You’ve heard that Social Media Marketing is important for your law firm… but what’s the BEST social platform to grow your business? After all, it can be time-consuming to be everywhere at once. Legal professionals got to prioritize!
Well, we’re here to break it down for you, highlighting the best social media platforms for lawyers, why they’re great, and how to use them. Plus, we’ll cover the essential best practices to follow to make sure you get the best results from your law firm social media marketing.
Top Social Media Platforms Lawyers
Whether you’re already on some social media platforms or are just getting started, it’s helpful to know which channels have a track record of the best results. Here are the top social media platforms, in order, to help you grow your legal practice.
1. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the leading social media platform for legal professionals for many reasons. For one, over 90% of executives, business owners, and job seekers use LinkedIn on a regular basis. This makes LinkedIn prime real estate for law firms wanting to advertise their corporate and/or individual legal services. Also, LinkedIn is primarily a professional networking site, meaning it’s a great place for lawyers to form partnerships and generate referral business.
In addition to its “organic” (posts, articles, videos, etc.) posting capabilities, LinkedIn also had its own advertising solution, LinkedIn Ads. With LinkedIn Ads, legal professionals can target specific audience demographics, locations, and interests, driving relevant leads for their firm.
Why it’s great:
- Organic and paid marketing solutions
- Visibility via LinkedIn’s “search” function
- Opportunities for professional partnerships and referrals
- Various content types to demonstrate expertise and thought leadership
- Near limitless reach and traffic potential via LinkedIn’s large user base
2. Facebook
Facebook is one of the longest-running social media platforms, and for good reason. Facebook allows individuals and business owners to connect with friends, loved ones, potential customers, and other businesses. Legal professionals can share organic content (posts, images, videos, etc.), host Facebook Live videos, run Facebook Ads, create and join Facebook Groups, and so much more.
Facebook Ads’ targeting capabilities are top-tier, allowing businesses to add a “pixel” on their websites to track user interactions and interests. Law firms can run ads for specific locations and audience demographics, driving website traffic and leads.
Facebook can also be used to build an engaged community, interacting with existing and potential clients, posting valuable content, addressing common legal questions, and sharing company updates. This is a great way to build trust and generate leads.
Why it’s great:
- Facebook Groups for building community
- Content posting and videos to build audience trust
- Paid advertising capabilities
- Facebook Live to address user questions, host interviews, etc.
- Optimized Facebook business Pages with reviews, Calls to Action (CTAs), and service links
3. YouTube
YouTube is the world’s leading video content platform and a prime place for marketing your legal services. Video content is highly engaging, capable of going “viral” on YouTube and in search engines, and can be used to grow a massive following. Law firms can benefit from YouTube when it comes to gaining subscribers, growing their website traffic, and generating leads.
The key to YouTube is to be consistent with posting unique and valuable videos. Create videos that address the common concerns your prospective clients are facing. Mix it up with videos that introduce your team, highlight client success stories, and/or demonstrate your experience.
Why it’s great:
- Massive visibility potential on YouTube and Google
- Limitless subscriber and view time opportunities
- Compounding growth, even on old videos
- Highly visual platform to build trust and engage followers
4. Instagram
Instagram isn’t just for bloggers and influencers—it’s a powerful social media platform that draws in a large user base and tons of engagement. All businesses (yes, even law firms) can leverage Instagram to grow a following, form professional partnerships, land speaking opportunities, and advertise services.
Users love Instagram for its variety of content types, from images and Carousels to Reels, pre-recorded videos, and Stories. There are many ways to drive engagement through eye-catching photos, informative videos, “behind-the-scenes” Stories, and responding to user comments.
Why it’s great:
- Variety of content types, from images and videos to Stories and ads
- Highly engaged audience interested in thoughtful, informative content
- Creative medium for demonstrating expertise and humor
- Native advertising platform with insightful analytics
5. X
X (formerly Twitter) is a short-form social media platform best known for “quippy” posts, trending stories, and quick updates. While most popular with political leaders, CEOs, and influencers, X is also an effective marketing tool for legal professionals.
