Your law firm uses social media to talk, but is it listening as well? Strategic listening can really move you forward and give you the ROI you want.
Probably not as well as it could be, says Jay Baer in this article. Your firm may tweet up a storm, post regularly on Facebook and make the LinkedIn rounds every week, but chances are it’s not listening for useful business intelligence nearly as effectively as it could be. Social media is a wonderful tool for getting the word out and engaging in conversation, but if that conversation isn’t reciprocal you’re missing out on information your law firm needs. Learn how to listen to make the most of all that social media offers.
Listening to social media involves more than searching for mentions of your law firm by name, although that’s a good start. The thing is, people don’t always use the full, official name and spell it properly when engaged in conversation online, just like in face-to-face chats. It may be abbreviated, mangled, misspelled, referred to by one representative word or even appear as “my lawyer.” That’s one reason to listen for more than specific mentions of your firm. You should be listening for mentions of the partners, associates, staff, clients and anyone else you deal with. Effective social media listening extends far beyond your own firm, though.
Listen for the names of legal competitors, or anything that affects your practice area, and for conferences your firm attends (or perhaps should consider attending). Listen for challenges and problems clients (and potential clients) are facing, and you’ll be better prepared to show them how your firm can be part of their solutions. Listen to what the people in your practice area want, and what they’re struggling with. Listen to news that could possibly affect your clients, and what your clients are talking about even if it seems unrelated. A savvy legal marketer is in tune with not just the big stuff going on in the area in which your firm specializes, but the mood of the legal industry as a whole, the climate, whims, trends, gripes, jokes, fears, rising stars, ogres, habits and internal squabbles.
When you put effective energy into listening deeply, the things you say through social media resonate more and are timed perfectly to match what’s happening in the immediate lives of your clients and colleagues. More engagement and reposts are sure to follow, along with the respect that comes to those who are truly in tune. Good listening makes for a far more powerful social media strategy.
