Social Media in Business Development and Relationship Management

A Guide for Lawyers

By (author) Kim Tasso

Publication date:

01 October 2018

Publisher

Globe Law and Business

ISBN-13: 9781787422391

This Special Report provides a practical introduction to social media for lawyers. By avoiding technical details and jargon, it offers a pragmatic guide on how all lawyers – irrespective of industry sector, firm size or client base – can successfully integrate social media into their marketing, business development and client relationship management programmes. Containing essential information on the benefits and risks of social media in the legal sector, this report examines the social media platforms used by many law firms (LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook) and gives an overview of those less frequently used – enabling lawyers to make an informed choice. As well as featuring practical advice for setting up and using social media as an integral part of a lawyer’s business development activity, this report also offers guidance on: •how to write great blogs and social media posts; and •how to integrate social media into a structured content management plan that supports business development objectives. The report also addresses how central systems, technology and support can be used to ensure that social media plays an effective part of a firm’s business development programmes. In addition to lawyers, this text will be essential reading for marketing and human resource professionals in law firms who want to ensure the effective and sustainable use of social media.

Introduction 7 1. About this special report 7 2. Definitions 8 3. Key platforms 10 4. The rise of social media in the legal profession 11 The business case for social media 15 1. The benefits of using social media 15 2. The risks of using social media 19 3. Guarding against the risks 21 Overview of common social media platforms 23 1. LinkedIn 23 2. Twitter 25 3. Facebook 26 4. YouTube 27 5. Blogging 27 6. Other social media platforms 28 7. Advertising on social media 31 8. Viral – how the platforms work together 32 Developing a plan 33 1. Marketing plan for the firm 33 2. Marketing plan for departments, sectors or offices 34 3. Marketing plan for individual lawyers 36 4. Segmentation, targeting and messaging 42 5. Integration with other marketing, selling and relationship management activities 44 6. Case study: planning content at BakerLaw 45 Using LinkedIn 47 1. Set up a company page 47 2. Individual lawyer accounts and profiles 49 3. Building your profile – step by step 49 4. Promoting your profile 51 5. Sending invitations and managing connections 51 6. Liking, commenting on and sharing others’ material 53 7. Using private messaging and InMail 54 8. Writing status updates and sharing posts and photos 55 9. Endorsements and recommendations 57 10.Publishing articles and blogs 58 11. Using groups 60 12.Case study: LinkedIn use at Thackray Williams 62 13. Large law firms on LinkedIn and Twitter 64 14.Case study: LinkedIn use at Forsters 64 Using Twitter 67 1. Company and team accounts and profiles 68 2. Individual accounts 69 3. Using public and private lists 69 4. Tweeting 70 5. Interacting – retweeting and commenting 72 6. Hashtags and live tweeting at events 73 7. Case study: Twitter use at Inksters 74 Using Facebook 77 1. Company (and/or group) pages 79 2. Page administration 79 3. Sharing content on Facebook 80 4. Case study: digital marketing at Wollen Michelmore 80 Blogging 83 1. General guidelines 84 2. Writing tips 84 3. Effective titles and tweets 91 Content development and management 97 1. The benefits of a content management plan 97 2. Content creation 98 3. Moderating and content curation 99 4. Case study: content creation at Clutton Cox 100 Central management 103 1. Plan 103 2. Policies 105 3. Manage domain names and account hierarchies 105 4. Brand, style and tone of voice 105 5. Analytics and monitoring effectiveness 105 6. Training and support 107 7. Disaster recovery plans 108 8. Tools to support management 109 9. Case study: digital marketing at Forsters 114 Conclusion 119 About the author 120

The special report’s appearance, structure and presentation make it easy to handle, read and absorb. It is a by-your-side checklist for all the key aspects of social media.