Putting the "Social" Back into Social Media: Helping Attorneys Connect with Others

As marketing and business development professionals and coaches, we know we have to teach our attorneys that, like any other marketing and business development tactic, there is no magic bullet. But that by using social media, it will help them create attention and assist in building relationships.

However, in their haste to start using social media, many attorneys with whom I have spoken do not understand that there are many ways to use the platforms and doing so will obtain different results.

Social Media Marketing v. Social Media Networking

There is a huge difference between social media marketing and social media networking. Although these phrases have become interchangeable, if attorneys want to be more effective in using these tools, they must understand the different ways to use them to achieve different goals.

Take out the words "social" and "media" and change the heading to Marketing v. Networking and it becomes a bit easier to teach attorneys the distinction between using social media to become known and using social media to create relationships.

Marketing

Marketing is traditionally a method used to push your message out to the world. Marketing allows you to become known.

Before the advent of the Internet and, subsequently, social media websites, you would have used advertising (print, radio and television); you would have sent direct mail through (gasp) the post office. And there are hundreds of other marketing tactics you would have used to get your name or the name of your firm into the world.

But marketing is about broadcasting to potential clients why you should be chosen over the other attorneys and law firms. Back in the old days (when I started practicing law), it was much more difficult to get your name known. And, if you did, it was usually only on a local or state level. Now, with social media, you can become nationally known (or even world-famous) for your knowledge and expertise.

Good marketing distinguishes one attorney from the other attorneys; great marketing positions that attorney as the client's only choice. And while we have been trying to get attorneys to use social media for eons, many were still not doing so. Since the world went into quarantine, many lawyers are finally using social media and content marketing to distinguish themselves from the other attorneys out there.

Today, most social media is about marketing. It's about broadcasting the messages across the platforms. It's also about trying to get likes, clicks and comments. When the likes, clicks and comments aren't forthcoming, many attorneys have been taught (or read somewhere) that they should tag and mention people in their posts and comment sections, which in many instances is self-serving and, frankly, feed hijacking. I teach that it is unacceptable to tag others just to get attention — for example, tagging influencers or every single one of your friends. Your content should be what grabs their attention.

Instead, lawyers need to be taught to tag others when:

• They share someone else's content;
• They quote others in their own content; or
• They are sharing something they know would be of interest to another.

The main reason for attorneys to use social media for marketing is to become well known and establish themselves as the go-to-authority for their ideal clients and referral sources.

Networking

Networking is the art and, yes, the science of meeting people and creating relationships that will lead to new business, referrals, friendship, etc. You can network with people to increase your knowledge as well.

Again, in the old days, networking was more localized. You only went to networking events in your geographic area. Sometimes you went to national or international conferences and were able to meet people from other states or countries. But it was almost always in person, and sometimes over the phone.

Social media has made it possible to meet with people all over the globe. You can create relationships with people with whom you have never met in person. And, done correctly and, more importantly for attorneys, ethically, you can get new clients and referral sources from social media.

When I first began to use social media, I was taught to treat it as if you were at a giant cocktail party or networking event:

• Introduce yourself;
• Join in conversations; and
• Create relationships and get to know people.

It was true social media networking (I miss those days). What is interesting is that there are certain platforms and groups (including a legal marketing group to which I belong) that are still using social media as a networking platform, but our attorneys are not using it that way as much.

Nowadays, social media networking has been primarily replaced by social media marketing. Attorneys can — and should — be taught to once again use social media for networking purposes, or at least as a way to introduce themselves online to potential referral sources and prospective clients and begin connecting to create those relationships. This is particularly true during the times within which we are currently existing (I would say living, but being quarantined at home is not living).

Social Media During a Pandemic (and Beyond)

If there is any time in our history in which we could realize the promise of putting the "social" back into social media — the way it was intended — it should be now. People are isolated at home and are begging to connect with others. But, in many instances, and for many attorneys, that promise is not being fulfilled. They are using the platforms to showcase their authority and knowledge, but not as much for networking purposes.

There is nothing wrong with that. There is an oft-used cliché that we tell our attorneys: "People do business with people they know, like and trust." Social media can be used to show their target audience and the public what the attorney knows, and if they are personable in their social media posts (i.e., authentic and write for their audiences rather than in legalese), they can achieve the "know" and "like" portion of the equation. But to achieve the "trust" segment of the cliché, they will have to create and maintain relationships.

There is something that lawyers can do to achieve the goal of creating, deepening and maintaining relationships on social media. Much like going to an in-person networking event, obtaining business cards and then inviting that person to lunch or coffee, the attorney can use social media to connect with someone for the first time and then find another way to begin building the relationships they need to turn these contacts into clients and referral sources. They should also be communicating with their current clients and referral sources to deepen their relationships and contacting former clients to find out how they are doing.

Prior to the world health crisis, we would have suggested coffee or lunch meetings for our attorneys to begin or to reinforce their relationships. Now, the use of virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype and Facetime just to stay connected to others can also be used for business-development purposes. Any platform, including the telephone, that is real-time, synchronous, communication can be substituted for any of the in-person networking activities we would have suggested to our attorneys.

Relationships can be started and built using both social media and platforms that use contemporaneous communication; it's a matter of teaching our attorneys how to do so.

Conclusion

Both social media marketing and social media networking are important. Attorneys who use both wisely (and ethically) will find that they can position themselves as the go-to authority in their practice area or niche and create relationships that deepen, thus allowing referral sources and clients to follow.

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Jaimie B. Field, Esq. is The-Rain-Maker. She works with Midsize and AMLAW lawyers and firms to teach and coach attorneys how to build big books of business ethically. She believes in her motto: "Rainmakers are Not Born; They are taught.™" and has proven it for more than 18 years with over a 6,000 attorneys attending her webinars, seminars, coaching classes and individual coaching.