X isn’t necessarily the place for long-winded articles. Instead, focus on sharing short “think pieces”, stories, company updates, images, and videos. Much of the success of X marketing relies on your interactions with followers; be sure to respond to comments, address user questions, and engage with similar accounts.
Why it’s great:
- Efficient for sharing company updates and legal news
- Quick medium for posting stories, testimonials, or think pieces
- Easy to manage; does not require many Creative resources
6. TikTok
Most popular among the younger demographic (35 and under), TikTok is a fast-growing social media platform consisting of pre-recorded and live videos. It may not be immediately obvious that TikTok is a place for the legal industry, but you’d be surprised—most of the leading attorneys are active on TikTok!
There are many examples of attorneys who have gained a large following on TikTok and amassed new clients as a result of TikTok marketing. Many of these accounts cover the complexities of the legal process, legal news stories, and the like. So, don’t sleep on this powerful platform!
Why it’s great:
- “Virality” opportunities with click-worthy videos
- Huge user base; potential for leads and website traffic
- Large platform for demonstrating thought leadership and growing your personal brand
7. Reddit
Many legal professionals forget about Reddit as a social media platform, but it has a giant user base and presents great potential to drive website traffic for your firm. It is essentially a question-and-answer platform, where posters ask questions and the community answers. Legal questions are super common on Reddit.
As a legal professional, you can scan the legal-related subreddits for questions from users, and answer them based on your experience. You can even direct users to relevant resources and blog articles on your own website. You never know, this could result in new clients!
Also, sharing your content on Reddit can help earn you backlinks from other publishers and bloggers. “Backlinks” occur when another website links to your site. This can benefit your website SEO, thus improving your Google rankings and traffic over time.
Why it’s great:
- Q&A-based platform to engage with the community
- Opportunities for media mentions and backlinks
- Potential website traffic and leads by demonstrating value
Social Media Best Practices Every Lawyer Must Know
No matter which social media platforms you market your law firm on, there are a few best practices to follow. For one, all of your content on social media should relate to the interests of your audience and/or the services you offer. Avoid getting too controversial or political in your content, as this can alienate your audience.
Also, you don’t need to be everywhere at once. Focus on the social media platforms your prospective clients are likely to use most, and then stay consistent there. It’s better to build an engaged and active community on one platform than to lose steam trying to maintain multiple platforms/audiences.
Here are some social media best practices every lawyer should know:
Quality is better than quantity
Focus on posting social media content that’s valuable, well thought out, and relevant to your audience, rather than posting content for content’s sake. It’s better to post great content than to stress about posting a certain number of times per day or week.
Stay consistent in your branding
Make sure your visual content (images and videos), as well as brand voice, are consistent in all of your content. That means using your established brand colors, fonts, and logos for consistency. Stay focused on your primary target audience rather than going too broad in your approach.
Interact with your followers
The purpose of social media isn’t to post content and then log off. It’s important to respond to user comments, direct messages, and questions so you’re actively building a community. This is what increases engagement and generates real leads, not just passive followers.
Review your social analytics
Every social media platform has its own analytics tool. Review this data on a regular basis to see what types of posts are performing well, whether your accounts are growing, or if certain areas need to be improved. This will also help you prioritize the platform(s) that are generating the best results for your business.
Experiment with different content types
Don’t limit yourself to just text-based posts, as this can get boring. Mix it up by adding images, videos, Stories, live videos, memes, etc. to keep your platforms visually interesting. This will also allow you to see (in your analytics) which types of posts are drumming up the most engagement from your audience.
Add CTAs
In between informative and educational content, don’t forget to promote your services as well. While you can’t directly solicit new clients (lawyer advertising rules), you can include CTAs in your content encouraging followers to “book a consultation” or visit your website. This can entice users to contact you.
Social Media Management for Your Law Firm
With so many social media platforms to choose from, you might feel overwhelmed when it comes to managing them all. But you don’t have to! With the right agency partner, you can reap all the benefits of social media marketing without taking up your own time and resources.
At Hennessey Digital, we specialize in effective and creative social media marketing services for law firms. That means we create your campaigns, post content, optimize your profiles, and all the things needed to stay active on social. Even better, we measure the results to ensure your marketing investments is paying off!
