Social Media Advertising for Lawyers: Are you doing it right?

Social media marketing concept image with business icons and copyspace.

Most law firms utilize pay-per-click advertising through Google AdWords to target potential clients but have yet to jump onto social media advertising.  While once thought of as “free marketing tools,” Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn have evolved over the last few years into stellar advertising engines. Each platform serves a different advertising purpose. In today’s social world, as a law firm trying to reach new clients, you must pay to play. The good news is that social media advertising is just like Google AdWords in that you can track exactly how many people saw your ad, clicked on the link and where/if they converted; but, it is much cheaper. You really can’t afford NOT to advertise on social media these days.

What if I told you that I can target an ad specifically to someone who has recently searched for a personal injury attorney, or has Risperdal side effects, or is a maritime worker who is employed by BP? Oh, and the monthly cost is significantly less than any pay-per-click advertising.

THE 411 ON SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING:

Facebook: Your law firm does not need a Facebook business page to advertise on Facebook.

Promoted Posts: Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm now only shows 2 -16% of your fans your Law Firm Facebook Page updates within their News Feed. By paying anywhere from $5.00 – $100.00, you can exponentially increase the reach of a post to your existing fanbase and a much larger audience. You can also target that post or update to reach only a specific demographic.

Ads: YES, people really do click on Facebook ads. Think of it more as suggested content that appears harmlessly in an appropriate user’s News Feed, and not like a screaming used car salesman appearing in the middle of your Criminal Mindsepisode. A well-crafted ad linked to good content and directed towards the right audience can drive hundreds of thousands of website referrals. Facebook’s advertising platform is great for beginners, too. It walks your through each type of ad (yes, you can even track ad conversion on your website).

Twitter: YES, your target demographic is likely on Twitter. I have run campaigns to target specific demographics that a client insisted were not on Twitter, and had a better return on investment (ROI) and higher user engagement than on Facebook.

Promoted Account: Twitter places a tweet in designated users’ twitter feeds promoting your account and explaining why they should follow. This is a great way to attract an active, engaged audience of a specific demographic.

Promoted Tweet: With my personal favorite type of ad on Twitter, you choose previous tweets that have performed well or draft new tweets. There are two ways to target:

  • Keyword: if someone has searched or tweeted a particular word like “Risperdal.”
  • Similar Accounts: identify a few accounts within your target demographic, and Twitter will target your ad to those accounts, their followers, and other similar accounts.

I always test both targeting techniques for one week to see which performs best.

Lead Generation Cards or Twitter cards: This social advertising tool is actually free, and is a killer lead generation tool. Once you complete your Twitter card, when someone expands your tweet, they’ll see a personalized call to action. The user then clicks and can send his or her information directly to you through Twitter.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is ideal for targeting people with white-collar jobs.

Ads: Similar to Facebook ads, LinkedIn offers ads with plain image and text, but takes it one step further by permitting video. You can then target your ads very specifically, by geographical area, by employer, by job description, and of course the standard advertising specifications of age, gender, interests, geography, etc.

Promoted posts: Like Facebook, LinkedIn offers promoted posts.

Google+: Google’s social network has begun rolling out promoted posts to select brands. Only time will tell how G+ advertising evolves and how it will integrate with Google AdWords.

CONTACT STACEY E. BURKE, P.C. FOR SOCIAL ADVERTISING

Interested in finding out how to reach more potential clients inexpensively? I’ve designed numerous successful social advertising programs for a variety of law firm and non-law firm clients. I always dreamed of being a private investigator, and the social searching and profiling I get to do with each new social advertising campaign is like living my dream. Who can I find for you?

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share with friends