I’ve heard all sorts of excuses from attorneys that don’t want to take on social media. They are typically holding on to outdated information to justify their position. But turning a blind eye to one of the most useful and least expensive ways to market your law firm only ends up hurting you in the long run.
Here are the first 5 of 10 social media myths you need to let go of (come back here tomorrow to see the rest of them):
Myth #1: Social media is an invasion of my privacy.
Using social media to market your law firm will not compromise your personal privacy unless you post personal things on your law firm profiles — something I would urge you not to do. Many attorneys have social pages for their firms and separate accounts for their personal lives. There are stringent privacy controls on all the major social networks and they are all under your control.
Myth #2: I don’t have the time for social media.
There are actually two fallacies at play here: one, that you have to be on social media all the time for it to work for you, and two, that you have to manage all the accounts yourself. First, quality always trumps quantity so posting several times a day just for the sake of posting will do nothing for you. You should only post when you have something of value to offer your followers. All social networks allow you to pre-schedule your posts, so you can schedule a week’s worth or more at a time. Second, you have the choice of working with a reputable legal marketing firm who can take over your social media marketing for you. Just be sure it is one that has experience working with law firms so they are aware of the rules governing social media for attorneys.
Myth #3: I’m opening myself up for negative comments.
Your putting up a Facebook page is not going to encourage negative comments. People who want to post something nasty about you already have a venue for that — it’s called the Internet. Admittedly, one of the downsides to social media is the trolls out there who like to post controversial comments. You do have the ability to ban them from your pages, so if you do get trolled, just ban them and delete the commentary.
Myth #4: I’ll get lost in the shuffle.
Yes, social media is a crowded space and that is because everyone is on it — which is actually the reason you should be there as well. Statistically speaking, since attorneys as a group are slow to adapt to change, chances are most of your competitors are not engaged on social media, which clears the field for you to make an impact. If you keep offering valuable content on a regular basis, you will be heard.
Myth #5: Social media is just about selfies and cat memes.
Yes, there is a lot of that kind of stuff on social media, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t also a lot of useful information. When it comes to marketing your law firm, social media is typically not the primary publication source — that should be your blog — but it is a great distribution tool for your content that appears elsewhere. Remember that your goal is to establish an authoritative voice in your area of practice, so stick to content that reinforces that.
