07/14/2011
More lawyer marketing professionals should include social media, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other sites in their media mix to enhance their Internet marketing efforts. As social media becomes more entrenched in the every day lives of an ever-growing number of consumers, research has begun to show both the dramatic pervasiveness of social media and its impact on behavior offline.
According to new research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported by eMarketer, “31% of social network users are on Facebook several times a day and an additional 21%of respondents use the site about once a day.” Further, the study found that 57% of female respondents and 48% of male respondents posted a comment once a week.” Even more importantly, the article reports that in a study by ROI Research it was shown that 60% of social network users were “at least somewhat likely to take action when a friend posted about a product or service on a social media site.”
While lawyer marketing professionals can’t be certain what type of action would be taken based on comments made about their clients’ law firms or lawyer blog postings, the trend could certainly be toward recommending the law firm to more of their social network. Social media has become the new word-of-mouth in lawyer marketing resulting in peer-to-peer referrals that have always been the mainstay for capturing new clients in nearly all law firm marketing efforts.
Lawyer marketing programs should include social media in all elements of its Internet campaigns, not limit social media to its own silo. Including social media sharing tools on websites, lawyer blogs and other online channels can help create word-of-mouth that can elevate your law firm’s brand and online presence.
Just having an informative, user-friendly lawyer website is only the starting point for attorney Internet marketing. The benefits of a legal blog and social media platforms integrated into all online efforts clearly are the way to go to take advantage of the influence of social comments on prospect behavior.
For more information on integrating social media for lawyers into your lawyer marketing program or websites for attorneys, contact Rene Perras.
