Law Firm Marketing: Why Facebook Makes Sense for Lawyers
If you frequent this blog, then you know that I am a huge Facebook fan. The latest statistic I’ve quoted to encourage attorneys to get on board is that this social media juggernaut has 500 million users. And for most of us, that’s a number we have a problem wrapping our heads around.
So let me break it down for you. Here are the top 5 Facebook user states and the penetration level – in other words, the percentage of the entire state’s population that is on Facebook:
- California: 16.6 million users; 45% penetration
- Texas: 10.7 million users; 43% penetration
- New York: 8.5 million users; 44% penetration
- Florida: 7.8 million users; 42% penetration
- Illinois: 7.1 million users; 55% penetration
You can get the user numbers and penetration rates for the rest of the states here.
According to the ABA, the five states with the greatest population of attorneys are: well, just see above. That’s right. California. Texas. New York. Florida. Illinois.
As an angling enthusiast, I know one thing: you gotta fish where the fish are. For a helluva lot of attorneys, your fish are on Facebook. All you need to do is bait the hook.
*********************************************************************
Social Media Marketing for Attorneys: Live Webinar
Attorneys have lots of questions about social media and in this 2-part webinar series I will give you all the answers. Get what you need to know while avoiding common pitfalls and time wasters. By the end of this series you will know if social media is right for your law firm and if so, precisely how to use it to market your law firm, build your online platform, connect with prospects, clients and potential referral sources.
Part 1: Wednesday, September 15th at 3:00 pm ET
Part 2: Tuesday, September 21st at 3:00 pm ET
Each session runs one hour. I really encourage you to register for both sessions, but if you can attend only one, rest assured that each one-hour session is a great standalone presentation on social media strategies for law firms.
Here’s the online registration information:
Register online here for Both Sessions on Wed., Sept. 15 and Tues., Sept. 21, 2010.
Register online here for Part One on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010.
Register online here for Part Two on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010.
http://www.therainmakerblog.com/admin/trackback/220280
Facebook is great and I would rank it number four for professionals and consultants. I think LinkedIn is number one, a WordPress blog is number two, Twitter is number three, Facebook four and then YouTube number five. The key of course is to add value, not tell people what restaurant you are at.
Isn't it interesting how many lawyers have not gotten into the social networking.
While I blog about my work, I find that I reserve Facebook for friends and family. Should I combine the two or have one for family and one for friends? Strange.
--STEPHEN'S REPLY--
Dee,
Thanks for the comment. The decision of going personal or professional on social media is a difficult one. I have personally made the choice to only use social media for professional reasons. It's cleaner that way for me. While Facebook does not allow you to have 2 different profiles, you can have several different Fan Pages. I highly recommend you look into setting up a Fan Page for your law firm. Give us a call if you need some help or to get you pointed in the right direction.
Stephen
I agree.The difficulty particularly for sole practitioner is time. Fee earning always gets in the way.
I am a firm believer in social media. In addition to a blog that is linked to my website, I have a facebook fan page for my firm (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toronto-ON/Abraham-Law/137130016297906?v=app_4949752878&ref=ts) and use both Twitter and LinkedIn. It is time consuming, but not as bad as one would think.You can write your blog and send a tweet here and there (which can automatically update facebook and linkedIn). Reserve 5 hours a week and you are good. It is worth the time helps keep you stay top of mind - this is the only marketing I do (so far - I am pretty new) and it has resulted in a fair number of referrals.