A Guide to Social Media for Law Firms

There are plenty of attorneys practicing today who got their law licenses before the term “social media” was even in common usage.  There are even more who began their careers when social media was still something purely for recreation—connecting with friends or playing games. 

If you’ve been busy building your law practice and representing clients, you may not have realized just how much social media has changed—or what it can do for your business. Social media isn’t just for entertainment anymore, and using it in the right way can call favorable attention to your law firm, your knowledge, and your brand. 

The Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Law Firms

If you’re getting a respectable number of leads without a social media presence, or if your business is largely referral based, you might think social media is a waste of your time. 

But the truth is that even law firms with a strong existing client base or referral network can benefit from social media. Depending on your goals (which we’ll talk about in a minute), there are a number of potential benefits to social media marketing for attorneys. Those include: 

Building Trust and Humanizing Your Law Firm

Let’s face it: for many people, the prospect of contacting a lawyer is intimidating. Social media posts can help potential clients get to know your law firm brand in a more informal way than traditional advertising or even your own website does. That builds trust, creates comfort, and increases the likelihood of contact.

Connecting with Your Audience in Real Time

Through social media, your law firm can interact almost instantly with the public and prospective clients, such as by responding to comments on a Facebook post. That type of engagement simply doesn’t happen with traditional advertising. 

Establishing Authority

Posting informative content on your website is important. Posting that content on social media exposes a wider audience to your expertise and gives readers knowledge that helps them. Over time establishes you as a trusted authority to prospective clients and a thought leader to referring professionals. 

Multidimensional Storytelling

Social media allows you to communicate your brand’s story using a variety of tools that engage your audience on multiple levels—think infographics, video, written content, and even live events. Using a broad spectrum of media attracts the attention of more of your intended audience.

Reaching Quality Leads

Targeted use of social media allows your law firm to get ads in front of specific demographics or groups, meaning that your efforts reach people who are more likely to need your services—and to be quality leads.

Improving Your Law Firm’s SEO and Online Visibility

When search engines index a law firm’s social media profile and posts, it may enhance the firm’s visibility online. This is especially true if the law firm posts substantive content that search engines value.

What Social Media Platforms are Best for Law Firms?

If you have been convinced of the value of social media marketing for law firms, you’re not alone. According to the 2022 ABA Websites & Marketing Tech Report, 89% of respondents said their firms had some presence on social media. 

If your law firm is only going to be active on one platform, LinkedIn is a natural choice, and far and away the most popular for lawyers. The primary professional networking social media site, LinkedIn is ideal for B2B networking and building relationships with other professionals to strengthen your referral networks. The platform allows you to share substantive content like articles, legal developments, and your law firm’s accomplishments. It’s a great way to build authority and share what you know. 

Beyond LinkedIn, your choice of social media platform depends on a number of factors, including where your intended audience is, and where you yourself are comfortable posting. Authenticity resonates with people; if you’re uncomfortable or trying to be something you’re not, that will come across (and not in a favorable way). Not everyone is meant to be on TikTok, and that’s okay. 

Depending on your comfort level, your goals, and your audience, your firm might cultivate a presence on Facebook, X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, and yes, even TikTok. But before diving into posting on social media, you need to have a plan.

Law Firms and Social Media: Plan to Succeed

In the words of an old song lyric, “You can’t get what you want ‘til you know what you want.” So it’s important to clarify exactly what you are hoping social media marketing will achieve for your law firm. For many law practices, the ultimate goal is to get more clients, but you may also be looking to  increase awareness of your firm’s brand. Perhaps your goal is to establish yourself as an authority, especially if you have in-depth knowledge in a niche practice area. Whatever your goals, they should be specific and measurable.

Knowing what you want social media to do for you is an important first step; that will guide your ultimate choice of platform. But before you go much further, review your jurisdiction’s rules for ethical advertising. For example, in some jurisdictions, “specialist” means something specific; referring to yourself as a specialist in your practice area if you don’t have those qualifications. 

Once you understand the applicable guidelines, do some research. How are your competitors active on social media? Which of their platforms and posts seem to get the most engagement? While understanding what your competitors do can point you in the right direction regarding social media marketing, remember that your firm is unique. 

Gauge your comfort with different media—say, written posts vs. video creation—as well as your commitment to actually creating content. If you or your team don’t have the time or willingness to regularly post substantive content, social media will be of limited use for your law firm.

You also have to decide what platform(s) you will use. As mentioned above, LinkedIn is a great place to start establishing your firm’s social media presence. Others you might consider include: 

• Facebook: Advantages include a broad base of users, including many more mature users. Members of Facebook’s many community groups often ask each other for referrals for professional services—making those groups a good place to engage with people who might need your services right now.

• X: X is a good venue for discussing current legal events and trends. There’s the potential for nearly instant interaction and engagement. Create a professional account and select the category that corresponds to your legal practice area, then follow influential people in your field to build exposure.  

• YouTube: If educating prospective clients through video appeals to you, a YouTube channel allows you to provide useful information in an engaging way, and lets people get to know you and your firm’s brand. Using video can build trust and establish you as an authority—if you do it right. 

• Instagram: It’s not for every law firm. But if your practice is consumer-facing, like family law, personal injury, criminal defense, or consumer bankruptcy, it can be a great way to engage prospective clients—especially if your clients skew younger. 

• TikTok: While not a traditional law firm marketing platform, for the right firms, the segment of TikTok that focuses on legal matters (“LawTok”) can be a great way to get exposure; some lawyers have tens, or even hundreds of thousands of followers on this platform that features short-form videos.

Whichever platform(s) you choose, it’s important to track and measure the success of your efforts through analytics. Most platforms provide built-in analytics tools to monitor the performance of posts, including engagement, click-through rates, and audience demographics. 

How a Digital Marketing Agency Helps with Social Media for Law Firms

If you feel exhausted just thinking about the work it will take to establish and maintain your law firm’s social media, there's a good reason for that. Like many aspects of law practice (and life), social media marketing for attorneys requires an investment of time and effort. If you don’t have someone at your firm with the available time and skill to act as social media manager, a digital marketing agency can step into that role.

 In fact, it’s often more cost-effective to have an agency manage social media for law firms than to have an associate devote many otherwise-billable hours to the task each month. At The Modern Firm, we offer a variety of packages for a wide range of needs, from republishing a few blog posts per month on social media to creating 10-20 posts per month for multiple platforms.

You can schedule a call with one of TMF’s Online Marketing Managers to discuss your goals and assess your needs. Our services include:

• Market research
• Creating a fully-branded digital design presence package to provide visual consistency with the firm’s website and print collateral
• Creating a variety of posts (such as client testimonials, educational content, explainer videos) customized to each client’s goals
• Including visual elements in text posts to promote engagement
• Optimizing captions to maximize engagement, reach, and impact of social media posts
• Regularly monitoring posts to determine if attorney follow-up is needed to a comment or request
• Competitor analysis
• Connecting attorneys with relevant community groups on social media platforms
• Scheduling posts and tracking analytics through our social media management platform

Paige Silver, Online Marketing Manager at The Modern Firm, notes the importance of consistent posting on social media for law firms: “Posting on a consistent basis is really crucial…if you’re not posting three to four times a week, you’re probably not going to be getting the same amount of exposure.” 

When law firms manage their own social media in house, posting often takes the occasional backseat to a trial or other client needs, making it less effective. Working with an agency ensures the regular social media posting from which your firm benefits.

To learn more about the benefits of social media marketing for law firms and how to get started, contact The Modern Firm to schedule a consultation.