As a lawyer, you know that forming connections with potential clients is a crucial step in gaining their trust and encouraging them to hire you for legal services. Social media is the modern outlet for law firms to connect with and engage their audience. But is your law firm using social media as strategically as you could be?
At Ten Golden Rules, we know the best ways to optimize social media for law firms. We’ll transform your presence across all major platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to capitalize on this free marketing tool. We’ll also set up paid ads on social media platforms to attract new clients and retarget ones who have already shown interest.
Schedule your free internet marketing audit today to learn more about our social media marketing and management services.
Why Do Lawyers Need Social Media Marketing?
Social media for law firms offers a unique opportunity to build trust within your potential client base. But if you’re like many lawyers, you may see it as more of an optional marketing tool than an essential component of your marketing strategy.
In reality, if you’re not optimizing your social media presence, you’re probably losing out to competitors who are utilizing this tool. A well-crafted social media marketing strategy offers many benefits for your law firm:
- Branding and engagement: Social media gives you an outlet to establish your brand. Users who don’t currently need legal services will become familiar with your name and logo and remember you when they do need a legal team.
- Client acquisition: Providing valuable content and answering frequently asked questions on social media can attract and engage potential clients.
- Staying relevant: Having a strong social media presence allows you to stay relevant in a digital age where the average person spends 2.5 hours a day on social media.
- Audience interaction: Social media gives you a special outlet to interact directly with your target audience in a more casual, laid-back manner. Doing so builds trust and humanizes your law firm.
- Potential for viral content: The content on your social media platforms has the opportunity to go viral and reach the farthest corners of the web. Going viral can significantly boost your online presence, visibility, and recognition.
Best of all, organic social media marketing is free. You don’t have to pay to interact with potential and current clients on social media platforms. As a result, your social media marketing strategy has the potential to provide a huge return on investment that effectively grows your law firm.
Social Media Marketing vs. Management Services
At Ten Golden Rules, we offer comprehensive social media marketing and management services for law firms. But what is the difference between these two types of services, and which one do you need?
Social media marketing is the process of tailoring and curating your law firm’s social media accounts so that they engage prospective and current clients and promote your business. This service takes a strategic approach to your social media activity, ensuring that every post, comment, and “like” you make reflects your marketing goals.
Meanwhile, social media management is the process of overseeing and monitoring your social media accounts. This service involves less content creation and more responding to users’ queries and updating pages with relevant information.
Our marketing experts combine both of these approaches to provide full-scale social media for law firms. We’ll oversee your entire social media marketing process, from creating content to engaging with followers and everything in between.
Our Cascading Content Strategy for Lawyers
When you partner with Ten Golden Rules for social media marketing and management, we’ll work efficiently to develop content that engages your clients. One of our main strategies within social media for law firms is our cascading content strategy.
This strategy allows us to maximize your content reach and engagement across various social media platforms. It follows this basic process:
- Create videos: We’re passionate about the power of video FAQs for lawyers. We’ll help you film a series of videos where you answer questions your law firm commonly receives. These questions can range from common legal questions to more specific queries that your followers and potential clients may be wondering.
- Optimize videos for YouTube: Next, we’ll prepare to post these videos on YouTube over a span of several weeks or months. Optimizing videos for YouTube includes using relevant keywords, descriptions, and tags to ensure that they are discoverable on the platform.
- Disperse videos across social media: We’ll then share the same video content across all relevant social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Google Business Profile posts.
The trick is to optimize the videos for the type of platform you’re posting on. For example, Facebook supports both horizontal and vertical videos, while Instagram Reels and TikTok require videos to be vertical. And while potential lawyers may be interested in watching a long-form video on your YouTube channel, they may want shorter snippets of that content on TikTok or Facebook.
Benefits of the Cascading Content Strategy
This cascading content strategy applies to all types of content — not just videos. It offers a wide range of benefits for your social media strategy, including:
- Consistency: This strategy makes it easier to post consistent content across all social media platforms. Consistency is one of the key elements of fostering engagement on social media; you want your law firm to stay top-of-mind and top-of-feed for your target audience.
- Content value: The cascading content strategy also maximizes the value of your social media content. Repurposing and resharing one video across several platforms allows us to gain more interactions and engagement with each video we create.
- Reputation: Answering commonly asked questions in videos or other types of posts positions your law firm as an expert in your field. Your followers will know to come to you when they need legal assistance, and they will trust that you will be able to address their needs.
Of course, we’ll also produce content unique to each platform. We’re well-versed in the complexities that make up each form of social media for law firms, and we use that information to develop custom content targeted at the audience and algorithms of each one.
TikTok Advertising for Lawyers
TikTok is a hugely popular social media platform that your law firm can use to expand your audience and attract new clients. Consider these statistics:
- TikTok has 150 million active monthly users in the U.S.
