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3 Social Media Challenges for Law Firm Marketing

Jun 21, 2018 | Legal

social media challenges

If you’re using social media channels to market your legal practice, you’re certainly not alone. Nearly everybody in the industry uses social media marketing now, according to the Attorney at Work Social Media Marketing Survey. In fact, 96% of lawyers surveyed are trying to turn Facebook likes, Twitter retweets and LinkedIn connections into new clients. With this landscape rapidly changing, however, firms will face increasing social media challenges trying to market their services this way.

1. Facebook Users Are Losing Trust & Scaling Back Engagement

In 2018, it’s more difficult than ever to get actual leads from your social media marketing efforts. What worked to bring your firm new business five (or even two) years ago may not work today. Facebook in particular has struggled to answer to charges that it mishandled users’ data during the most recent election cycle. As a result, more and more folks are simply deleting their Facebook accounts or significantly scaling back on their use.

But don’t despair! Despite Facebook’s ongoing social media challenges, it’s a still a powerful marketing tool for attorneys. You simply must be willing to change up your marketing strategy as conditions warrant to overcome new social media challenges.

2. Algorithm Changes Make Pay-to-Play the Only Way to Get Your Firm Noticed Online

Lower engagement on posts you don’t pay to promote is one of the biggest social media challenges for firms today. Many “virtual” practices popped up in recent years, and smaller firms and solo practices nationwide are very active on Facebook. According to the Attorney at Work Social Media Marketing Survey Report, 70% of law firms today say Facebook plays an active role in their marketing strategy. But if you can’t pay to play in 2018, expect your organic reach to fall well below 2% — if it hasn’t already — thanks to changes in platform algorithms to prioritize paid reach. In other words, the days of getting free clicks and engagement just for posting quality content on Facebook are over. Attorneys must now use Facebook advertising to get eyes on their marketing content or newest blog post.

If Facebook’s no longer working well for you, you’re probably tempted to try exploring other social media channels. Last year, 47% percent of lawyers said they regularly used Twitter. This number recently jumped to 59%, which means the competition for engagement and leads is heating up there, too. LinkedIn is still very popular with lawyers, just a little less than it was last year. The survey showed 89% reported using it regularly last year compared with 84% in 2018.

3. 67% of Lawyers Spend 33% of Their Time Handling Social Media Marketing Tasks Themselves

Time spent on social media feels like a useful lead-gathering effort, which is why so many attorneys engage in it. The Attorney at Work Social Media Marketing Survey Report found 67% of lawyers handle all social media marketing activities themselves. But the problem is, social media challenges make these marketing efforts less effective at bringing in high-quality legal leads. This shrinking metric is a real issue for solo legal practitioners and small law firms. The 2017 Clio Legal Trends Report found lawyers spend 33% of their time on business development tasks, including social media. Yet there’s no question that recent social media challenges mean the same efforts are producing fewer leads online.

Clearly, there’s a disconnect between attorneys’ time management for marketing their practice on social media and their desired results. Outsourcing your lead generation needs to a proven client acquisition industry leader like LeadingResponse can help close your revenue gap.

Overcoming These Social Media Challenges to Maintain Monthly Lead Volume

Your time’s better spent working on existing cases — not wading through the latest social media algorithm updates and drafting posts to generate new leads. Let LeadingResponse keep your pipeline full of highly qualified leads, right in the target location and practice area you prefer.

Complete the form on this page for a free evaluation of your lead volume needs and availability today.

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