According to the ABA, 78 percent of attorneys are on several social networks. However, many are not using them correctly. They either (a) use it as just another advertising channel; or (b) they post all the same information across all social media networks; or they (c) don’t engage potential clients and referral sources and make it only about the number of followers or fans they have. They neglect to take into account the unique attributes of each social media site and their results directly suffer because of it.

Here’s what we’ve found works best on the top four social networks for attorneys:

Facebook: the top destination for B2C attorneys, Facebook posts by lawyers get more shares and likes if they contain a personal anecdote or other human element. Directly promoting your firm is a non-starter on Facebook—unless you are talking about your wins. We’ve had several clients who have had great success talking about the wins they have had for their clients on Facebook.

Instead of using direct promotion, add your spin to contemporary news or trends, share an inspirational quote, talk about why you do what you do, talk about how your firm is expanding to help even more people, or post something about your charitable endeavors or the way you treat your staff to a thank you party or a gift certificate for their birthday. By the way, B2B attorneys shouldn’t neglect Facebook. Many of our clients have found it to be a great tool due to its massive number of connections. Other must-do’s on Facebook: photos, video, Call-to-Action button.

LinkedIn: works best for B2B attorneys who know how to work it. On LinkedIn, you have the opportunity to post more in-depth thought leader pieces and share them with your own followers as well as targeted LinkedIn groups whose members will find your topic of interest. The site’s robust search features allow you do prospect for potential clients by searching your current client’s connections by job title or company. B2C attorneys can use LinkedIn to connect with and grow their referral network.

Twitter: immediacy is the watchword for Twitter; it has morphed into a news feed and lawyers should take the opportunity to hop on with insightful commentary on trending topics. You can identify those by checking the trends column on the left side of your Twitter page.

YouTube: if you have not broken into video marketing yet, you are missing a huge opportunity to connect with prospects searching for your expertise! Create a Brand Channel for your law firm, post informational videos and be sure to add relevant keywords so they can be found in search. Google owns YouTube, so having a presence there will help your search ranking.