Law firm Twitter accounts often suffer from one major issue: they’re downright stale. That’s not a knock on the people who manage them; making the law sound exciting on social media takes a lot of time and practice, because there’s a fine line between sounding professional and sounding boring. And while it’s important to have an air of professionalism on social media, it’s okay to let loose a little. Try some of these dos and don’ts, and let your firm’s personality shine through on social media.
Do leverage the voices of your key attorneys
Law firm Twitter accounts often seem dry and robotic because there’s no humanity behind them, but it doesn’t need to be that way. You have a team of attorneys, each with their own expertise, perspective and opinions. Perhaps a few of them even have their own personal social media following. Pull back the curtain and take advantage of attorneys’ thought leadership by announcing who’s tweeting in your bio, or have attorneys sign off with their initials when a tweet comes from them.
Don’t connect to other social media accounts
Sure, it’s fine to cross-promote. But don’t set up accounts so the same message is posted on every platform you have. This is ineffective (and to put it bluntly, annoying) for a few reasons. First, it discourages people from following you on different platforms. If they’re going to see the same message, why would they follow you in multiple places? Second, the regular, constant posting that works well on Twitter can be irritating on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Do use a unique hashtag
Hashtags are a great way to jump into an existing conversation or create a new one. That doesn’t mean just hashtagging your firm name, however. The trick is to create one that’s more general and based on a common topic or issue that people beyond your firm care about. Legal Marketing Review uses the example of a DUI lawyer using #nevertakeabreathalyzer. It works because it quickly explains what the attorney specializes in, and it’s universal enough that potential clients and other attorneys will want to use it as well.
Do be selective in who you follow
Don’t clog up your Twitter feed by blindly following everyone who follows you—some of those accounts are spammy. Don’t waste your time by following a lot of million-follower accounts that aren’t likely to notice or interact with you. And don’t go on a following spree so that your ratio of “followers” to “following” gets out of whack. Identify and follow people who care about your practice areas and are more likely to retweet and favorite your tweets.
Don’t tweet when you have nothing to say
There’s a common misconception that business accounts should tweet as often as possible, but the quality of content often suffers under this strategy. If you’re grasping for things to tweet about just because you feel like you have to share something, your followers will notice. They don’t care if you tweet exactly five times a day, but they do care whether you’re posting content they like to read. It’s a 21st century twist on what your mother used to tell you; if you don’t have anything interesting to say, don’t say anything at all.
