In today’s digital age, social media is not only a powerful tool to connect with people but also a keystone for building trust for your firm. People nowadays, check out reviews and likes on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, etc., before hiring a service or purchasing a product. So, your prospective clients are surely checking on social media for lawyers, before they decide to hire your services.
They are interested in learning who is representing them legally and social media possesses the potential to convince them about your firm’s service quality. So if you want, to stay ahead of your competition, you need to understand how social media can effectively build trust and create the authority of your law firm.
In this article, we are highlighting ten ways lawyers can build client trust via social media:
1. Quality content on social media platforms
We believe as a lawyer, you have already created your profile on various social media platforms. Now to ensure that clients see your profile and stay long enough to engage or connect with you, it is imperative to have engaging content on your social media pages. For this purpose, you have to:
- Identify who are your potential clients, what they want, and why they want it.
- Identify your competitor law firms. Scrutinize their content and see what they are offering as well as where their services lack.
With the help of this information, you can strategize and prepare quality content for your social media platforms. The content should cover the needs of your potential clients as well as fill the gaps in the services that your competition is listing.
2. Know where your prospective clients are
Even though LinkedIn is popular, your single LinkedIn profile is not enough to influence new clients. You have to understand the outreach potential of each social media platform to get to prospective clients. For example, if you are advertising for corporate law, LinkedIn is the best platform because of its authoritative and B2B nature, whereas if you are advertising for family law, you should definitely have a presence on Facebook and Instagram as they are consumer-focused platforms.
3. Engage your clients
Just writing quality content and knowing where your prospective clients are on social media platforms is not enough. You must respond and engage with your clients. For example, if you are broadcasting a Facebook Live stream or posting an Instagram Story, and you see comments, questions, or likes, make sure to respond. By encouraging interaction, you can know more about them. This will give a face to your law firm’s brand. By engaging with your prospective clients, you can not only build your brand but also build trust.
4. Establish thought leadership
As a law firm, you get the opportunity to showcase your expertise to your prospective clients through social media platforms. But to establish your brand as a thought leader, you must understand the subtle balance between giving information and selling your service. Simply follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of your content and responses to clients must be informative and resourceful that portrays your expertise and 20% should be about the promotion of your law firm’s brand and quality services.
5. Tell your brand story
Your clients need to connect with your brand so that they can trust your lawyers and law firm’s services. Use social media to tell your brand story and ensure you humanize it. This helps in forming an emotional connection with your potential clients which helps in winning their trust and loyalty.
6. Monitor conversations around your firm
Lawyers should engage in brand listening with these social listening tools. Use branded keyword searches on social media, and know what everyone is saying about your firm. Tactful use of this tool can not only give you an opportunity to showcase your expertise but also prepare your firm for controversies and negative PR.
7. Ask your clients to review your firm
Reviews help in building trust for your law firm. Clients read reviews on social media platforms to form an opinion about your law firm. So asking existing clients to give reviews about your firm’s services is a great way of leveraging social media for lawyers. For tips on securing reviews for your firm, check out our past blog: The Importance of Client Testimonials for Law Firms.
8. Create informative YouTube videos
Your clients may not understand all legal terminologies. Hence, it is great to add an informative YouTube video to your blog post to explain relevant topics or discuss current legal trends. They have a huge appeal and can attract new potential clients. Make sure the facts and content on the video are authentic as you showcase the expertise on social media.
9. Keep sharing regular blog posts and news updates
Regular blogging with valuable information and sharing the latest legal updates can make your firm socially engaging and stand apart from your competitors.
10. Use ‘Skill and Endorsement’ section of LinkedIn wisely to advocate for your firm
Don’t forget, your clients and corporate firms, do check your LinkedIn profile. The ‘Skill and Endorsement’ section plays a vital role in setting your firm’s brand image. So it is important to ensure that you are endorsed only for the skills you actually have. Anything untrue can be detrimental to your law firm’s image.
Takeaway
By now you understand how vital social media is if you want to get more clients. It brings a huge opportunity to market your skills and build trust for yourself or your law firm. Make sure to be consistent in your blog posting and it’s imperative to find a balance – neither under do nor overdo it. You must understand the basics of social media and then present your ideology to your prospective clients.
Remember, social media is for building connections and networking. Ensure to connect with your clients as much as possible and respond to their queries or comments quickly.
SOURCE: Good2bSocial
