Social Media For Family Lawyers

Worldwide activity on social media hit 3.02 billion active users per month in 2021 

Unlike many other areas where legal expertise is sought, in family law people spend months, sometimes years, looking for answers and guidance to difficult, often emotionally charged issues.

Family lawyers should see this as an opportunity to help guide and provide answers through content and social engagement.

Traditionally, people have viewed a marriage between law firms and social media as a dicey proposition, due to concerns surrounding social media ethical issues for lawyers. But the truth is, social media for lawyers has long been an ideal marketing strategy. According to a recent study, 81 per cent of lawyers already use social media for professional purposes. But is it being used to its full potential? In a 2020 survey, less than half of law firms of all sizes reported having a marketing budget.

The merits of a strong social media presence are undeniable. Do you want to establish your firm as a thought leader in family law? Share relevant content, updates and news on your social channels, so that when people finally do need family legal services, you’ll be top of mind.

Looking to connect and build strong relationships with prospective clients? A robust social media marketing strategy lets you create direct and genuine interactions with your prospective clients at no additional cost.

By not embracing a solid social media marketing strategy, you’re passing up on a golden opportunity to gain new clients that your competitors will gladly scoop up. Social media marketing for family lawyers is a proven winner.

However, having an effective social media presence requires some thought. Whether you’re focusing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram, there are strategies for law firm social media on each platform as well as general best practices you need to follow to maximize your outreach.

Here are seven things your firm should be doing on social media to build a killer presence that generate more leads and increases your ROI.

1) Focus on content to drive engagement

A law firm social media marketing strategies that focuses on content, drives engagement.

People love to buy things but don’t necessarily like being sold to. Instead of inundating your audience with ads on their social feeds, which they already get enough of, your social media marketing can provide them with free content that solves their problems and shows that you care and understand them. It builds loyalty, as they will turn to you for information and be more inclined to reach out to you in the future.

When you’re building out your social media marketing strategy, there are a few best practices to keep in mind:

• Create informative and engaging content – use stories, updates and interviews that reference key events, anniversaries and award recipients to build an emotional connection. If you have a blog post, or client testimonial, post these on your social channels and invite people to share it with their community. Done correctly, this content can be a lead-generation magnet, funneling traffic to your firm’s website.

• Follow the 70/30 rule – 30 per cent of your own content, 70 per cent focused on interesting updates related to family issues. And it doesn’t have to all be about divorce and separation. The key is to balance creating valuable content that addresses your audience’s challenges and promoting your services with an actionable “call to action,” so you don’t sound overly ‘salesy.’

• Leverage hashtags and keywords. It’s no good creating great social media posts if no one can find it. Some people follow certain categories – if they find your content and enjoy it, you can gain followers and be able to reach an even broader audience.

 2) Build brand awareness and authority

Always try striking a good balance between posts centered around your business and shareable content, so that your audience knows what services your law firm offers.

To build brand awareness, use your space on social media to showcase your expertise and engage followers. Focus on positioning your firm as a thought leader in family law who’s ready and willing to help. This will help you stand out from the competition.

Tell your firm’s story in an engaging and compelling manner. Let your audience form its own perceptions. What you need to focus on is delivering quality content that fits the platform you are using – something that works on Instagram might not necessarily be suitable for Twitter. Consider your demographics, content type and the timing (when to post).

The more active you are online, the more you verify your credibility to potential clients – no small thing, as trust plays a huge role when people are deciding which firm to use.

3) Social Media and Legal Ethics

While the social media landscape can seem like a wild west frontier, family lawyers and by extension the firms they represent, do not have free reign to do anything they want. Lawyers and social media ethics are important considerations. And in general, there are rules and etiquettes for every social media platform that you must follow to avoid risks and potential issues.

Policies and regulations are constantly changing, so it’s important for your law firm marketing strategy to stay up to date. Schedule time to review and update your policy on a regular basis. Here are some essential guidelines for social media compliance when it comes to social media and legal ethics:

• Ethical rules: Avoid engaging with other lawyers and law firms. This can be taken as a conflict of interest if you ever end up on opposite ends of a case.

• Client confidentiality: Always be careful to avoid discussing information related to a case online that would violate the client attorney privilege such as financial information, official documentation or any conversations with the client.

