With more than 645 million users in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, LinkedIn is the leading professional social networking platform. As a law firm in the digital age, it is essential to have a well-established LinkedIn footprint. Which begs the question: Is your law firm using LinkedIn to its full potential?
Social media should not be an afterthought. It is vital to identify your brand priorities and highlight your unique perspective in the legal marketplace. To attract and retain top talent and clients, here are several ways to optimize your firm’s LinkedIn presence:
1. Consistent Engagement
Create a strategic road map to outline your law firm’s point of view and commit to a measurable projected outcome. For instance, make sure you are posting fresh content at least twice a day. Keep the same theme amongst social media platforms to make your law firm easier to find, to be memorable and to ultimately cement your brand. One tactic is to use the same style, voice and visuals to be recognizable.
Make sure to “like” and “comment” to connect with your audience. Be an active contributor on your own LinkedIn page and in LinkedIn groups where your prospects are going to for information. Get your team involved – have them share and reshare firm branded content. Even better, encourage your attorneys and staff to create uniform profiles. Lastly, cross promote among other social media platforms, marketing materials, your firm website and email signature blocks.
2. Balance Promotional and Non-promotional Content
LinkedIn has the power to shape how people view your law firm, so you want to engage your audience with a balance of promotional and non-promotional content. The 80-20 is a golden rule when it comes to posting content– 80% on promotional updates and 20% towards sharing newsworthy articles that develop relationships, prospects and referral sources.
Successful posts tend to be brief and informational in nature, and variety is key. To be viewed as a thought leader in the marketplace, share on relevant and emerging topics. This is a great way to get noticed because the majority of in-house counsel use LinkedIn to gather news, build expertise, and, most importantly, research outside counsel.
3. Share Multimedia Content
Highlight people-centric accomplishments, milestones and initiatives with posts containing videos, photos or podcasts. One great example is hosting a video series featuring partners and associates to keep viewers engaged. Showcase your involvement in the community with photos of your employees on recent panels, speaking engagements, trips or volunteering. Promote your involvement in podcasts– a go-to favorite for the majority of in-house counsel. Encourage your attorneys to link to the firm page when sharing content; and on the firm page use your employees’ images, quotes and link to their personal pages.
PRO TIP: Build relationships with the media on LinkedIn so they can see the type of information you can offer their readers, listeners or viewers.
4. Standout with SEO and Hashtags
Be cognizant of search engine optimization (SEO) by providing a comprehensive listing of your services and practice groups to increase visibility. If your firm has multiple offices, use affiliated LinkedIn pages to highlight its bandwidth via geographical reach and depth of practice areas.
Create a hashtag for your firm as well a topic specific hashtags, e.g. #blockchain, #privateequity, #laborlaw. Use brand hashtags not only for original content, but encouraging your employees and clients to share on their personal accounts as well to build a community.
LinkedIn is truly the optimal platform for advancing careers and business development– make sure to advance your brand by optimizing your law firm’s LinkedIn presence.
Kellie DiMascio is the Regional Search Director for Parker+Lynch Legal, the attorney recruiting division of Special Counsel. Connect with Kellie via email or LinkedIn!
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