10 Law Firm Social Media Post Ideas: How to Grow Your Legal Business Online
A law firm that wishes to stay competitive in a fast-paced digital world can’t afford to ignore the power of social media. It’s such a powerful marketing tool that can build connections, and increase engagement and lead generation.
However, social media marketing campaigns can be time-consuming, given your other roles like meeting clients, paperwork, caseloads, etc. Moreover, coming up with post ideas for social media can be overwhelming for lawyers, given their workload.
That’s why we’ve prepared this post. Here, you’ll find information on how to get started with social media and social media post ideas for law firms.
Why Lawyers Should Use Social Media
In January 2023, there were 4.76 billion active social media users, according to DataReportal. This was a sharp increase compared to 2021’s 3.5 billion users. Needless to say, that’s a vast market with the potential to bring in a ton of return on investment (ROI) for your law firm.
So, if you haven’t made your presence on social media yet, or are not as active as you’d want to be, here are the top reasons why you should care:
Acquire new connections
A survey by the American Bar Association shows that 76 percent of individual lawyers use social media for professional purposes. Of this, 35 percent have reported getting clients as a result, either directly or through a referral.
Smaller firms (2-9 attorneys) get even better results: with 42 percent gaining clients through social media marketing.
Increase engagement with the community
Social media platforms give you the best channel to engage with potential clients and the community, as a whole. By sharing trending topics using hashtags on Twitter, for example, you can offer your own commentary that’s thought-provoking.
You can also share educational content with the community, including your prospects, on legal issues. Sharing relevant content that’s helpful to clients will help your firm stand out and remain top of mind when potential clients need your legal services.
Drive traffic to your website
Social media helps grow organic traffic to your law firm’s website. For example, you can create a blog post about how personal injury settlements work or what happens during a personal injury claim.
You can then share the link on your social networks to direct people to your blog where they will find useful information about questions they might have.
Once on your website, they will be prompted to fill out an online form where your potential clients provide their email addresses, which are automatically added to your email list.
Increase your brand awareness
Social media offers you the opportunity to not only build your law firm’s brand but also stand out among the competition. By publishing relevant content that addresses a client’s pain points, and offering the solution, you’ll be establishing your place in the market as a reliable and trustworthy brand.
Over time, with targeted marketing, your prospects will learn more about you, your services, and your law firm’s culture. Eventually, you’ll build credibility and reputation, and demonstrate the type of services you undertake.
Understand your clients better
Social media provides valuable consumer data that helps you to know them better. This data can prove instrumental when formulating your social media marketing strategies and ensure you create content that’s relevant and appealing to your target market.
How to Get Started with Social Media Marketing
There’s no doubt that a strong social media presence is the best way to grow your legal business. But where do you begin? Here’s how to get started with social media marketing for law firms:
Determine your goals
The journey to any successful business venture starts by setting S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound) goals. Goals enable you to measure the results of your marketing campaigns and ROI.
When creating goals, make sure they align with your law firm’s overall marketing objectives, which could include:
- Growing your brand
- Driving leads and sales
- Turning customers into brand ambassadors
- Improving customer retention
Learn all you can about your target audience
The only way to post relevant content is by getting to understand your customers, followers, and fans. Identify their real wants and needs, and you’ll know how to target and engage them on various social networks.
When it comes to creating buyer personas, focus on things like:
- Age
- Location
- Average income
- Job
- Interests, and so on
The best thing about social media platforms is that they give you access to analytics which offer a ton of information about who your audience is, where they live, and how they interact with your brand online.
Decide the networks to use
You need to market to the right audience, and this means choosing the best platforms for your law firm. Each social media platform attracts certain types of users and understanding this can be pivotal to your social media marketing strategies.
For example, Facebook has a wider demographic range, meaning its users span all age groups, genders, and interests. Instagram on the other hand, skews younger audiences (18-34).
It’s important to prioritize social platforms that will have the most impact on your law practice.
Plan your content in advance
Once you’ve selected social platforms to focus on, you’ll need to create a social media content calendar. This way, you won’t be posting content on the fly – which can be stressful and time-consuming – but approach your content posting in a more calculated manner.
Planning your content in advance makes it easier to come up with a mix of content and ensures consistency, which is key in social media marketing. Here are some ideas of things to include when creating your content calendar:
- The type of content (blog post, infographic, etc.)
- The date of posting
- The social media platform you’ll be posting to
- A link to the content
- A brief description of the content
- Important dates to be aware of, such as special holidays (Father’s Day, Veteran’s Day, etc.)
