Social Media

Although Instagram is one of the most popular social media sites in the world, many legal marketers are reluctant to invest time in the platform because of its focus on consumer marketing and its youthful audience. If the past few years of marketing have taught us anything, it’s that trust and credibility can be damaged by a social media strategy that doesn’t catch on across major platforms. When looking up businesses they want to collaborate with, users frequently start their search on their preferred social media network. Consider the initial impression you would like to leave on a user who finds your social media page empty. In our yearly whitepaper, The Social Law Firm Index, we examined and ranked the top 200 law firms in America (as determined by the American Lawyer) based on how they use and adopt social media to spread thought leadership messaging. We’re looking at four law firms’ Instagram accounts in this post that are doing it successfully. Reviewing these four accounts will give you perspectives on how your law firm can update its Instagram strategy and show you what success on the platform looks like in 2023.

There are billions of social media users across the globe—so it would seem just being present on the platforms would be enough to reach new people. However, that’s not the case. Simply existing on social won’t do much for you—you need to focus on the ROI of your strategy. One of the best ways to see how you’re doing and to improve is by using social media analytics. Social media reporting will give you a leg up in producing engaging content that actually has an impact on your bottom line. Here’s what law firms need to know about using social media analytics to improve their digital strategy. What Are Social Media Analytics? Social media analytics are the data and reports based on metrics from one or multiple social media accounts. Savvy digital marketers gather and analyze this information to gain insights that are directly tied to their social media and overall marketing efforts. Here are a few of the things that proper social media analytics can help you to do: Obtain a more thorough understanding of who your target audience really is and where and how they spend their time. Figure out which social platforms are the best for your firm. Understand which types of content resonate with your audience, which can be applied to overall digital marketing activities. See which topics resonate best with your audience and which social media posts drive engagement. Learn more about what is and isn’t working in various campaigns and advertising. Create a more robust strategy that is better aligned to the goals that are important to you. Types of Social Media Analytics Reports As you can see, obtaining and studying this information has implications far beyond simply seeing which posts are most popular. However, which information should you be looking at? Here are some of the reports that we suggest generating monthly. Audience Analytics Report With this report, you can see the current number of followers for each social platform. You can also compare to a previous period so you can visualize trends over time. Published Posts Analytics Report This is simply the number of social posts published across your social accounts during a specific period. Interactions Analytics Report Here you can find the number of likes, reactions, and comments on your posts across multiple platforms. This is important for understanding engagement, especially over time. Click-through Analytics Report This number refers to how many clicks you get on any social posts published through HubSpot. Note that this is a specific HubSpot report, but you can find similar reporting in other analytics platforms. This data is helpful in understanding whether or not your content is driving action. Share Analytics Report Look at the number of posts your audience has shared if you want to gain an idea of how valuable they find your content. Impressions Analytics Report Here you can see the number of views that posts on your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram pages received. Sessions Analytics Report With this report you can see how many web sessions on your site took place within a given period driven by social media. This is really valuable in understanding how social actually drives web activity and potentially leads. New Contacts Analytics Report Another HubSpot-specific report, you can view this data to see how many new contacts have been created in HubSpot due to web sessions driven by social media within the selected period. The Best Social Media Analytics Tools Just where does one find all of that handy reporting? There are a variety of platforms available to help dig deeper into your social media activity. The truth is that finding the right tools can actually feel overwhelming because there are so many. We’ve narrowed the list down to our favorites here. HubSpot Social Media Software This platform aims to give insight into the customer journey through integrated analytics tools. They help you to better understand your overall marketing journey and how social media impacts the bottom line. Users also love the resources available, such as social media analytics report templates, free social media analytics tools, and social media courses. TweetDeck As the name implies, this tool is Twitter-specific. It works in real-time to support marketers in viewing and analyzing Twitter engagement, management, and tracking. If you are a frequent user of Twitter, this tool is worth a look. Buffer The goal of this tool is to dig deeper into how you can grow your brand on social media. The software measures your performance on various social platforms, creating detailed reports about the data that matters to you, and offering ways to improve your reach, engagement, and more. Hootsuite This popular tool allows users to create customized social media reports using over 200 metrics across social channels and campaigns. Users love that the reports are shareable and support keeping your entire team on the same page. Sprout Social With this tool, you can take a closer look at your potential clients’ needs through the conversations your audience is having on social media. You can also use it to measure your specific content and campaign efforts across various platforms and channels to determine what’s working best among audience members and what needs some work. Mention Another social listening tool, this platform allows your firm to monitor, listen, and analyze your posts and interactions with (and among) audience members via different social media channels. An Effective Social Media Analytics Strategy If these sorts of analytics have never really been part of your reporting, you might not be sure where to start. Follow this simple 5-step plan to start making the most of the social media analytics at your disposal. Create SMART Social Media Goals SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Here’s a cool template that can help