Use Social Media to Drive Local Traffic for Lawyers
Traditional local marketing for law firms includes sponsoring local events, advertisements at movie theaters, and handing out items at parades. Though each of these techniques is still very useful for driving local conversions, successful marketing today takes a different route: social media. There are several social media platforms marketers can use for law firms to boost local traffic.
Local Business Review Sites
There are several social media platforms you can use to make your presence known online. These include local listing websites and forums that solicit reviews from their users. These review sites are integral for your business, since, according to eMarketer, 30 percent of consumers rely on reviews to aid in their purchasing decisions.
Begin developing your local presence online by creating a Google My Business page, and then claim your business on websites like Yelp, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, and Hubspot. As the marketer of a law firm, you can continually update your listing pages with relevant content to gain more reviews and attract more local clients. Be sure to answer reviews, both positive and negative, to let your clients know you care about their experience.
Facebook is by far the most popular of social media websites, and thousands rely on Facebook alone to find information about a certain brand. According to this blog post from Search Engine Land, 74 percent of consumers use a Facebook brand page as the desired format for following a brand. Essentially, this means the majority of your clients will be searching Facebook when they’re in need of a good lawyer. Update your Facebook page with your operating hours, contact info, quality content from your blog, local events and activities you’re sponsoring, local prize giveaways, and much more to draw locals to your site.
The ultimate place to gain followers, Twitter is an excellent platform you can use to gain clients and reviews. As you tweet quotes, statistics, tips and tricks, and other information that’s relevant to your specific area, people will follow you and benefit from the information you provide. To improve the local rankings and get your brand name out there, use Twitter cards. These cards provide an accurate summary of your business and services. Refresh the content on each page as your law firm develops new content and information.
Law firms are the perfect source for any legal tips or tricks consumers might want to know. For example, laws vary depending on location so you could easily create infographics, quotes, articles, or videos to meet this need for information, and share them on Pinterest. For example, this blog post from Bohn Law would be great to “pin”. It provides information on the statute of limitations for personal injury in California. Anyone who clicks on the pin will then be directed to the company’s website, which increases their traffic.
YouTube
As a law firm, legal information about certain states and cities is your best asset. Everyone will find themselves in a legal jam at some point, whether it’s a personal injury at work or a car accident. Create YouTube videos with instructions for proceeding through the legalities of common problems. For example, you could post a video on your YouTube channel about the proper steps for handling a rental car accident in San Jose, California. Clients love videos that inform them about the laws in their specific area.
LinkedIn is an especially good place for law firms to add a company page. LinkedIn is revered in the business world as a sophisticated platform with content, reviews, and local information users can trust. An updated LinkedIn company page is one of the best things you can do to make your brand appealing to local clientele.
Social media is integral for informing clients about your brand, so they’re willing to do business with you. According to this post, written by Inc.com contributor Courtney Rubin, half of all consumers use social media to make decisions. This is due mostly to the fact that consumers rely heavily on reviews from others, and social media is the best place to build those reviews. Law firms can gain even better reviews by staying up to date with social media and interacting with their followers.
[image error]
