social media and lawyers Archives - The National Law Forum

Steven Bell with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC recently had an article, Why Social Media Matters to Lawyers – Reason #2: Out-of-Pocket Spending Efficiency, published in The National Law Review:

In my previous post, I discussed how the use of social media makes sense for attorneys because it offers tremendous personal-effort efficiency. With one action – social media – lawyers can initiate and advance relationships…and they can enhance their digital footprint, making it easier for search engines to find them.

A second great reason that lawyers should care about social media is that, unless one subscribes to enhanced versions such as LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator, it’s a free medium.

In 2012, both the Harvard Business Review and the McKinsey Quarterly pointed out that because of the emergence of social media, sophisticated commercial companies are able to reduce advertising spend and, even for companies that still spend big, to dramatically leverage their advertising’s messages via social media. One of the reasons that law firm advertising has been limited is because of the placement cost, which, in a professional services firm, is a direct hit on partners’ wallet. However, social media removes that barrier.

Next: How attorneys can use social media to leverage content.

Note: This post is the second blog entry based on a Nov. 17th presentation I made at the 2012 Lex Mundi Latin America/Caribbean Regional Conference in Santiago, Chile.

Read the rest of the series:

Why Social Media Matters to Lawyers – Reason #1: Personal-Effort Efficiency

The National Law Review recently published an article, Why Social Media Matters to Lawyers – Reason #1: Personal-Effort Efficiency, written by Steven Bell of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC:

After all these years, I have concluded (as some, such as Mark Maraia have done long before me) thatrelationships are the foundation of client development at law firms.

Research by Hellerman Baretz Communications and BTI Consulting shows that, by far, personal referrals are the top driver for outside law firm engagements. Relationships with lawyers, existing clients, referral sources and other contacts are the lifeblood of any attorney’s practice, and I have been told that 70% of law firms’ new business derives from these relationships.

The same research shows that approximately 10 to 20 percent of a law firm’s business comes via online search engines such as such as Yahoo! and Google.

I know of only one activity that directly addresses both the initiation, advancement and monetization of relationships AND the enhancement of the digital footprint: social media. That alone is reason enough for attorneys to post, Tweet and comment. But there are other benefits for attorneys who engage in social media, including personal effort efficiency.

One of the real advantages of social media as a marketing exercise is that busy attorneys can fit it into their hectic schedules. Anyone with a little bit of technology education and a will to succeed in the information age can dash off a Tweet or a LinkedIn post, use it to initiate and/or advance a relationship, and create a ripple in the digital pond. Thanks to mobile devices, one can even handle your social media activities while waiting for a meeting or sitting at the airport terminal.

Social media was tailor-made for the hectic, on-the-go lifestyle that most attorneys (and the professionals who support them) lead.

Next, Reason #2 – Out-of-Pocket-Spending Efficiency

Note: This post is the second blog entry based on a Nov. 17th presentation I made at the 2012 Lex MundiLatin America/Caribbean Regional Conference in Santiago, Chile.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: