What is Legal PR?
No doubt that even just 10 years ago, the answer to that question would have been quite different. Media relations, which we covered in our last post, is still fundamental and is now supported by a whole host of other elements. One of those is social media, and we'll cover the others in later posts.
We most commonly help law firms to get their message across using Twitter and LinkedIn, but that's not to say that Facebook doesn't have its place.
So what do we actually DO? Well, initially, we map out a client's brand on a strategic basis - to understand what they stand for, who they want to reach and where the business is going over the course of the next 6 - 12 months. Once we understand all of this, we create and start to implement a supporting social media strategy.
Twitter is a great place to start with social media, as it's a bit like entering a giant networking event. You really never know who you're going to meet there! We help our clients to build a following of dedicated fans - but we don't believe it's purely about the numbers. In our experience* it's far better to have a smaller, focussed following made up of target individuals who are interested in what you have to say, who may actually buy from you in the future. On that note - people do buy on Twitter, and don't let anybody tell you that they don't.
With regards to LinkedIn, our role is to enable clients to present the best version of themselves to the world. Who wants to read a stuffy CV-based profile? I want to know the person behind the photograph (you do have a professional headshot on there don't you?), and if you have a personalised profile that actually tells me something about you, I'm more likely to warm to you, and correspondingly, instruct or at least meet with you. We also train clients on how best to use LinkedIn, particularly to build business.
On a firm-wide basis, we create and manage company pages - these are often criminally under-utilised, and create and share content to drive web traffic and new enquiries.
Facebook isn't for every firm... but for those that can harness its power strategically, it's a no-brainer. As with Twitter, we help our clients to build an army of loyal followers, people who will like and share content, provide comments and engage publicly. If your mates like something, well it's got to be worth checking out, right?
So that was our whirlwind tour of social media... If you enjoyed it, please do leave a comment and if you found it useful, why not check out the others on our blog.
*As one of the first practising lawyers on Twitter, Vic knows a thing or two about Twitter
By Victoria Moffatt
LexRex is a specialist consultancy providing strategic PR and marketing support to law firms and businesses that operate within the legal sector. Our services include media relations, social media support and training, award entries, legal directory submissions and copywriting.
If you would like to know more about our services, please drop us an email on info@lexrexcommunications.com. You can also tweet us LexRexComms or @vicmoffatt.
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