Karasma Media Legal Marketing Blog by Kara Smith » Blog Archive » Legal Marketing Ethics in A Web 3.0 World

Legal Marketing Ethics in A Web 3.0 World

I’m prefacing a reference to a terrific article published on lawyerist.com on ethics, with a sneak-peak of what’s to come for legal marketing.

Almost everyone reading this knows what Web 2.0 is, Web 3.0 is terminology you may not be so familiar with.

Web 2.0 is about social networking and mass collaboration with the blurring of lines between content creator and user whereas Web 3.0 is based on “intelligent” web applications using:
*   Natural language processing
*   Machine-based learning and reasoning
*   Intelligent applications

Read more at Suite101: What is Web 3.0?: The Next Generation Web: Search Context for Online Information

As the legal marketing industry is struggling to get up to speed with blogging, Facebook, and LinkedIn, technology isn’t slowing down in order for the sector to get caught up. Ethical standards for legal marketers have never been more important nor more scrutinized than they are in today’s environment of the quest for new clients.

ethics

Legal marketing in a Web 2.0 world is complicated for bar associations for many reasons, but one of the most significant is that legal marketing on the web, even when it’s done in a traditional format, is completely different from the legal advertising that bar associations are used to regulating.

Google’s point-and-click ads for law firms come the closest to traditional advertising, but unlike radio and TV ads, they can be tailored and tweaked easily and frequently. Some bar associations require attorneys to submit all their advertisements for review–but how can one do this with an online ad that has 30 permutations?

Non-traditional legal advertising like that found on blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter is even more complicated.

Read the article in full on The Lawyerist.com

Ethical online marketing for legal professionals is not an “in-your-face” or obnoxious sales pitch. It is a gentle conversation that entails one-to-one communication. Which is why I’ve been saying “Social Media is Public Relations for Legal Marketers, for the past 2-years.

Keeping on track with legislation governing online marketing rules and learning how to stay in tune with your audience and attract your ideal clients is not something legal marketers have to struggle with.

Kara works with 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.