.

Other Tips

• Your Twitter bio should include a  brief description of what you do, include a hashtag (ex. #disabilityinsurancelaw) and be sure to include a link to your blog or website
• @Replies or Mentions: when you start a tweet with @USERNAME only people who are following both you and the @username will see your tweet. If you want more people to see it, just put a period in front of the username.
• #HASHTAGS: By using #hashtags you’re exposing yourself to a wider audience. Many people follow conversation using various hashtags, but might not be following you.
• Retweet (RT): There are two ways to retweet, manually or through Twitter’s native RT function. Quote Tweet – shows the original Tweet in a box and you could a comment to the top. Retweet shows in your feed as is.
• Shortening Link: Twitter now auto-shortens your links but if you want to track analytics you could use Bit.ly, Buffer or Hootsuite. Check out a blog post we wrote on these tools.
• Twitter Lists: A list is a curated group of Twitter users that enables you to view Tweets from a select group of users. This allows you to sort through all the noise and hone in on specific accounts such as influencers or competitors.
• Repurpose content: Use old content to create a string of tweets that can stand on their own.

These simple tips and twitter best practices for lawyers will help lawyers to raise their online profile and connect with influencers, clients and prospects. Twitter may seem difficult to master but starting slow and being consistent will enable lawyers to maximize their online business development efforts.

Do you need help with your social media efforts? We can help. Contact us today and learn how to effectively use social media to grow your practice and generate more leads.