Social media, where it earns its place
For a lot of professional firms, social media is the least productive place to spend a marketing budget. Where it does work, it usually works for one specific reason.
Get your free auditThe problem
An honest starting position
Someone looking for a solicitor after a difficult event does not find one on Instagram. They search. So for most firms, search should be funded first and social should come after, if at all.
Where social does earn its place, it is normally one of three things: recruitment, because good candidates look at your feed before they apply; referral relationships, particularly on LinkedIn, where the audience is other professionals who send work your way; or a genuine local presence, where a firm is part of a town rather than just located in one.
If none of those apply to you, I will tell you, and suggest you put the money into search instead.
Scope
What is included
Channel strategy
Which platforms are worth your time and, more usefully, which are not. Most firms should be on fewer than they currently are.
Content production
Written and scheduled around what your firm actually does, including the recruitment and referral angles that tend to be neglected.
LinkedIn for referral networks
Usually the highest-value channel for a professional firm, and the one most often handled as an afterthought.
Paid social where it fits
Recruitment campaigns and local awareness, mainly. Not lead generation for high-consideration legal or financial services, where the intent is not there.
Reporting
What it produced. If the honest answer is very little, that is what the report will say and we will change the plan.
Straight answers
Common questions
- Should my firm be on social media at all?
- Possibly not, or at least not on all of it. Ask what you want it to do. If the answer is enquiries from people ready to instruct, search will almost certainly do it better and cheaper.
- What about compliance?
- Everything published is written to your regulator's rules on advertising and client communication, and comes to you for approval before it goes out. Nothing is posted without sign-off.
- Can you guarantee follower growth?
- I can grow a follower count. It is one of the easiest numbers to move and one of the least connected to revenue, which is why I would rather be measured on something else.
- Do you handle recruitment content?
- Yes, and for many firms it is the strongest argument for doing social at all. Candidates research a firm before applying, and an empty or neglected feed reads badly.
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