How to Grow Your Small Law Firm’s Social Media Following Online

When utilized correctly, social media platforms can be an excellent way for solo lawyers and law firms to gain exposure and engage with their target audience. Unfortunately, social media marketing efforts will go to waste if you don’t have anyone following or connecting with your profiles and posts. Building a sizable following online isn’t going to be easy, but if your efforts pay off, it could be a game-changer for your legal career.

Know Your Social Media Platform

If you want to grow your small law firm’s social media following, you need to learn your platform. There are many different social media platforms, and you don’t necessarily need to spend your marketing time and budget on all of them. Before you put effort into Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or other platforms, ask yourself this important question: “Where does my target client get their information?”. If the answer is Facebook and Instagram, focus on those. If Twitter is where your potential clients spend their social media time, direct your efforts to Twitter.

Then, learn your platform inside and out. You may have spent time on your personal social media pages, but that doesn’t mean you understand how your law firm’s social media pages and platform will work. Learn how your law firm’s page can gain exposure. You might start using relevant hashtags on your Instagram posts and stories so they appear when users search for those hashtags or accounts that often use them, for example. 

Once you have a better understanding of how these social media platforms work and how their algorithms decide which content is displayed and when you’ll be able to target your social media marketing efforts more efficiently.

Learn What Works

When you are on your personal social media pages, you engage with content that interests you. You’ll comment on posts when you have something to say, like or react to posts when you have a reaction, and share posts because something about it said— “I agree with this!”. Your future followers are no different. The only way to get them to engage with your page is to hold their interest and attention.

If you’re on LinkedIn, you might share content regarding industry insights. But if you’re on TikTok you’ll need short videos to grab your audience’s eye. Video content is growing in popularity and this trend is expected to continue. If your law firm has chosen Instagram for its social media efforts, you should be taking advantage of the Stories and Reels features to connect with your audience. Your Reels can then be discovered in the Explore tab when you use relevant hashtags. This gives you the opportunity to grow your following, and maybe even go viral!

Create and Promote Original Content

Your law firm needs to create and promote original content regularly to grow your social media following.

As previously mentioned, video content is growing in popularity, so consider turning your efforts to attention-grabbing videos for your social media pages. You also need to take the time to develop visuals (images, charts, photos, infographics) that will stop a user mid-scroll. You can’t just repost or share viral memes, though those are sure to get your pages a one-time engagement. When you share content, you’re showing that your law firm is the authority on this subject, and is the obvious choice for potential clients.

It isn’t enough to create and promote original content, though. You should also be keeping an eye on how successful your content is. Tracking analytics is key, and many social media pages make it easy to view post statistics. This allows you to see which content worked well for growing your following and what types of content you should create to continue that growth.

Interact with Your Followers

You can create the most thought-provoking, original content in the legal industry, but if you don’t have a following, it isn’t going to do much to grow it. The single best way to grow your social media following is to engage with your followers and those you would want to follow you. One great way to interact with other social media pages is through Groups. When you join a professional organization’s Facebook Group, for example, you’ll be connected with others who have similar interests.

When you react to and comment on their posts in the group, and engage with them, they are more likely to want to continue to connect with you via your own business page. You can also gain exposure in groups by asking meaningful questions or sharing industry insights. Think of it as social media networking.

You should be prepared to engage with your followers soon after posting original content. Most social media followers expect replies soon after they comment or ask a question. Be ready to hang out in the comments section of your YouTube video for an hour or so after you post it. Make a Story you can share to Instagram notifying your followers that a new video is up and you’re answering questions live for the next hour in the comments section. This also lets your audience know you care about them, which helps build brand trust, loyalty, and credibility.

Social Media Takeaways for Small Law Firms

Growing your social media following will take time and effort. But since social media is only going to continue to be ingrained in people’s lives, your efforts are sure to pay off. Focus your social media marketing efforts on learning your platform and audience, creating and promoting original content, and most importantly, engaging with your dedicated followers. If you do it right, your law firm could find great success through social media marketing.

For more tips and information, download Martindale-Avvo’s complimentary PDF: Social Media Guide for Lawyers.