When it comes to digital marketing and online presence, think like your client, not your colleague. Think of yourself as a person for a moment, rather than a lawyer. What would you want to read? What would attract you? Gyi Tsakalakis of AttorneySync.com says it’s the boring content that you assume will be of interest that usually fails to attract any attention. Instead, try posting content that connects with people on a human level.
Too many law firms misuse tools like Twitter by spamming their followers with internal updates that they believe will be of interest. While these updates are necessary, for the most part you should be thinking about posting content that is client-centric. In light of this, we’ve come up with a list of tips to help you reconnect with your audience and catch their attention.
Keep your finger on the pulse.
Open your eyes to current news stories that would be of interest to your clients. Do you practice in a specific area of law? What are the emerging issues or changes in this area? Use these news stories and share them with your own twist. This is a process known as ‘news jacking’. When you find a news story you believe your followers will be likely to care about, take some time to produce your own blog or summary of this piece of news providing your own opinion. News jacking allows you to present yourself as a human rather than a retweet-robot, copying and pasting the headlines without thought. Another benefit of this is staying current and relevant to your followers, who will begin to see you as the source of information, thus creating a new form of connection.
Create a personality.
Your online presence is part of your brand and the image that you give off to the public. It may not seem important, but it could well be the cherry on top that sways someone to choose your competitor over you. This is something that is easily done by companies as Wrigley Company, who's Skittles Twitter page is bursting with the unique personality they have created and maintained. But Skittles are a fun confectionery treat. We can all appreciate that selling legal services is a lot harder when it comes to creating an online personality that stands out. The solution is to find a middle ground between professional and relatable – a place where you will be taken seriously as a firm because of your understanding of people. Using humour in the right places will make you memorable and approachable.
Use social networks... to network.
By now you should know that chatting over social media isn’t just something that teenagers do after school. In fact, when you post anything from a blog to a tweet, you hope that someone interacts with you in response. (If your content sparks no conversations, repeat steps 1 and 2.) It goes without saying that if you contact someone and hear nothing back, you’ll be less likely to try again in the future. So when it comes to interacting online, take every opportunity to connect and converse with others. Often you’ll find that the more you do this, the more you will be included in others posts on a general level, as they’ll begin to view your opinion as valuable.
Share your knowledge.
If the case is that you are practicing in a certain area, use your knowledge to advise and help your readers. For example, if you are in employment law, why not write a blog about knowing your rights as an employee? I know what you’re thinking – giving away free legal advice? The very thing you’re trying to sell? Think of it like a free sample. A taster of the knowledge you have. It gives others reason to believe in you as a firm, as you have already demonstrated your expertise in a certain field. It’s all about developing trust, and what better way to build it than by proving to be a helpful business? Whether they call you immediately for further help or keep you in mind for the future, you have established yourself as useful in their eyes.
Show, don't tell.
This is the one piece of advice that can be used across all forms of writing, but rings true with legal marketing too. Perhaps you too are guilty of posting self-promotional content that states how helpful you are towards your clients, but how can you be sure that your audience will just take your word? And consider this: since all law firms - big or small, successful or not - will state that they are helpful, why would these people believe you over them? You have to stand out from the crowd by demonstrating your ability, not endlessly trying to persuade others with overused phrases.
If you follow these steps and nothing changes, there’s one more thing you could try.