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It's 2020. It's not big news that you need to be on social media. But it's not enough just to have an account and post on it occasionally. It's not even enough just to have a strategy. (But in case you don't, I want to stress that you need a strategy.)

So let's assume you have all these things in place and you're still feeling that you need to dig a little deeper for ways to stand out—especially given that in-person networking is likely going to look very different over the coming year. What's next?

What you need is a few power moves to up your game.

Take It Personally

Speaking of brands, your job in 2020 is to treat your social media channels as communities, not press rooms. Yes, you can still share good news, service updates, and operational information. But your primary focus should be to engage your audience.

Both law firms and lawyers need to develop a clear personality and values to have truly meaningful interactions. Authentic is going to win over generic every time.

If you do it right, the opportunity and payoff will make it all worth it. "The pandemic introduced an immediate need for highly responsive and personalized guidance by law firms, and the dramatic spike in social and digital platform use makes them efficient channels, especially in this time of social distancing and remote working," notes Lynn Tellefsen, Chief Marketing Officer at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer.

So how do you generate this personal content? The most surefire way is to present opportunities for your audience to interact with your firm's brand and lawyers. Audiences are drawn to content that lets them ask questions, share their opinions and, in general, participate. They're more engaged when they see themselves reflected in what you are doing.

Need a few ideas to start with?

• Ask Me Anythings (AMAs) pertaining to your practice areas
• Any kind of video, live or prerecorded, on the Stories platform
• Sharing user-generated content (reviews, testimonials, social media posts, and blogs are some accessible options)
• Develop or participate in Facebook Groups around your practice area

Use hashtags to capitalize on existing social conversations—this is especially important for Twitter and Instagram, but also works on Facebook. Not only does this give you the chance to gather information on topics to explore, but it also helps you scan for mentions of your firm.

And a final word about social behaviors. Not your clients' behaviors, but your own. It's easy to get focused on what you're doing and forget that your firm exists in a shared social space. As much as you want others to interact with your content, you need to interact with others.

So don't just sit behind your keyboard and watch the group challenges, memes, and #conversations pass you by. The next time an ice bucket challenge comes around, join in. If you see colleagues tackling new endeavors, share or shout out.

Behavioral Data Analytics on the Rise

There are a couple of ways you can look at data: demographic and behavioral. While demographic data analysis has its place, now is the time to hone in on behavioral data. Metric for metric, behavioral data gives you more bang for your buck. You want to understand how your clients are interacting with you so you better target, segment, and deliver value.

With new consumer behavior patterns emerging from COVID-19 shutdowns, you need to understand the whys of your clients more than ever. Makes sure you're tracking:

• Click-through activity to landing pages and blogs
• Consultation requests, booked meetings, or any successful CTAs
• Search query information
• On-site engagement

"Given that internet and social media platforms have seen a surge in website traffic since stay-at-home orders have been put into place across the country, the importance of finding creative ways to identify and utilize certain outlets for marketing and branding efforts has been underscored in recent months. Firms are working diligently on their content marketing efforts to cut through the noise and reach users in a targeted way, helping them to remain competitive in the marketplace. Every firm has a value proposition, and our new normal can provide different and unique opportunities to brand your firm and market your practice through the art of storytelling," says Krista Egan, Marketing Director at Flaster Greenberg.

To be effective in your targeted strategy, incorporating behavioral analysis lets you provide your audience with a higher degree of personalization. From here, it's a cascade effect: your audience receives more valuable content, which leads to higher engagement and retention.

However, for firms looking to make data-driven decisions, whether through demographic or behavioral data, it's imperative that you're compliant with CCPA and GDPR with regard to what personal information is being collected and used.

Beyond compliance issues, marketers have a strong incentive to evaluate whether they're giving their audience enough value. (Your audience needs a good reason to share your information, after all.) So use it to maximize their user experience, provide valuable resources, and generally build a relationship of trust with them.

Paid Is the Name of the Game

Paid social ads are the fourth most common way for people to discover new products. Not just online—in the whole, entire scheme of things.

It's clear that we all need to be incorporating paid social into our plans. Our audiences are there. The engagement is there. But where do you start?

Although it depends on your specific strategies and tactics, law firms are likely to see the greatest ROI for paid social on Facebook and LinkedIn. Facebook ads offer law firms a lot of flexibility to generate brand awareness, with its biggest value coming from the ability to granularly select those who would most likely need your services. You can even use geofenced ads, targeting people as they enter or leave specific areas and locations. Its analytics are especially good for figuring out what works and, cost-wise, the price is right for most law firms to invest in Facebook ads.

However, LinkedIn provides huge benefits for firms looking for lead generation as opposed to brand awareness. LinkedIn has a highly educated, professionally oriented user base. According to Hootsuite's 2020 marketing report, 80% of B2B leads generated digitally come from LinkedIn. Within the legal industry, 30% of Am Law firms are using paid LinkedIn, and 92% favor the business networking site over other social media outlets.

Get Your Personal Network Moving

Social media has done wonders for our ability to grow our networks. Imagine the challenge of doing business during COVID-19 if we weren't so digitally connected!

Why do we network? To interact and create dialogue with one another. To build relationships and community. When you connect your personal network with your professional one, you help humanize it and create a shorter distance between your firm and your audience.

One of the best ways to build these connections is through industry-specific communities on LinkedIn and Facebook. Through these networks, you can ask questions, join conversations, share events and resources, and more. It's really as easy as it could get.

LinkedIn in particular is a robust network for these connections. People who engage in discussions within LinkedIn groups get four times more profile views on average than other LinkedIn members. If you're just liking posts or scrolling through, you're not going to get the same return as if you comment and provide helpful insight on posts.

For firms looking to step ahead of the competition in 2020, taking a more personal approach to content and networking, refining your metrics, investing in paid social, and streamlining your channels can pay off.

 

Amanda Sexton is the founder of FocusWorks Marketing in Denville, an agency that uses the power of digital marketing to grow brands and businesses. Amanda is also the current Marketing Chair of New Jersey Legal Industry Providers.