Marketing Technologies for Law Firms : Seattle Legal Marketing & Technology Consultant : Heidi Sogn Consulting

There are many good reason for lawyers to join a social networking site, such as Facebook (and from this point further, I’m just going to talk about Facebook although much of what I say would pertain to other social networking sites as well). 

Some reasons to encourage your lawyers to join Facebook include:

• Staying connected with many people at one time
  • It helps you to stay in touch with topics of interest and concern to clients.
  • It keeps your face fresh in the client’s mind every time they log on.
  • It “humanizes” you by sharing facets of your life, such as special interests, hobbies, family, pets, etc., that you might not normally have an opportunity to share with a client.
  • There is potential for opportunities in markets (locations) in which you wouldn’t normally have access.
  • You will have access to potential job opportunities. Okay, maybe you don’t publicize this one but it’s true.
• You can create or join interest groups pertaining to areas of practice. These interest groups provide an opportunity to see specific trends and participate in discussions thus getting your name out there as a “go-to person” in your field.
• Various degrees of security allow you to decide what information you’d like to make public, although nothing is ever 100% secure (see Facebook: Friend or Foe).
• Facebook is mobile so you can check in and post updates on the go.
• It allows for sharing of documents, photos, links, videos, you name it.
• Here’s something near and dear to my heart, having a Facebook page will help with your SEO efforts. Facebook is a highly trafficked site so posting links from your Facebook page to your web site will help your web site’s rankings, not to mention getting traffic to your site from your Facebook page itself!
• And, last but not least, did I mention it’s free?

So, that all sounds good but there are some downsides that I must warn you about. Here are some reasons to be cautious when suggesting Facebook to your lawyers:

• It is addicting and can be a major time zapper. 
• It is a great way to stay in touch but it should never replace “real” face time with clients.
• While there are security settings for most everything, there are still security risks. Caution must be used before posting anything on any social networking site, especially when giving out advice or posting documents of any sort.
• Postings should be short and sweet, which can be challenging for people who earn their living with words.
• This brings me to my last warning. Hmm…how can I put this delicately? I’m just going to say it. Facebook is not a place for egos, soap boxes and hard-core sales pitches. Too much self-promotion is going to turn off, or even offend, your clients every time they log on.  The dangerous part is you will have no cues that you’re turning people off like you would have at say, a cocktail party where you would notice subtle things such as glazing eyes, stifled yawns, a sudden need to refill drinks, dash to the bathroom, etc.

So, should you recommend that your lawyers join Facebook? I still think yes but with plenty of caution. Guidelines should be set up and enforced in terms of how much time should be spent at work on Facebook and what types of information are appropriate to post. Lawyers should be reminded that they represent the firm and Facebook is no exception to this. I would also suggest a training session on how to use Facebook itself so they know what they’re doing and aren’t making embarrassing technical mistakes for all to see.

Social networking is not going away. Rather than fight it, I say embrace the technology and the opportunity to reach out to your clients, but do so with a game plan and guidelines. Those who do will be leaders in their field.