08/30/2011
Palm Beach, FL (Lawyer Social Media News)–There is no filter to weed out embarrassing social media public relations disasters on Facebook and Twitter, which pop up on your Facebook wall and Twitter page. These PR faux pas can range from a harmless link that doesn’t necessarily meet the law firm’s brand image to a disgruntled client who decides to air their dirty laundry in a public forum.
These lawyer PR blunders can include controversial opinions, statements taken the wrong way by readers or comments from a former client who was unhappy with a case outcome.
These slip-ups can do serious damage to your law firm’s brand, image, and business if they are not taken care of properly and because of the nature of social media, these missteps can spread like wildfire on the Internet. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment after seeing an unflattering comment made on your law firm’s social media page, but you can actually cause more damage if you act on your emotions. Always be a responder, not a reactor.
Taking a breather, analyzing the situation and consulting with an experienced lawyer marketing and public relations firm is your best bet to recover from the lawyer social media disaster.
The lawyer marketing specialists at Cepac lawyer marketing advise attorneys on how to handle lawyer social media missteps:
• Be Honest: The cliché still proves true: “Honesty is the best policy.” Even in lawyer PR blunders, the public wants honesty. If you posted a comment on your lawyer social media page that inadvertently offended someone enough for them to comment, own up to your mistake. Instead of arguing with your audience, offer-up some good old humility. Coming clean that you made a mistake, and even by making light of it, can help wash away the bad taste in potential clients mouth.
• Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously: Mistakes happen. A fan of your law firm may inadvertently tweet or comment on your law firm’s page about something totally unrelated to your law firm. Instead of sounding off and blowing it out of proportion, make light of the situation.
For example, a comment was posted on a law firm’s Twitter page: Lets get hammered tonight. See you at Joe’s bar. #letsparty.
This could easily be handled by tweeting back saying: “The lawyers at [insert law firm name] drink responsibly. Have fun, party responsibly and get a DD.”
• Don’t Delete the Unflattering Comments: Deleting unwanted comments won’t serve your law firm well. For social media fans that see the comment and then notice an hour later that it is gone, it doesn’t show transparency between the law firm and its clients or fans. Handling the comment in professional manner, even inviting that person to call your office so that the issues can be rectified is a more appropriate way to handle the situation.
• Provide a Sense of Context: If you or one of the attorneys at your firm posted an opinion that sparked some irritation causing less than flattering comments to be posted by a reader, provide the context that caused you to share your opinion if you don’t feel any differently about posting it.
The law firm marketing experts at Cepac Inc. are skilled at creating and implementing top-notch social media campaigns, which target relevant consumers, turning “friends” into clients. Cepac offers effective social media campaigns, which implement proven tactics to build your law firm visibility, awareness and client base.
For more information on law firm marketing, social media campaigns for lawyers or Smart News Technology contact Rene Perras or visit Cepac.com.