- Around 31% of TikTok’s audience is between 25 and 34 years old — showing that it’s not just for Gen Zers.
- TikTok has a potential ad reach of 945.2 million users who are 18 and older.
- 92% of TikTok users were inspired to take action after watching a video.
TikTok offers enormous potential for your law firm’s social media marketing strategy. And at Ten Golden Rules, we’re experts in TikTok advertising for law firms. We’ll help you capitalize on TikTok’s most effective trends and make the most of this popular social media platform to promote your law firm.
Top TikTok Marketing Strategies
TikTok has evolved significantly from its origins as a singing and dancing platform. Today, it’s a comprehensive social network suitable for businesses — including law firms. The platform has several highly popular lawyer accounts, such as Law by Mike, Hugo Lord, and Julio Ahante.
At Ten Golden Rules, we’ve spent years homing in on the top strategies to market law firms with TikTok. We’ve found that all of the following are important to an effective TikTok marketing strategy:
Video Length
TikTok originally only accepted videos that were up to 15 seconds in length. Now, videos can be as long as 10 minutes. But this doesn’t mean you should be posting 10-minute videos to your page frequently.
Shorter videos keep users engaged and are applicable to all of the short-form video content platforms, including Instagram, Facebook Reels, and YouTube Shorts, making them more versatile.
Posting Frequency
We typically recommend that law firms post at least one TikTok video per day. The goal is for one of your videos to go viral, reaching people outside your local area or target audience and boosting your law firm’s brand recognition. The more you post, the better your chances of going viral will be.
It’s important to note that TikTok videos don’t need to be perfect. With this platform, you should focus more on publishing content regularly than on producing cinema-worthy videos. Most users shoot videos on their smartphones and add very few edits before posting them.
Engagement Levels
TikTok’s algorithm favors videos that receive high engagement, including likes, comments, and saves. Encourage viewers to interact with your videos by asking questions or inviting discussion. If your videos provide valuable information that viewers want to remember, they’ll be more apt to save them for future reference.
We’ll help you create several short TikToks out of your longer YouTube videos that provide value to viewers and make them want to continue engaging with your TikTok page.
Trends & Music
TikTok trends gain traction quickly and die just as quickly. Paying attention to trends and utilizing them in your videos — while those trends are still popular — could increase engagement and view counts.
TikTok uses “sounds,” which are audio clips that creators can use in the backgrounds of their videos. Trends often center around popular sounds, as users create a unique take on an audio clip that is currently circulating.
Along with using popular sounds, you should also utilize relevant hashtags when posting videos to TikTok. Along with using hashtags that relate to your video content, like “#legaladvice” or “#lawfirm,” incorporate popular hashtags that may not directly relate to your video but that will allow it to reach more people.
By building your TikTok content around these trends, you can increase your chances of going viral and attract more potential clients to your law firm.
Expertise
As a lawyer on TikTok, you have something that the vast majority of creators don’t have — legal expertise. Sharing tips, tricks, and insights from a legal perspective can allow your account to stand out and reach more viewers. You can also create videos commenting on current events and sharing insights that the average user wouldn’t know.
Captions
All of your TikTok videos should include captions to be ADA-compliant and reach more users. Including captions allows users to watch your videos even if they have their audio off, further increasing your view count.
Paid Advertising on TikTok
While TikTok is a great place to engage with users organically, it also has an effective paid advertising model that your law firm can consider utilizing as well. TikTok’s advertising program is unique in that it allows you to advertise other people’s content. If someone makes a video referencing your law firm, for example, you can “boost” that post.
You can also create your own advertisements to share on TikTok. The platform uses an intelligent algorithm to determine who will see your paid content. While platforms like Facebook and YouTube base content distribution on engagement, TikTok looks at more advanced factors like facial recognition and its interpretation of the elements in videos.
If you’re interested in paid advertising on TikTok, our experts in social media for law firms can help you develop a strong ad strategy that provides an excellent ROI.
Using LinkedIn to Market Your Practice
LinkedIn is another social media platform that your law firm should be using to market your practice. LinkedIn is an extremely powerful platform for professionals — especially those in the legal industry.
It offers an excellent opportunity for you to engage potential clients along with other local business owners in your area, building your brand recognition and network. But this platform is especially valuable for B2B law firms, as it’s one of the largest professional networks on the internet.
When you work with Ten Golden Rules for social media marketing, we’ll craft a robust LinkedIn advertising strategy that reaches the most prospective clients and partners. Your campaign may include creating a personal LinkedIn profile and a company page for your law firm as a whole.
We’ve developed five powerful LinkedIn strategies that we will implement for you:
#1: Profile Optimization
Having a complete, accurate, and professional LinkedIn profile is the first step in using this platform strategically. Your personal LinkedIn profile should include these elements at a minimum:
- A professional headshot
- An engaging headline
- A detailed summary that shares your experience and story
We’ll also help you optimize your profile by including SEO keywords that relate to your legal services. This will help people who need legal assistance find your LinkedIn page.
