Think about this: a business in 2023 doesn’t have any type of online presence. Does that business seem credible to you?
Of course not.
Every business, no matter the industry, has some type of social media presence. E-commerce businesses. Tech companies. Hairstylists. Nail technicians.
So why can’t lawyers have a strong social media presence?
If you’re a lawyer looking to get into social media marketing, congratulations! This blog post is a quick little guide that can help make it easier for you.
The Basics of Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is the advertising of products or services through different social media platforms.
Some of the common social media platforms used for these purposes are:
- YouTube.
You’ll probably come across an example of social media marketing after reading this blog post. It’s common for many businesses to use their social media platforms to promote their business or brand.
But just like everything else, the legal industry is slow to embrace social media marketing. Why? Well, here are a few reasons.
Common Misconceptions About Social Media Marketing
Some lawyers are hesitant about using social media marketing for the following reasons:
It Seems Unprofessional
Lawyers may have mixed views about social media marketing.
Some may not have personal pages of their own, so they don’t see the benefits of creating one for their law firm.
Some may want to respect their clients’ privacy and avoid sharing confidential information on their social media pages.
Some may want to maintain a professional brand and avoid being seen in a negative light.
It Can Be Time-Consuming
Again, some lawyers may not even have one social media profile.
Trying to maintain two or three platforms for a law firm can seem time-consuming. And lawyers need to keep up with the constant updates to their clients’ cases.
Social Media Marketing is Spontaneous
To some people, social media marketing seems like a piece of cake.
After all, you just post pictures of yourself and flood it with several hashtags, right?
If that’s not bad enough, some people believe that all social media platforms are the same. So you can get away with sharing the same post on different platforms.
You Don’t Need A Strategy For Social Media Marketing
Lawyers understand the importance of preparation and strategy. Yet, they don’t apply the same preparation or strategy for social media marketing.
Contrary to popular belief, social media marketing is not as spur-of-the moment as some people believe.
Just like other types of marketing, there must be a thought process behind it. It must align with your law firm’s brand.
Fortunately, there are some practical steps that you can take to avoid falling prey to these misconceptions.
How Lawyers Can Take Advantage of Social Media Marketing
For lawyers looking to get started with social media marketing, start with the following steps:
Be Genuine
The worst thing you want to do is just post on social media just to post.
Start with your law firm’s brand. What does your law firm stand for? What are your practice areas?
What are some interesting things happening in the news that you can relate to your law firm?
I’ve written for some law firms in Los Angeles that specialized in sensitive areas like sexual assault and sexual abuse. Those law firms would ask me to write blog posts related to sexual assault cases done by certain celebrities and sexual assault cases happening in schools.
The more your social media posts are connected to your brand, the more genuine it will come across to your followers.
Define Your Target Audience
After your brand has been established, the next step you want to take is to identify your target audience.
You may think that this is easy because your target audience is everybody! But that’s not the case. At all.
The more defined your audience, the more likely they will be able to find you for your legal services. So how do you define your target audience?
You can start with superficial statistics like age or gender. For example, if you’re a divorce attorney, who are you most likely to market your services to? Married couples who may be having marital problems.
Or you can use different types of client-related data. For example, if you’re an attorney who specializes in car accidents, you could market yourself to young men between the ages of 18 to 25.
Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy
Next, you want to create a social media marketing strategy.
This is what makes social media marketing so much fun. You get to design your social media marketing strategy from scratch.
What are some of the things that you can include in your strategy?
- The social media platforms you want to use.
- The hashtags you want to include in your posts.
- The pictures you want to use.
- The messages you want to post about.
- The number of posts that you want to include on your platforms.
The more thought out your social media marketing strategy, the easier it will be for you to maintain on a consistent basis.
And speaking of consistency, the last step can also help make maintaining your social media content easier.
Schedule Social Media Posts
After establishing your brand, target audience, and marketing strategy, you want to create a consistent schedule for your social media posts.
If you plan on using several social media platforms, this is a very important step for you. Scheduling your social media posts can make it easier for you to keep track of your content and their results.
And just like your marketing strategy, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to your scheduling.
You may notice a spike in your social media profiles during a certain time of the day. You can decide to schedule your content for that specific time period.
Or you can schedule your social media posts around the times of the day where you can manage your social media platforms.
It’s all about what’s most convenient for you.
Final Thoughts
Your legal career and social media marketing can go hand in hand.
But it all depends on how you view social media marketing. Do you see it as something forbidden that you should avoid?
Or do you see it as something that can take your legal career to the next level?
Share your thoughts about social media marketing in the comments section below.
Valeria Publications 
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