you to create these SMART goals and work toward them. Start by thinking through what you really hope to learn from social media analytics, and how you will use the information. Choose Which Metrics to Track You can’t track every metric, and once you set your SMART goals, it won’t make sense to. The metrics you want will vary based on which platforms you use and what you hope to accomplish, but some examples of commonly tracked metrics are reach, engagement, mentions, social ROI, social listening, and shares. Pick the Right Social Media Analytics Tools Narrow down which tools you will invest in for these purposes. We’ve covered a few of our favorites, but by all means do your research and see which options align best with the way that your team works. Some important things to consider are whether or not you need the tool to track across multiple channels and platforms, and of course what your budget is. These two things are the main drivers for most digital marketers’ decisions on tools. Also take a close look at the goals you set, the metrics that align to them, and which tool makes it easiest to obtain that information. Start Measuring After you implement your social media analytics software, you can begin to measure the success of your efforts. Start pulling the metrics you care about, and depending on which tool you choose, you can create customized reports and dashboards or pull the specific details about data points you care most about. Additionally, on a quarterly basis, you may want to take a look at your overall goals and see whether the tool is helping you to meet them. Make Necessary Adjustments A crucial part of monitoring social media analytics is using the information that you obtain. Without this step, you’re wasting your time and investment. Take a look at how reporting has been going and whether or not you’re getting the full picture that you need. Do you have the metrics necessary to understand your performance compared to your goals? If not, adjustments need to be made and you may even need to try a different tool at some point. It’s worth noting that many marketers mix up steps 2 and 3, choosing tools before deciding which metrics need to be tracked. We strongly suggest making a list of goals and associated metrics, so that you have a robust list of requirements when shopping for an analytics tool. Only by having that information ready can you make an informed decision about which analytics platform is best for your firm over the long term. Takeaway: There are many ways that tracking and acting on your social media analytics can help you to grow and reach your audience. By paying close attention to key metrics, you’re likely to end up seeing improvements in things that are tied to your ROI, like engagement, client loyalty, and more. Choose the right analytics tool to make sure your analytics really give you valuable insights based on your particular needs. 

As firms move through the year, plans are in full swing for a strong finish in 2023. Indeed, we have counseled law firms regarding the many creative and ethical ways to market themselves—TV commercials, billboards, radio advertising, internet advertising, and of course, the seemingly endless marketing through daily social media. As attorneys, we are trained to be excellent communicators, but how does that translate when trying to effectively communicate with our target market via social media platforms? In today’s world of split second likes, loves, and replies on LinkedIn, Twitter, and others, attorneys have to be aware and deliberate about what we post to our social media. What we post and how we post it establishes our brand. Indeed, social media can prove to be a double-edged sword, being both helpful as a marketing tool and equally as harmful as an ethical pitfall. Are your social media efforts in compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct? How does your social media portray you personally? How does your social media portray you and your law firm professionally? Does your marketing meet the high expectations of our noble profession? Everything you choose to post is a building block to enhance your professional brand whether posted to your business, social media or your personal social media. When posting to your social media for your business think about what message you are sending. We recently learned of an attorney who markets himself on TikTok. This particular attorney chooses to tout himself and his abilities through videos. He weaves stories of his victories including details of case fact patterns. In and of itself, video is a wonderful way to market yourself. The problem is not that this attorney wants the world to know about his successes, the problem rests in the message. You see, this attorney brags about getting his clients lesser sentences than they deserve in criminal cases. The revealed disturbing fact patterns usually involve someone driving under the influence, causing significant physical damage to another’s property, and oftentimes involve personal injury to innocent bystanders. He can’t believe his luck at the outcomes he gets for his clients and can’t wait to share it on his social media outlets. But what message is he really sending? Is he telling the public that it is OK to break the law, cause harm to others, and then hire him to get them out of their charges with little more than a slap on the wrist? Is that really what we want the public to believe? Are these sort of messages even ethical? Is he breaching his duties of confidentiality and loyalty to his clients? What about his former clients that may not have gotten a similar stellar result? Is he opening himself up to a potential lawsuit or Bar complaint by a former disgruntled client that wonders why they did not get a similar result? Although some states have not created a policy on social media, the ABA has instituted guidelines to assist lawyers in understanding their obligations while using social media. These guidelines can be found in ABA Formal Opinion 14-480. Some of the guidelines include: Duty of Confidentiality According to Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6, online communications are governed by the duty of confidentiality even if the information is public record. If it is reasonably likely that a third party could ascertain the identity of a client from the information used in a social media post, it might be a violation of Rule 1.6. In one instance, an attorney from Illinois cited in ABA Formal Opinion 14-480 received a 60-day suspension for posting about her clients on social media without their permission. Advertising and Client Solicitation Any communication discussing a lawyer’s services through any form of media could be considered advertising according to the ABA’s rules regarding the solicitation of clients. Make sure you are familiar with these rules and proceed accordingly, as it can often be difficult to determine whether a social media post actually serves as an advertisement. Creation of an Attorney-Client