Social Media for Law FirmsRocket Matter Webinar

March 22, 2012 – 12:00 pm ET

Natalie Alesi@legalerswelcome

Samantha Collier@samtaracollier

Law firms and lawyers are using social media for

client acquisition, knowledge management

and business development. This webinar is

designed to show you how to get started. Today

we’ll cover:

• A brief history on social media

• Statistics in favor of social media

• Scenario based work flows

• How to set up an effective Strategy, Facebook

Page, LinkedIn Profile, blog content and, of

course, Twitter

1. SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS

Social Media for Law Firms

Martindale-Hubbell

19%

LinkedIn19%

Best Lawywers/US News and World Report

16%

Super Lawyers16%

Chambers & Partners

9%

Legal 5008%

ACC Value Index8% AVVO

6%

Which online lawyer profiles do in-house legal professional look at most?

Source: 2011 ABA Technology survey report

Individual Attorneys using social media for professional purposes in 2011

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7062

22

6

37

19

7

Lawyers Law Firms

Source: 2011 ABA Technology survey report

In-house attorneys exhibit

widespread trust (84%) in

blogs

They read attorney-authored

blogs more than those of

actual journalists

More than half think a

prominent blog will influence

clients to hire one firm over

another

Decision makers are relying

on blogs for critical business

info and in deciding which

firms to hire.

Recent analysis found that 68

of the top 100 firms are

publishing 272 blogs. That is

up from 156 blogs in 2010 – a

74% increase.

Law Firms and Social MediaFACT: Washington Post

20 percent of law firms have a full-time social media specialist on staff, and about 40 percent said blogging and social networking initiatives have helped the firm land new work.

Nixon Peabody is in the final stages of hiring it’s first social media

manager who is expected to start in late April.

Latham & Watkins hired Dimitra Kessenides in late August 2011, a

former journalist at The American Lawyer.

Dechert hired public relations specialist Peggy Heffner in the late

summer of 2011 in a newly created position that focuses on growing

the firm’s presence across various networks.

McKenna Long & Aldridge hired Sabrina McGown in 2011. She

works with attorneys to tweak LinkedIn profiles and blogs to increase

search engine results.

2. SCENARIO BASED WORKFLOW

Social Media for Law Firms

Scenario 1: Bob decides to join LinkedIn and obtains a new matter through a LinkedIn Group where he regularly joins discussions and answers questions. Bob practices in IP and after answering a question in a related group, he was hired.

It’s really very simple…

Scenario 2: Jeff enjoys writing and would like to write a blog. He gets approval (if needed), determines his platform and creates an editorial calendar. Jeff sticks to his schedule and writes consistently. He shares his posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and engages with his readers. He is then hired by a large corporation due to his expert reputation.

It’s really very simple…

Scenario 3: Kim has heard a lot about Facebook and finally decides to jump on the bus and start using it for business development. She sets her privacy settings appropriately and creates lists so she can share information with relevant groups (family, friends, co-workers, etc.). She posts about work every so often and when the need arises for her services, one of her colleagues recommends her to a friend and she is hired. Go Facebook!

It’s really very simple…

Scenario 4: Julie finally joins Twitter. She creates an effective biography and links to her website profile. She tweets consistently, finds her target clients and joins conversations when relevant. She posts valuable content and takes the conversation offline when appropriate. She is hired for a smaller matter at first. She then lands her firm a large litigation file through the same client.

It’s really very simple…

3. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

Social Media for Law Firms

Before you get involved with social media, you must:

Get approval from upper management

Get buy in from lawyers in the firm

Define your top ten dream clients and be

very specific. Look for them online. You’ll be

surprised!

Define your goal(s):

Increase number of sales and/or leads

Improve customer engagement

Network with peers and colleagues

Keep up-to-date

Monitor the competition

4. LINKEDIN Social Media for Law Firms

Set Your Account Settings

LinkedIn Applications for Lawyers

JD Supra’s Legal Updates

Events

SlideShare

Publications

Wordpress

Answers

TripIt

Reading List by Amazon

Polls

LinkedIn Groups

9 out of 10 in-house legal professionals turn to online lawyer profiles or legal directories at least once a year!

Did you know?

Join relevant groups relating to your practice area

or university alumni groups

Monitor the discussions and get a feel for the

group’s conversation style

Join discussions when appropriate and add

something of value. Ask and answer questions

Mention your practice area when relevant

Add connections you interact with in groups and

take the conversation offline when appropriate.

5. TWITTER Social Media for Law Firms

What makes a complete Twitter Profile?

6. FACEBOOK Social Media for Law Firms

6. BLOGGING Social Media for Law Firms

Determine the type of work and clients you want.

Choose your platform and blogging system.

Identify your target audience. Consider influencers and

amplifiers to get to have your name and message brought

in front of a larger audience.

Get an RSS reader for inspiration on what to blog about.

Consider writing about practice updates, rule changes,

anything in the news you can relate to your business, how

you solved a clients problem (without naming names of

course), checklists, top 5 posts, etc.

Comment on other blogs only when you can leave valuable

information (not – “good post”.)

Consider using tools such as Google Analytics to monitor

what’s popular.

7. FINAL NOTES Social Media for Law Firms

Did you know there is Tweetchat for legal?

#legalchat Fridays 11 am ET

legalchatinfo.wordpress.com

Checklist Define WHY?

Define Your Audience

Start with ONE Channel (LinkedIn)

Understand privacy settings

Listen, listen, listen & watch others

Start a blog or expand the one you have, create

engagement

Understand your state ethics rules with regard to

advertising

Understand firms social media policy, be on the committee

Manage your content and create a content schedule

Get mobile, download social apps

Engage others, RT them, thank them, talk to them, build a

relationship, network, have conversations

DON’T

Be spammy

Be salesy

Critique others for their opinions

Not be consistent with content

Confuse channel audiences

Be scared

Post the same content across all

networks at the same time.

Jump on the next thing every time

a new social network comes out.

http://blog.linkedin.com/ http://help.linkedin.com/app/home https://www.facebook.com/help/privacy?ref=contextual http://support.twitter.com/ http://mangageflitter.com http://twournal.com http://twistory.com http://

www.techinasia.com/techinasia/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/executives-using-social-media.png

http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/law-firm-blogging/

Resources

Join our community!

Natalie Alesi@legalerswelcomewww.legalerswelcome.comLinkedin.com/in/nataliealesiFacebook.com/legalerswelcomeGplus.to/nataliehuhanataliebethalesi@gmail.com

Samantha Collier@samtaracollier

www.socialmediaforlawfirms.comLinkedin.com/in/samanthacollier

Facebook.com/socialmediaforlawfirmsGplus.to/samanthacollier

samanthataracollier@gmail.com

#legalchat 11 am ET Fridays