Wow. Great article over at the ALM Press Room today: 4 in 10 Law Firms Report landing New Clients by Using Social Media, According to ALM Legal Intelligence Special Report.”
According to the ALM Legal Intelligence survey, 49% of U.S. law firms report that blogging and social media have resulted in lead generation and, even more surprising, 41% report that blogging and social media have helped them land actual work. That is a pretty good conversion / closing ratio if you ask me.
The survey was conducted in December 2011 and January 2012 with a sample of “180 law firm partners, marketing professionals and administrators.” Granted, the sample size could have been bigger and there may be some inherent bias in the reports from the marketing professionals, but the results are still impressive.
According to Kevin Iredell, Vice President of Research and Continuing Education at ALM:
The skepticism of a decade ago has given way to a growing appreciation for the ways that blogs and various other social media and networking tools can be deployed to help build the reputation of individual lawyers and practice groups, as well as enhance law firms’ overall marketing efforts.
Hear, hear Mr. Iredell. Hear hear! I have long been a champion of using blogs and social media to help lawyers establish credibility, hone their skills and expertise, and network with other professionals. It is great to see some objective data supporting the idea that blogging and social media engagement is netting positive results (for the record, I don’t consider blogging to be “social media” — blogging doesn’t involve interaction the same way social media does — blogging is like publishing a newsletter, only faster and easier). I always figured the results would start showing up; now they are.
If I were to guess, I would say that the “new work” is likely coming from blogs or LinkedIn. I still don’t see Twitter or Facebook as particularly good business development tools (although they are great for reputation management, keeping up on legal issues, creating a professional following, and spreading your name across the Interwebs). Many “big” firms have branched out and have practice-area specific blogs these days–by publicly displaying their expertise and knowledge, the firm essentially creates a scenario where potential clients come to the table knowing that the firm can fulfill their needs.
Another couple of interesting points:
- Almost 85 percent of law firms now make use of social media and networking tools, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Just over 60 percent said their firms now maintain one or more blogs.
- More than 40 percent said that blogs and social media networks have helped to increase the number of calls their firms receive from journalists in traditional and new media. Likewise, roughly the same number said their presence in the blogosphere and on social media networks had also increased the number of speaking invitations their lawyers receive.
Don’t underestimate the value of this last point. The value of having your name show up in the local newspaper (in a good way) or in a trade magazine cannot be measured. But trust me, it is high. Your credibility skyrockets in the community as the community begins to recognize your name and expertise in particular fields.
I recommend that all lawyers parlay their online social and blogging efforts into other arenas, whether it is the newspaper, industry blogs, seminars or webinars, or what have you. It reminds of an experience I had at my former firm. I had been interviewed for an article in Risk & Insurance about, obviously, social media risks. A week or two after the issue came out, one of the partners came down to my office and said, “How did you get quoted in Risk & Insurance–all insurance defense and insurance coverage lawyers read this.” I told him that I regularly write and tweet on the subject (he had no idea what a tweet was) and that I had done several interviews. He was impressed. Hopefully other subscribers were too.
Hopefully the ALM survey results will hit home. Legal consumers are savvier these days. They are looking up information about you, your practice, and your success. They have hundreds of options to choose from. Are you using blogs and social media to set yourself apart from the competition? If not, now is probably a good time to start.
Oh, and if you ever have an interview request, feel free to email me at tbs@mumfordwest.com. (I’m willing to risk all the spam I will receive from email address harvesters because I know that doing interviews and presentations is mutually beneficial for those involved and extends the exposure of your online presence.)
