You have3 free articles left this month.
Register for a free account to access unlimited free content.
You have 3 free articles left this month.
Register for a free account to access unlimited free content.

Lawyers Weekly - legal news for Australian lawyers

Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
lawyers weekly logo

Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA

Goodbye job applications, hello dream career
Seize control of your career and design the future you deserve with LW career

Social firms attract more clients

A social media strategy that is ingrained in a firm’s culture will attract new clients, a law firm general manager has claimed.

user iconLeanne Mezrani 26 July 2012 SME Law
Social firms attract more clients
expand image

At a LexisNexis seminar in Sydney yesterday (24 July), the general manager of BlandsLaw, Vivienne Storey (pictured), told attendees that firms must facilitate a culture of regular social media use if they are to take advantage of a “huge opportunity for multiple touch points” with clients.

To illustrate her point, Storey revealed how BlandsLaw, a small boutique firm based in Sydney’s northwest, has successfully used social media to attract new business.

Each lawyer at the firm adheres to a publishing schedule, writing around one article per week, Storey explained. This copy is then broadcast through various social media channels, including YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs.

“We don’t think about using social media; it’s an unconscious thing, like using the telephone.”

Writing on niche topics, like social media policy, builds the firm’s credibility, claimed Storey.

“I write about risk management issues around social media, a lot of which has no precedent, so you’re immediately seen as a thought leader,” she said.

Storey described this type of social media strategy as “strategic niche marketing”. This approach has elevated BlandsLaw’s Google ranking and, in turn, attracted publishing opportunities in mainstream media.

“Journalists who Google ‘social media law’ ... get BlandsLaw [and] we’re getting more and more publicity this way,” she said.

While social media can help to grow a business, Storey warned that using “innovation for innovation’s sake” is a dangerous strategy. Firms must respect tried and tested commercial methods and “hang on to the fundamentals that work”, she added.

Comments (3)
  • Avatar
    <p> At Turnbull Hill Lawyers (another NSW firm) we have also adopted a similar social media and content distribution strategy. Like BlandsLaw, we recognise and understand the importance of targeting, enraging and then connecting with niche markets, using social media as the facilitator. We have also implemented a publishing schedule for our content distribution and see the key to it's success as being consistency, not only in the frequency of distribution, but mainly in the quality of content that is published.</p><p>Finally, I agree with Vivienne's comment regarding jumping on the innovation bandwagon just for the sake of doing so, or just because a competitor has done so. Take small, but strong steps into the big and scary world of social media and be careful not to spread your firm's social footprint too thin.</p><p></p>
    0
  • Avatar
    <p>At Turnbull Hill Lawyers (another NSW firm) we are also adopting a similar social media and content distribution strategy. We recognise the importance of engaging and connecting with niche markets and see social media as a facilitator for this. Like BlandsLaw, we've also adopted a publishing schedule and see consistency as the key to success in this space. Consistency not only in the frequency of distribution, but also in the quality of the content that is published.</p><p>Finally, I agree with Storey's final comment about not jumping on the bandwagon, simply because everyone else is doing it. There's no point creating a Facebook profile for your firm if you haven't outlined the objectives that page is supposed to achieve, the tone, the target audience... and so on.</p>
    0
  • Avatar
    John Gray - Law Firm Marketing Thursday, 26 July 2012
    <p>Well done BlandsLaw!  This article highlights the critical success requirement for social media strategy.  Content.  A social media presence is pretty easy if the team can regularly contribute content for you to disseminate across the various media.  Also demonstrates how a small firm can punch above its weight when they make a genuine commitment to online marketing. </p>
    0
Avatar
Attach images by dragging & dropping or by selecting them.
The maximum file size for uploads is MB. Only files are allowed.
 
The maximum number of 3 allowed files to upload has been reached. If you want to upload more files you have to delete one of the existing uploaded files first.
The maximum number of 3 allowed files to upload has been reached. If you want to upload more files you have to delete one of the existing uploaded files first.
Posting as
You need to be a member to post comments. Become a member for free today!