Just months ago the Law Society of Scotland published its social media guidelines for the legal profession. As we wrote at the time, the document missed the opportunity to outline the advantages for the legal sector if firms align their use of social media to their business objectives. Now new evidence has emerged pointing to law practices’ reluctant adoption of social media. (more…)
There is some evidence of a shift in online legal marketing from the firm to the individual lawyer, driven by the increasing adoption of social media. Placing lawyers centre stage is a departure for most legal practices, who have traditionally opted for the easier and safer option of promoting the firm brand.
A couple of good articles on the topic we recently came across make a case for the adoption of individual lawyer marketing techniques, executed through the use of social media tools. (more…)
I read a thought-provoking piece last week in the Law Society Gazette LinkedIn Group from Beth King, a UK personal injury lawyer. It was in response to a call from another LinkedIn group member for good ideas for tough times in the legal profession. Beth’s idea was to redirect marketing budgets allocating them to subsidise the first hour of legal work. This proposition was based on her belief that if more people could access the problem-solving skills of the experienced lawyer at a very low cost, they would take up their services at the full rate more readily.
The market for personal injury law is unlike most other service lines in law firms. In the face of increasing deregulation it is being driven towards a more American-style of business development. (more…)
There’s a debate currently raging in a number of LinkedIn legal marketing groups about the value of search engine optimisation for law firms. While some group members believe a website not optimised for the search engines means fewer prospective clients, others insist that SEO is over-rated, especially in the conservative realm of law practices which traditionally rely on word-of-mouth recommendations as the tried-and-true route to winning new clients.
Those who are quick to dismiss SEO should note that in 2011 alone the UK marketplace for SEO grew by 18% to a value of £514 million, according to Econsultancy’s SEO Agencies Buyer’s Guide 2012. This upward trend in UK adoption of search engine optimisation practices indicates a rising need for optimised web content that has the potential to increase the visibility of a corporate website. (more…)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is a law practice with 23 offices, approximately 1,800 attorneys and more than 40 areas of practice. The Facebook Business Page the company created a mere two months ago has already attracted 874 ‘likes’ (and counting), which goes to show that the popular belief that law firms cannot benefit from a Facebook presence may not be true – at least not in all cases.
The legal company has placed the focus on the personal as a way of building trust – the Facebook Page cover features a collage made up of the individual faces behind the firm. Its Facebook account managers post pictures from various team building activities, links to interviews with/articles about its partners published in reputable media outlets, and news stories related to company achievements.
Even if it doesn’t directly contribute to winning new clients, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP’s approach to Facebook can certainly be instrumental in increasing the firm’s online reach and building its reputation as a trusted law practice. (more…)
In the changing UK legal landscape (think ABS) and with the majority of people looking for law services beginning their journey online, word-of-mouth referrals could soon be eclipsed by inbound marketing as a digitally focused strategy for winning new business. A holistic approach to your online activities and using the combined brain power of your team (say goodbye to silos!) will give you better web visitor, social reach, prospect engagement and client retainer rates. (more…)
“We are the Number 1 legal practice…” We’ve lost count of the times that we’ve seen this statement “grace” the pages of a professional service website. Yes, that might well be the case but in the digital age such a proclamation carries little weight unless it is backed up by examples, client testimonials and content that proves your credibility. If the services a law firm offers are really so outstanding, then surely there are ways to showcase that online.
While this sounds like a no-brainer, you still see some law firm websites looking more like an online brochure than a digital hub – promotional, exclusively self-referential, relying on broadcast messages and reminiscent of the web relics that were around in the mid-1990s. (more…)
“Proper consideration of the business purposes and strategy for use of social media can assist in creating a plan to ensure that social media use is effective and efficient.”
This is an excerpt from “Social Media – Advice and Information for the Legal Profession” published last week by the Law Society of Scotland. It focuses on legal firms’ use of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, covering areas such as the development of a social media policy, the data and legal implications, risk, and ethical and security considerations. However, the most interesting part is the missed opportunity to outline the advantages for the legal profession if they align their use of social media to their business objectives.
Law firms need to be aware of risks and pitfalls but they should also be cognisant of the change in their clients’ buying behaviour and the need to maximise the kind of online engagement enabled by social media. (more…)
