There have been many discussions concerning whether Twitter is an appropriate social media tool for law firms. I say YES… loudly. Twitter is an excellent tool for law firms to expand their reach and share their firm culture. It is also a great way for law firms to further develop and communicate a bit of their firm’s personality with the market.
Successful businesses know clients invest with those they know, like and true; this basic business principle is also true for law firms.
In fact, law firms can benefit from “digital word of month” referrals and recommendations based on this solid business principle by using Twitter to:
- Share updates about pro bono wins;
- Share information about community involvement;
- Share attorney awards and recognition;
- Share the accolades for firm clients;
- Syndicate legal alerts and other informational briefs by firm attorneys;
- Provide current legal information (not advice) about issues facing the firm’s target audience; and
- Provide commentary about recent legal happenings.
When starting with Twitter I often advise clients to:
- Designate an attorney and marketing professional to become the firm’s chief Tweeters;
- Establish a Twitter account to find legal professionals to follow;
- Observer Twitter conversations of those key people you follow to learn about Twitter’s culture; and then
- Start sharing information and engaging others.
Twitter is a powerful magnetic branding tool that law firms can utilize to attract media attention and drive traffic to their blog or website. In addition, Tweets are indexed by Google, providing an added benefit for using this tool to expand reach and increase visibility.