Social media platforms and search engine optimization work together to improve your law firm website rankings. However, plenty of firms make mistakes in how they handle their social media marketing efforts.
Below, we’ll explain the benefits of engaging with potential clients on social media and how to avoid the mistakes that can hurt your website rankings.
1. Use the Best Bait
Think of your social media marketing strategy a bit like casting a fishing net into the open water. When you cast your net, you hope to capture a lot of business. Your competitors are all standing close by hoping to accomplish the same thing. Now let’s pretend that your competitors are using the most attractive lures available, but you are using basic tackle.
What this means is if you are only using bare-bones social media channels, but your competitors have filled out their profiles, branded them with custom logos and images, and are creating regular posts, the fish are going to flock to them instead of you. If this sounds like you, now is the time to stop haphazardly casting your net.
2. Be Genuinely Social
Social media marketing on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or wherever else you choose only works if you are actually being social. Other than the fact that it is all online, there shouldn’t be much difference between being digitally social and social in your day to day regular activities.
For example, in real life, you may join Rotary Club to connect with other people and develop referrals. If you sit in the corner and don’t connect with anyone, you’re not going to accomplish anything. Social media platforms online are the same way. If you only sign up to use them, but don’t introduce yourself, join in on conversations, etc., you won’t achieve the results you were hoping for.
3. Don’t Fixate on Follower and Fan Numbers.
Many attorneys have the belief that social media is a bit of a numbers game. They focus on their followers and fans. In fact, some attorneys will even buy followers.
Buying followers is a waste of your money and won’t get any results. These “fans or followers” will not engage with you or your firm. Instead of focusing on the numbers, be patient and concentrate on growing these numbers organically.
Your goal should be to have an audience that is actually interested in you and will engage with you and your firm.
4. Time Your Posts Strategically (and never auto-post)
You spent the time to build up your followers and fans by posting relevant content and engaging with people. However, you don’t have the time to dedicate to sharing and posting, so you decide to turn to a convenient and cheap solution – auto-posting tools.
These applications and tools will distribute content to social media content or blogs automatically for you, but putting your profile on autopilot is not a wise decision.
If you are auto-posting you are not listening to or engaging with potential clients. The important part of successful social media is the human element of engaging with others.
Social media posts allow for different styles of posts, so if you are auto-posting the same message to different channels you are missing out on the opportunity to increase engagement with your fans and followers.
Timing is a big part of any marketing plan, and this includes the posts you are making to social media.
For example, posts on Twitter disappear the fastest depending on the number of followers you have. Your Facebook post reach depends on their newsfeed algorithm that takes into consideration how engaging and relevant your post is to your audience.
This means that the time you post your content to any social media content is highly important. Here are a few of the best and worst times to post your content to some of the most popular social media platforms:
- Facebook – The peak time for posting on Facebook is Wednesday at 3 p.m. Other good times to post are between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. Weekends are the worst time to post and 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. during weekdays is also a bad time to put your efforts into Facebook.
- Twitter – The peak days for posting on Twitter are Monday to Thursday with the best times between 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Anytime after 3 p.m. on Friday is the worst time to post on Twitter as is 8 p.m. to 9 a.m. any day.
- LinkedIn – The peak days to post to LinkedIn are Tuesday to Thursday between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. or 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The worst days to post to LinkedIn are Mondays and Fridays between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
- Instagram – The best day and time to post on Instagram is Monday at 8 p.m. Weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will get consistent engagement as well. The worst day to put your efforts on Instagram is Sunday.
5. Engage With Other Attorneys
It is common for lawyers to engage with each other through social media. Don’t shy away from this opportunity as it can be a great source of referrals.
You may interact with attorneys outside of your jurisdiction who will gladly refer a client to you that is in your area but not in their own based entirely off of the engagement they’ve had with you on social media.
6. Don’t Fight Online Battles
Social media platforms are a place where many people go to vent. As an attorney, you likely have pretty strong opinions about certain topics. After all, part of your job is persuading people to come around to your point of view.
While this may be a healthy exchange, in some social media exchanges, this could easily turn into a nasty battle between internet users who continue to provoke one another through online communication methods. Resist the temptation to try to battle it out when this happens. Stay professional and avoid such confrontations.
7. Don’t Be Too Self-Promotional
You want to be recognized for your good work and posting about an occasional award you receive is okay. However, you don’t want to perpetually brag about your accolades and accomplishments instead of being social. If you do this, you are likely to alienate your fans and followers.
8. Don’t Try to Outsmart the Social Media Marketing System
Having a targeted strategy for social media doesn’t always equal engagement with your followers. Eventually Google with catch up with those who are trying to outsmart their system to boost their online rankings.
That’s why it is important to grow your following naturally and authentically by engaging personally with your audience.
If you do this, you will never have to worry about the algorithms that Google implements trying to weed out the spammy marketing efforts.
In Conclusion
Following these suggestions and avoiding some common mistakes will help you grow your social media presence with authenticity.
At Bambiz, we work with elder law and estate planning firms and have extensive experience in developing social media marketing strategies unique to your firm, location, and potential client base.
To learn more about how we can help grow your business using online marketing, schedule a free 15-minute call with us.