- Links, tags, or hashtags to be included in the post
Schedule your social media posts
Social media posting can take a huge chunk of your workday. To avoid this, invest in a scheduling tool that automatically posts at the right time. These tools take care of all that hard work, leaving you time to focus on what matters the most – your business.
Determine the right social media content mix
It’s important to balance your original content and curated content. Otherwise, you’ll come off as someone who’s leeching off of others’ hard work. On the other hand, if you only share your content, you’ll seem overly promotional and sales-y.
One way to achieve this is to try the 80-20 rule, where:
- 80 percent of your posts inform, educate, or entertain your audience, and
- 20 percent promote your brand.
You want to ensure everything you post is working to support and promote your business goals.
Track your law firm’s social media performance
We mentioned that your first step to getting started with social media marketing is to set goals. These goals will be the benchmark for tracking and measuring your success rate.
If your goal was to increase sales, you can check if the numbers are going up. If it was to improve your reputation, you can check what people are saying about you and the level of engagement.
Knowing how your campaigns are performing will inform your next moves, such as understanding which strategies are working and which ones aren’t.
10 Law Firm Social Media Post Ideas
Well, now you know why social media is important for law firms and how to get started. But, what can you post on these platforms? Here’s a list of social media post ideas for lawyers:
1. Share useful content excerpts
Excerpts are a great way to share informative passages or statistics from your blog content. They tease your audience’s curiosity and lure them to click the link to read more.
2. Post client tips
If you’re a personal injury lawyer, you can post tips about how to avoid accidents or provide a legal glossary explaining common terms that your clients might come across in their cases.
You can also share statistics about local injuries and information related to specific situations, such as liabilities, risks, and safety mechanisms of sporting events, constructions, nursing homes, etc.
If you’re a family lawyer, you can share content about how child custody is decided, how to separate assets and debts in a divorce, or what to look for in a family lawyer.
3. Post law-related questions
Questions can encourage interactions and conversations with your audience. They also encourage participation and engagement and give you the chance to showcase your expertise in the field.
For example, you can post:
- What mistakes did you make during a divorce that you now regret?
- Who gets to keep the dog in your divorce? Why or why not?
- Did you keep the house after your divorce? Why or why not?
4. Post industry-related news
It’s important to keep your clients up to date with everything that’s going on in the industry. Maybe a new law has been passed that affects divorce or visitation rights. Or, you could share news stories about a law firm that’s been fined for violating the rights of its employees.
Sharing interesting stories, current events, and developing legal issues arouses interest and can evoke engagement with your audience.
5. Create educational video series on YouTube or Instagram to increase awareness
Most people don’t understand the legal process or legal terms. You can educate them using short videos that simplify complicated processes and terms, so your audience can better understand what goes on during court cases.
On the same note, consider running a bumper-ad campaign on YouTube to reach more people. These are 6-second unskippable videos on YouTube that appear before a video.
6. Post client reviews
Social proof is like gold in the legal community. People don’t trust easily, especially when it comes to lawyers, and a real client sharing their experience with your firm can win you lots of trusts.
Just be sure to post real reviews from real clients.
7. Share behind-the-scenes photos
People will be more comfortable with your brand and legal team when you show them your human side. Lawyers act professionally and are always serious. While it’s a good thing, you want to be more relatable to clients.
One way to achieve that is by giving people a peek behind the curtains showing your prospects that you’re people too.
Consider posting photos of a birthday party at the office, a funny team-building photo, or casual shots inside your law office.
8. Post your involvement with the local community
Showing your support for initiatives in your local community is a great marketing tool, especially for public relations (PR).
Posting these initiatives on your social networks increases the organic reach of your posts and helps establish your roots in the neighborhood.
9. Awards announcement
Posting your accomplishments online can help cement your reputation and build trust with prospects. Consider posting pictures from events you were honored and awards won at recognized events to show clients that you are active in the legal community.
10. Post funny memes
Just because it’s a law firm doesn’t mean all your posts need to be serious. Memes offer a fun way to educate as well as entertain clients on legal matters.
Just be sure to make the content relevant, relatable, and interesting.
Bonus idea: Create TikTok explainer videos to increase your visibility and gain traffic. For example, you can create legal scenarios and tips to help potential clients.
Closing Remarks
A successful social media marketing campaign can help your law firm grow online. Implementing social media best practices, in combination with these social media post ideas for law firms, will enable you to increase your reach, grow your traffic, and maximize your sales.