#2: Engagement
Interacting with other users frequently can also help optimize your LinkedIn profile. Regularly liking and commenting on other users’ posts shows the LinkedIn algorithm that you are an active user whose profile is worth showing in suggestions and search results.
Even taking a few minutes each day to scan your homepage and engage with a few posts can significantly improve your visibility.
#3: Consistent Posting
Like with other social media platforms, consistently posting on LinkedIn is important to your engagement and visibility. We’ll create articles, videos, and infographics that invite users to engage with your profile and build trust among your target audience.
LinkedIn content looks a little different from TikTok content. Because LinkedIn is mainly a network for professionals, you can dive deeper into legal complexities than you would in a simple TikTok video.
Your content should also be relevant to your audience; if your followers mainly consist of other local business owners, making posts about your local area can boost engagement.
#4: Building Connections
While your main goal of using LinkedIn may be to connect with your target audience of prospective legal clients, those aren’t the only people who should be in your social network. You should also expand your network of friends and connections to include colleagues, classmates, and other attorneys in your area.
Having a wide range of connections who align with your professional goals can help you build a stronger brand image and reputation on LinkedIn.
#5: Use of Rich Media and Video
Rich media includes content with videos, audio, or other elements that motivate viewers to interact. Incorporating rich media into your LinkedIn posts can increase your engagement and build authority in your network.
LinkedIn has several built-in tools, like LinkedIn stories and native video uploads, that its algorithm prefers over external links. Incorporating these native tools into your LinkedIn strategy can allow us to make even better use of this platform to connect with prospective clients.
Avoiding the Potential Pitfalls of Social Media
Social media can be a double-edged sword. While it has immense potential to attract new clients to your law firm and build your brand image and reputation, it also has some risks you need to be aware of. If you plan to post any content to your social media pages yourself, or allow your staff to post for you, understand how to avoid potential pitfalls.
Time All Posts Strategically
Many social media platforms allow you to pre-schedule posts. While doing so may save you time, it could unintentionally cause you to post something that comes off as insensitive or inappropriate. Posting something cheerful during sensitive times could come across as tone-deaf, even if you didn’t mean to.
If you do plan to schedule posts, be sure to double-check each post before publishing it to your platform.
Respond to Comments and Engage
Engaging with your audience isn’t just a good way to attract new clients — it also affects your reputation on social media. Not responding to comments could make your law firm appear unresponsive or callous.
That’s why frequent monitoring of your social media posts is crucial to your overall strategy. You don’t want to leave any questions or comments unaddressed.
Responding to questions is also a reliable way to turn leads into prospects, as the people commenting could be looking for legal assistance.
Avoid Arguing in a Public Forum
As a lawyer, you may have a bit of an argumentative streak. Your followers may occasionally leave comments on your social media posts that you disagree with, and you may be tempted to argue with them. But doing so could paint your law firm in a bad light and create negative publicity.
If you feel the need to respond to a negative comment or review, consider doing so privately. Think about your goals for the interaction and whether replying to the user would actually achieve any of them. Sometimes it’s better to take the high road and avoid engaging with these users.
Monitor Social Media Closely
Monitoring your social media pages is an important component of reputation management, which is the practice of understanding and overseeing what people are saying about you online.
Failing to monitor your social media profiles could lead you to miss an important comment that someone has made about your law firm. You could also miss an opportunity for engagement.
Be Careful Letting Your Staff Post For You
All ideas and sentiments that you post on your social media pages should accurately and professionally reflect your law firm. As a result, you need to be careful about who you let post on these pages.
While you may think that allowing an intern to respond to comments will be harmless, only one wrong message could be the catalyst that leads to negative publicity. Cancel culture is huge in the age of social media, and you must ensure that every communication that comes from your account is accurate and respectful.
When you work with Ten Golden Rules for social media marketing and management, we’ll take time to deeply understand your law firm’s values, goals, and branding, and only create posts that align with those tenets.
Build a Masterful Social Media Strategy With Ten Golden Rules
Social media marketing unlocks a world of opportunities to connect with past, current, and potential clients and to build a solid brand image that improves your reputation and promotes your legal practice. If you’re ready to begin taking advantage of this powerful marketing outlet, Ten Golden Rules is your qualified partner.
We have extensive experience marketing law firms across a wide range of channels and strategies. Our team understands the unique challenges that come with law firm communications, and we take special care to ensure that all social media posts, comments, and interactions accurately and positively reflect your brand.
We’d be happy to create posts for your social media platforms, completely manage your entire social media presence, or provide custom services according to your unique needs. Schedule your free call today to discuss how Ten Golden Rules can grow your practice with social media for law firms.