Law Firms Are A’Tweeting

This article discusses the recent adoption by law firms of social media outlets such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.  The article goes on to say that law firms are basically reposting their news and events as tweeted headlines with links to the articles.  There isn’t the sense that a professional service firm need to engage its audience in the same way a consumer products’ company like Apple or Nike would.

Provide real value

It would take staff time and attorney resources to brainstorm how to create a unique client or prospect experience on Twitter, time and resources that are better spent on more traditional forms of marketing – or so goes the argument.

But I think a firm could take an existing practice or sector newsletter that provides recent developments in a particular niche, create Twitter friendly headlines and provide unique value for clients.  Too often these recent development newsletters are just summaries of recent relevant cases. Attorneys don’t ask a simple question – why does this ruling or legislation matter to our clients?  That simple exercise would add tremendous value to clients and prospects and would be good training for young attorneys.

An Example

The recent settlement between an employee and American Medical Response generated tweets such as, “NLRB Settles Charge Claiming Employee was Sued for Facebook.” But this doesn’t alert an employer to the real issue.   The tweet could read, “Employers should review employee policies in light of NLRB settlement.” This reframing gets the attention of employers.  The recent development article can still be a case summary but at least now Tweeter followers know why they should read it.

 

Tags: legal marketing, Linkedin, twitter