Social media provides an invaluable platform for collaboration. Over the last 6-years, I’ve gained tremendous insight by listening to and interacting with online conversations. Most importantly, no platform has allowed me to do this more effectively than my blog and Twitter. I’m loving that it is constantly evolving and that we have to figure it out as we go along. I’m also very appreciative of the early social media innovators and their continued influence and support within our space.
My interest in social media is from a communications, marketing, new business perspective. I saw the potential for social media early on and I continue to encourage my audience of small-to mid-size legal firms, to get involved.
I already wrote about social media’s impact upon the legal industry
A Legal Marketing Revolution Is At Hand
I also believe that social is having a great impact on advertising and marketing. The traditional venues of print, direct mail, radio and broadcast are not going to go away. If you don’t believe me and people like Chris Brogin or Seth Godin, you should also be reading Kevin O’Keefe’s Blog,
http://kevin.lexblog.com/
It’s going to take a leap of faith, but law firms have much to gain from testing the social media marketing medium…
How?
We have all had to face the challenges of clients not wanting to spend the time and money for the kind of qualitative and quantitative research that is often necessary for advertising and marketing campaigns to be successful. Measurement has also been a problem.
I see that as one of the primary benefits of social media. It is not what a law firm’s brand means to the firm or to you, it’s what it means to the consumer, to your perspective clients. Perhaps one of the reasons so many legal firms have difficulty with their branding is that they are looking from the inside out, without the viewpoint of their prospective clients.
Social media is time intensive but it is affordable and allows us to learn so much from our audiences. The results of surveys I’ve conducted, and my blog’s responses and analytics have been priceless. Social allows us to tap the minds of our audiences like nothing I have ever seen before!
Social media provides legal firms and clients with affordable research on a grander scale than we’ve ever been able to conduct in the past and it is almost instant feedback. It is affordable, timely and easier to measure than traditional media.
This is why I believe that social media will be the hub of the legal industry’s advertising/marketing. From broadcast to direct. We can engage our audience and know what messages are appealing and what resonates. We can do it quickly and that info will provide the epiphanies and “ah-ha” moments when we know that we have that valuable nugget for a successful campaign.
Legal marketing professionals, social media is not only important for our clients and the brand that is their firm. It is important for a legal marketer’s brand as well .I encourage you to understand and use if for your business before attempting to use it for your clients.
It is the best tool I have ever used in helping my clients with their own branding.
It compels us to do new business the way we should have been doing it all along. It forces us to lead with benefits, and to create an appealing brand from our clients perspective. To be successful with social each legal marketer will have to narrow its focus, declare who they are, and how they are different.
I don’t claim to be a social media expert. But, I have immersed myself into it in the biggest of ways, and have been professionally enriched beyond my initial comprehension. From a business perspective for small-to-midsize legal marketers social media is the greatest tool you will ever use. I hope you will “get on board” and find out for yourself!
A note of thanks to my loyal readers: You are so gracious to overlook my typos , especially when it’s the 99’th hour of writing. Thank you so very much for your appreciation and ongoing encouragement in spite of them!
Social media helps legal marketers to create a more clearly defined focus and distinctive business strategy that will provide them with a competitive advantage for new business, higher reputation recognition, and enhance their ability to attract, win, and retain the clients they really want.
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Photo by missmac
Tags: Kara Smith, Karasma Media, Legal Marketing Tips, Legal Marketing Trends
April 8th, 2009 at 12:14 am
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Ruth
http://besttoddler.com
April 18th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
This is excellent, a great insight on the value of social media to a specific industry (in this case legal). Implementation of social media for each field will be slightly different so I think you are spot on with the implementation for the legal field.
April 18th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Thank you for your endorsement Tom. Much Appreciated!
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April 14th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Go where the traffic is: If your Company has not taken the well paved road of using Social Media to enhance your business, then you have to wonder if it’s business that you are really after! There comes a time when you just have to get on board with the latest thing happening, whether you are hip to it or not. Frankly, technology moves way too fast for us to decide whether or not something will grow on us…..because by the time we decide if that particular something does or does not appeal to us, something new is already on the horizon. So instead of stopping the train, just get on it and figure out the rest on the way!
April 14th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Well said Julien! We”re definitely on this ride together!!