• Online business regulations: Your law firm needs to comply with all rules for online business on social media regarding your law firm marketing strategy, content, employment practices and so forth. Failure to do so can lead to costly fines.

• Law Society Regulations: Every law society has very clear rules and regulations that dictate how a firm should approach advertising. Depending on how you frame your posts and the specific regulations of your law sociaiety, approach social media as you would other forms of marketing.

Make sure everyone on your team is aware of social media guidelines. The last thing you want is to be sucked into an online war over negative comments from a former client that could damage your law firm’s reputation. Whenever in doubt, always take your case matters offline with potential clients, into a one-on-one discussion.

4) Optimize your law firm social media presence

Before you can take your social media marketing efforts to the next level and see results, you need to make sure your law firm is covering all the basics.

First and foremost, you need to define your target audience, as all your social media efforts will revolve around this. Consider all the key demographics such as age and gender, so that you can fine-tune your content and make sure it speaks to them.

Then you’ll want to select social media channels where your target audience is most active and most likely to engage with you.

Once you’ve done all that, you need to make sure your law firm social media profiles are up to par. Each platform provides a space to input contact information – use it! If you want to build valuable connections with your current and potential clients on social media, they need to be able to reach you with their requests. Make sure you input the correct details to avoid user frustration and questions about your legitimacy.

Here’s a helpful hint to improve your law firm SEO: Make sure your address and business name are consistent across all channels. Don’t confuse search engines. Consistency is a key, but often overlooked, element when inputting your business details on social channels.

5) Incorporate paid social media advertising

Using paid advertising to supplement your organic (unpaid) efforts is a great way to create a more holistic social media strategy. This step will largely depend on your law firm marketing budget. If you’re a smaller firm, it may be less feasible to include this in your marketing plan.

But if you do have the resources, incorporating pay-per-click (PPC) marketing will allow you to drive clicks and leads even faster, especially if you’re targeting very specific niches.

From LinkedIn to Facebook Ads, there are several different options at your disposal. In each case, you’ll need to understand who your audience is and what they care about.

6) Take advantage of video

Did you know that video content accounts for over 74 per cent of all online traffic overall, and is one of the leading drivers of organic reach on social media for lawyers using this tactic?

With so much content competing for their attention, it can be difficult to engage social media users. That’s why it is imperative that you incorporate video content into your law firm social media marketing strategy. This type of content conveys your message to the audience immediately. In fact, algorithms have evolved to prefer videos over text and images.

Many lawyers are not comfortable “starring” in their own videos, so if you can find the motivation or find someone in your firm willing to take the leap, the benefits can be tremendous giving you a serious leg up on your closest competitors. Only 24 per cent of lawyers report that their law firm uses video as part of their marketing strategy!

If you’re not comfortable speaking directly into the camera, try an interview style video where you answer some questions and chat with a partner at your firm. Or have an animated video produced for your law firm.

7) Use your social media platforms to listen in

Just starting out and unsure of how to connect with your audience on social media? Try listening.

Monitor social conversations on relevant topics to understand what your target market cares about and issues they’re following. You can do this manually by searching your channels for mentions of your brand or automate the process by enlisting a tool like Hootsuite or Talkwalker.

This will uncover hidden pain points that you can address in videos or blogs, the tone and language used by your audience (for improved communications) and help drive engagement. It will also help you understand how your services are being perceived and fill in any gaps with great content. Your goal as always is to educate, influence and facilitate interaction.

Struggling to receive any social chatter whatsoever? If you’re not already, make sure your law firm is posting consistently. You may need to revise your content strategy too towards something that leaves a better impression on your target audience (see the video discussion above).

Consider tracking your competition. It’s always good to have a pulse on the latest marketing tactics and practices – if other law firms are using them and succeeding, you should incorporate them into your social media marketing strategy and improve your approach and remain competitive. Identify opportunities where you can chime in on conversations and show your expertise in the legal space.

Ready to get started? Law SEO Experts helps family law firms with their digital advertising and online marketing needs. Reach out today to speak to our team of qualified law firm marketing experts, so you can focus on what matters – winning cases and running your law firm!