White & Case Earns Top LinkedIn Ranking in the 2018 Social Law Firm Index

The 2018 Social Law Firm Index takes a comprehensive look at the top 200 law firms in the country (as ranked by The American Lawyer) and analyzes, measures, and ranks each firm’s reach and engagement across a variety of social media channels and content platforms.

LinkedIn continues to dominate as Big Law’s preferred social channel. Seventy-five percent of law firms find LinkedIn to be the most valuable platform for marketing and business development efforts. Top law firms in this category post non-promotional, original content often and many use multimedia content in the form of videos or infographics to keep their feeds engaging. Some law firms still struggle to use this platform in an educational and informative way with more of an emphasis on firm announcements and achievements rather than thought leadership.

White & Case has greatly improved their LinkedIn presence in the past year, as they have moved up 47 positions in our annual ranking.

“Our No. 1 ranking thrills us. We have been working hard to build our client and employer brand by growing and developing our LinkedIn presence,” says White & Case CMO Michael Hertz.

“LinkedIn supports our overall digital strategy by helping us make powerful connections between our people, our thinking, and our clients in a way that supports our position as a global elite law firm. Obviously, developing interesting, impactful content is also a key part of our digital communications,” says Hertz.

The firm also takes advantage of LinkedIn Elevate, the platform’s proprietary employee advocacy tool. White & Case utilizes this tool to empower their lawyers to engage with their networks more regularly by sharing relevant, approved content on issues that matter to them. Another tool they take advantage of is paid advertising. Hertz says, “We use paid advertising to build our reputation in areas of strategic priority for the firm. LinkedIn advertising is very useful in that it enables us to target our audiences with content relevant to them, based on their role or industry.”

One of the most noteworthy aspects of White & Case’s LinkedIn page was their use of engaging multimedia. This year, as we placed a higher emphasis on content quality and engagement, the firm’s use of video stood out. Hertz explains the firm’s philosophy: “Video is increasingly important across all major social networks, and we know that native videos get higher visibility and engagement than any other posts. This is a good reason to use video on social when we have something that we really want to get in front of our audience.”

White & Case also uses animation in a similar way, when they’re announcing news such as awards or important milestones. Hertz believes that using video or animation makes it more interesting to the user and helps to bring the firm’s message across in a more engaging way.

“Overall, we see an uptick in the readership of our content—due in large part to the use of Elevate, advertising, and the use of video and animation,” says Hertz.

For complete rankings, case studies, and legal marketing insights, download your copy of The 2018 Social Law Firm Index.