Social media is all the rage, don't ya know?
And yet, many lawyers don't see the returns from their investment in social media.
Of course, the options are wide and varied these days, with Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flikr, YouTube and many more.
But for most lawyers, the reality is that LinkedIn remains the best social media platform by far. Here's why:
1. You're Already On It
Although many lawyers don't have very good LinkedIn profiles and may not spend a lot of time on the platform, the fact is that you're probably already on it, and you have probably already learned the basics.
That means the learning curve to get up and running with a strategic marketing campaign on LinkedIn is fairly small, and you can get cracking pretty much straight away without having to learn a bunch of new lingo and buttons to click that don't make any sense (eg TikTok).
2. Your Colleagues are Already On It
This might not sound like a huge deal, but if you want to leverage the power of LinkedIn one of the best things you (or your firm) can be doing is to start sharing, liking and distributing each other's content. That means expanded reach, greater exposure, and more cookies for everyone. And the truth is that a big pile of people you already know are probably there.
3. It's Getting Cooler
It's fair enough to say that for a while at least LinkedIn was mostly about recruiters and people looking for jobs. That ship, however, sailed some time ago (probably about 10 years ago or more to be honest).
With the LinkedIn platform as it currently stands (Feb 2020) you can share short thoughts, images, videos up to 10 minutes, Live video (if you get approved), documents, slideshares and a bunch more.
With LinkedIn premium you can hunt down prospects with a considerable amount of specificity and engage them in non-spammy discussion. Even with the free search side of things you can do a fair amount of targeted
Frankly, even as it stands right now with no further developments, LinkedIn has all the tools that lawyers need to find prospective clients, engage with them, build trust, and ultimately get to the point of being engaged.
But, as with most decent platforms, LinkedIn is evolving. Sure, it's a bit slower than I would like in places, but it's changed a lot in the last few years and is adding more and more ways to grow relationships – and that's what the game is all about.
4. It's (mostly) Professional
One of the main reasons that lawyers struggle with platforms like Snapchat and Instagram and Facebook (and, let's face it – all of the others too) is that we feel like we need to maintain a professional image.
I think that's stupid – but it's what most people do anyway.
LinkedIn is your friend here, because it's OK to be professional and serious minded about your business – because that's why a lot of people are there.
That said – bringing a little personality to the table can go a long way…
5. It's 650m possible connections
Picture a gigantic networking function where there are 650m business cards on display.
Some will be relevant to you, and some won't.
Some will be terrible business cards, and others will be great.
But here's the fact: with that many candidates, you only need to get connected with a few to have potentially massive success.
6. It's an Opportunity to Provide Value
I've said it before, and I'll say it again – the most important marketing asset you have is permission.
If you have a connection with someone on LinkedIn, then you have permission to provide value.
If you provide value, then you'll develop your position as a likeable expert.
And as you do that – you'll begin to see the results.
7. It Ticks The Marketing Trifecta
In professional services, you want to position yourself with the trifecta of relationship: liked, known and trusted.
Once you tick those boxes, you can start to really push your marketing efforts towards capturing your clients.
With LinkedIn, you can become known through connections, liked through engagement, and trusted through content creation – it's a triple whammy of opportunity for professionals.
So How are you Using LinkedIn?
Are you using LinkedIn effectively? Are you making connections, developing relationships and positioning yourself for success?
Or does LinkedIn go into the too hard basket?
