Uh oh, Facebook changed security settings again. Twitter has a new design. LinkedIn has a group you haven’t joined.
Does all the fuss and bother about social media drive you nuts? Me too.
You’ve got to update your page (again), you’ve got to hire a team, you’ve got to buy this tool and that course and have a master plan.
No, you don’t. You don’t have to do anything on social media if you don’t want to. So relax. Don’t buy all the hype. Or any software, courses, or services.
Let’s think this through.
There are three things you can do with social media: Network with prospective (existing, former) clients, Network with prospective (existing, former) referral sources, and advertising.
ADVERTISING
Let’s start with the easiest one: advertising. Either you do it or you don’t. If you don’t do it, move on. Nothing to see here. If you do advertise, or want to, hire a firm to design ads, make media buys, and manage your campaigns. Educate yourself, as time permits, so you know how to work with the pros. Nuff said.
NETWORKING WITH CLIENTS
If you have a consumer oriented practice, the odds are you’re not inclined to network with prospective clients. And let’s face it, most clients don’t want to network with you. Attorneys are, in their minds, a necessary evil, not bff’s. When and if they need us, they will either go to a search engine or ask their contacts for recommendations or referrals.
If you have a business oriented practice, networking with prospective clients is more likely to bear fruit. In this case, you would add prospective clients in your target market, promote their business interests, and share your content with them. This may or may not be worth the effort on your part. Your call.
If it’s all too much for you, if you’re worried about the implications of networking with your best client’s competition, or you simply don’t want to spend your valuable time online, don’t. The marketing gods absolve you. There are lots of other ways to bring in business.
NETWORKING WITH REFERRAL SOURCES
If you’re going to do anything with social media, this is your best bet. You can use social media to find professionals and other centers of influence (e.g., bloggers, etc.), and approach them, the same way you would offline.
But you don’t need much on your end to do this. A simple profile, so they can check you out. Go find their profile and start a conversation.
No matter what you decide to do with social media, make sure you have accounts with the major platforms so you can push out links to your content and so visitors to your website can share that content with their connections. But that’s a one time thing. Set it and forget it.
Social media marketing for lawyers can either be a big pain in the briefcase or something you never think about. If it’s the latter, if it’s not part of your marketing in a major way, just think about all the time you’ll save skipping over the countless daily articles and blog posts reminding you about the latest and greatest “must do’s” you’re not doing.
Internet marketing for attorneys that won’t drive you nuts: click here.
