Social Media Best Practices for Law Firms

Post on 15-Jul-2015

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Transcript of Social Media Best Practices for Law Firms

Best Practices for Social Media

Peter Boyd, Esq.

General Guru at PaperStreet Web Design

Twitter.com/peteboyd

linkedin.com/in/generalguru

plus.google.com/+PeterBoyd/

Peter T. Boyd, Esq.

I am a Geek…

• Attorney (Florida Bar 2001)

• Practiced IP Law

• My True Love is Computers

• Petitioned UF Law to allow Programming in C as a foreign language class.

• Founder of PaperStreet in 2001

• Helped 850+ Law Firms

My First Computer (circa 1986)

@peteboyd on TwitterOn Google+, FB and LinkedIn too

Websites

Your website is the base of all your marketing

This is your:- Social Media- Content- Search- Blogs- Videos- Everything Else

Social Media

The Bar Rules

• All Advertisements are covered.

• Websites

• Print, Video, TV & Radio

• Direct mail & Email

• Social Media

• ….sand script, signal flags, hieroglyphics, and any forms of communication are covered too.

Bar Rules: Social Media

• Purely Social – No Rules. Party On!• Promoting the Law Firm – Obey the Rules.• Objectively Verifiable & Don’t Mislead, Omit or Lie.• Don’t solicit directly unless a current relationship.• Not responsible for comments• Social Media is not required to be filed (including Videos).• Contact Information on profiles (and in the posts of Twitter).• LinkedIn – Do not use Skills and Expertise area.• Testimonials – Go ahead and use with disclaimer.• Past Results – Go ahead and use so long as verifiable.• Names: Don’t use another lawyer’s or law firms name.

• Enhance your Firm’s Brand

• Attract New And Existing Clients

• Build Credibility Online

• Become Bullet Proof When you are Googled

Why Social?

Best Practices for Social

• Listen First

• Engage when Relevant

• Share Content and Ideas

DESIGN FOR SOCIAL NETWORKS

• View: Designs viewed on wide range of devices & networks

• Brevity: Be Brief and Succinct.

• Show Photos: Photos in posts are always viewed more.

• Consistency: Be consistent across your networks.

• Easy: Keep a common design and use across all networks.

Programs to Use to Consolidate(Make Life Easy)

• HootSuite

• Wordpress Plugins

Other Tools

• Canva - https://www.canva.com/

• Evernote - https://evernote.com/

• Skitch - https://evernote.com/skitch/

DESIGNING FOR YOU TUBE

DESIGNING FOR GOOGLE+

DESIGNING FOR LINKEDIN

DESIGNING FOR FACEBOOK

DESIGNING FOR TWITTER

A GOOD LAW FIRM EXAMPLE

A GOOD LAW FIRM EXAMPLE

WHAT TO AVOID

NO COPY OR TEXT IN COVER AREA

NO COPY OR TEXT IN COVER AREA

Other Tips

• Test, Test, Test

• Use Analytics to some degree….

• Follow other Accounts

• Like in real life, make others feel welcome.

• Don’t make it all about the law.

• Stumble Upon / Pinterest to Find Ideas

• Relate to your Audience

Other Networks

Best Practices for Social

• Listen First

• Engage when Relevant

• Share Content and Ideas

Three Thing You Can Do Right Now

1. Follow 5 similar accounts and “like,” reshare, favorite or comment on at least three of their recent posts (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn)

2. Create a group with a flattering name and add at least 10 accounts (Twitter, Google+)

3. Join relevant groups (LinkedIn, Google+) and post at least once a week, but comment, like, share posts in the group at least three times a week.

Follow Us on Social Media

facebook.com/paperstreet – Facebook

plus.google.com/+Paperstreet – Google+

linkedin.com/company/paperstreet/ - LinkedIn

youtube.com/paperstreetwebdesign – YouTube

pinterest.com/paperstreetweb/ - Pinterest

@paperstreetweb – Instagram

@paperstreet – Twitter

Peter Boyd, Esq., General Guru at PaperStreet Web Design