The Changing Landscape of Internet Marketing and Social Media

The use of social media has changed over the years.  Not long ago social media sites like My Space, digg and Friendster were simply “fun” websites where teenage kids could share stories, talk about weekend plans or complain about their Mom and Dad.

Today, social media has blossomed into a way of life.  There are social media sites and apps for just about everyone, regardless of age, sex, likes, dislikes, height, weight or any other measurable factor that makes each of us different.  The biggies – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest.  The here and now – Vine, Snapchat and Tumblr.  The up and coming – Periscope, Yik Yak and Kik.  The influential directories – Yelp, AVVO.  Video hosting – YouTube, Vimeo

Now, you may be asking yourself, “As an attorney, a law firm owner, why do I care about any of this?”   That is a great question and the answer needs to be integrated into your 2016 Marketing Plan.

Facebook boasts over 1.55 billion users, Tumblr over 555 million, Instagram 400 million and Twitter 300 million.   That is a lot of “eyeballs” on any social media activity or advertising.  Social media provides a law firm or an individual lawyer with an excellent opportunity to gain brand recognition.   It also provides a law firm with an opportunity to engage with their community, their potential clients.  To become more than just simply a business that is looking to take from the community, to a business that is ingrained in the fabric of the community.  Trust is an important consideration when a potential client is looking to hire a lawyer and a robust social media profile can build that foundation of trust before a client ever walks through the door.

Social media is also a key distribution channel for a law firm’s content.   In order to succeed in today’s extremely competitive internet marketplace, a law firm must continuously create new and impactful content.  Blogs, articles, new web pages, videos.  All examples of content that a firm must create in order to be relevant online.  Social media is the perfect conduit to deliver this information to potential clients.  An article on a change in the law that may impact business owners can be posted to LinkedIn.  A blog sharing what you should do just after being involved in a car accident could be posted to Facebook.  A video addressing a common estate planning question could be posted to YouTube, with a link to the video tweeted to the community.

Any social media channel, specifically the biggies like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & LinkedIn, will provide a law firm to an opportunity to connect with the community, aka potential clients. Adding a face or human element to any business, can help secure business.  But, with a law firm, it can have an even greater positive impact.  Lawyers are often thought of as arrogant, self serving or described as shysters.  Social media allows a lawyer or law firm to contradict those misnomers.  Social media provides a lawyer with an opportunity to profess to the world that they are regular “folks” involved in charitable work, community events, the local PTA, as well as coaching local sports teams.

Finally, search engines like Google are increasingly placing more importance on active participation on social media sites.  Soon, if you don’t post to Facebook or tweet on Twitter, on a regular basis, your website ranking will begin to suffer.

If you or your firm are not active on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+) you are missing a huge opportunity.  Get started today.  If you need any assistance with developing a social  media strategy or just simply want someone knowledgeable to manage your profiles for you.  Give us a call or send us an e-mail – Sundown Legal Marketing – (800) 649-1764 – rr@sundownmarketing.com