Relationship Be aware of any comments and responses that you make on social media that might later indicate the establishment of an attorney-client relationship by implication or the perception of an attorney-client relationship. n using social media to market your legal services, it is important to create a strategy to follow so you can ensure that you are acting in line with your ethical obligations. Below is a helpful checklist of items to consider: Know the rules and responsibilities lawyers have on social media in your jurisdiction. Identify your goals. What do you hope to gain from your social media marketing campaign? Are you looking to build your client base? Do you want to build greater brand awareness within the legal community? Do you want to generate discussion about a particular issue or your practice area? Do your research. What are your competitors doing on their social media sites to market themselves? Does the type of marketing and message resonate with you and what you believe your client base will connect with? Consider your content. Think about how your content will be received by others. Will the content portray you in a positive, professional light? Will the content reflect on the legal profession positively? Consider whether the content shares any confidential information from a client such that you would breach an ethical duty. The ethical duties of client loyalty and client confidentiality are so fundamental to the attorney-client relationship that you must always keep them top of mind given the ease with which one can share information on social media platforms. Could someone reasonably ascertain the identity of your client from the information you intend to share on your social media platform? If so, it could be a Rule violation. Before posting content to social media, ask yourself, “Is this information I would feel comfortable announcing publicly at a State Bar related event?” In this ever-increasing world of social connectedness, make sure you are thoughtful and informed in how you proceed to market yourself and your law firm. What information you share with the world and the tone in which you share it could end up being more damaging to your law practice than helpful. Ensure your actions and words are in line with the Rules of Professional Conduct, and make sure that your communications portray you and the legal profession in a professional and positive light.

It’s never too late or early to start using LinkedIn. You have to start somewhere. I didn’t always have a strong LinkedIn network or presence. Just like everyone else, I had to start from scratch. And there was a long time where I didn’t do much on LinkedIn except for accepting connections. I dipped my toes into using LinkedIn by first building a strong profile and a wide network of connections. I made a connections plan and thought about who I could connect with from college and graduate school as well as all of my past jobs and volunteer positions. (When it comes to LinkedIn, having more connections is better to raise the likelihood that your posts will be seen.) Then I focused on my interaction on the platform, first liking, sharing, and commenting on my network’s posts. When I became more comfortable and confident, I started creating posts myself. Those included sharing articles I found that were relevant and useful to my network. I used Twitter to help me source articles by following various publications of interest to me and my connections. I thought of myself as a news aggregator, bringing important information to my network. I was able to differentiate myself by adding a few lines of text with each article explaining why it was important or insightful for someone to read. And that is such a key step to build in as part of your social strategy. You can’t just share an article without any introductory text. You get extra points if you tag an entity or a person in the post as well. And a gold star if you start to use a hashtag strategy (hashtags help your posts become more discoverable on any social platform). I reached my full LinkedIn potential when I began to create my own content, providing my network with helpful tips and insights. I paid attention to when my connections were on the platform so that they would be most likely to see my posts. I refined my content based on how well each post did. I started to use images and hashtags for each post. And most importantly, I had confidence in what I was posting. I didn’t become discouraged if a post had a low number of likes, instead I tried to learn from it and refined my content strategy based upon the performance of each post. Here’s what I did to grow my LinkedIn network and turn it into a business. If I can do it, so can you! I focused only on the social channels where my target audience was (this meant LinkedIn) I liked, commented, and shared others’ posts I started writing about my speaking engagements and created takeaway posts I turned my PowerPoint slides into social posts recapping the webinar or event I built an editorial calendar to plan future posts I shared only value-added content I created visuals for each post I made my content interactive and used video I gave away free content, tools and helpful info I looked at others for inspiration/ideas I told personal stories and injected my personality into posts I developed a hashtag strategy to enhance visibility of posts I regularly engaged with my followers—respond to each comment on your posts. It’s very helpful in terms of LinkedIn’s algorithm as well as just being a great way to interact with those who like your content. I built a strong profile and regularly updated it, using new features released by LinkedIn (such as the amazing Featured section which enables you to pin certain posts to the top of your profile I cultivated my network—adding new connections every week I checked my LinkedIn messages, and actively sent messages to connections with whom I had lost touch or who were important to me so that I was top of mind with them I recycled my greatest hits—reposting past content that did well using my editorial calendar to help me plan out content I set up a sharing “pod” with 4 LinkedIn connections I used analytics to refine my efforts I posted at least 3X a week (then increased that to 5X), and I didn’t get discouraged if no one liked my posts. I knew that the audience would come if I posted good content. The greatest thing about LinkedIn is that it’s never too late or early to start using it. You have to start somewhere. We all did. I have a lawyer client who’s in his early 60s who never used LinkedIn other than to create a profile and accept connections. He successfully started using it to bring in leads and build his brand within just 18 months of making LinkedIn part of his business development strategy. I hope this shows you that anyone can achieve success on LinkedIn and why it’s worth making LinkedIn part of your marketing strategy. Stay the course. Social media success is a long-term investment in you!