For the legal firm, social media is an integral part of good public relations, and should be a company-wide approach your firm helps manage and facilitate. So, it’s important that those responsible for the company’s public image are savvy about social media strategy, familiar with the social media tools available and able to communicate with them effectively.

Handing over the company’s social media presence to the IT department isn’t necessarily the solution though. You can’t be strong in social media programming and strategy without strong writing and conversation skills. Tech can be taught, good social skills and empathetic communication, not so much.

There are those that say “listening” is a PR agency function, but “engaging” needs to be done by the client. Truthfully, if someone speaks effectively and articulately, then sure it’s fine to let them be self-expressive. However, if an individual can’t, then for goodness sake — Don’t Let them!

The problem with most public relations firms is that they’ve been reaching out to traditional media incorrectly. Bloggers and the recent Motrin mishap is a social media case study for that.

Bloggers should be treated exactly the way journalists are and presented with relevant, focused pitching. The key to blogger outreach is relationships, exactly the same way it is in traditional media.

The element most often missing from most corporate social media programs is strategic thinking. They’ll just reach in the “viral-bucket” and throw whatever they grab out into the world and call it social media. A specialist will set expectations to match their the goals. Extended reach, quality relationships, and conversations generating interaction are key. The important thing is to give your fans, ie: clients and potential clients, is something to talk about and/or do.

The most overrated aspect of social media is the number of followers someone has.. If you can’t get them to do anything, then what good are they to you, or for that matter, what good are you? It’s a social media specialist’s job to communicate well, regardless of the subject matter.

Truthfully, most attorneys are still behind the 8-ball when it comes to social media, causing them to be complacent listeners and apprehensive about interacting with it. The best way for them to overcome that fear is by example. A social media specialist may just have to prove it to them! In other words, find a negative conversation out there and fix it!
Proof works — Especially in the legal realm.

The bottom line is this, produce the best content possible, treat people with respect, understand how karma works via reward/consequence, and continue to grow your firm s network off-line, too.