Few things are more annoying than being presented with a list of mistakes without any solutions to fix them.

We see many law firms making the same mistakes on social media over and over again. This discourages them from participating and reaping the true rewards that social media offers — engagement with an audience you may not otherwise reach on a broad scale you could never afford to purchase.

Here are some of the most common social media mistakes lawyers make and over the next few days, I’ll be sharing with you the ways to fix them:

1. No social media strategy

2. Taking on too many social media platforms at once

3. Focusing on follower quantity instead of quality

4. Putting too much focus on your firm

5. Treating all social media platforms the same

6. Ignoring the “social” part of social media

7. Neglecting to budget properly for a social media marketing program

Mistake #1: No social media strategy. You should never begin any marketing initiative without outlining a solid strategy and that includes a social media program. When developing a strategy for social media marketing, you need to give serious thought to the “5 W’s and the H”:

Who is your target market

What you want to accomplish

Where you will be participating (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)

When you will be posting for maximum benefit

Why you want to use social media

How you will execute and measure your plan

Here are 20 things you need to consider that will ensure you are developing a social media strategy that will actually help you achieve your overall law firm marketing goals:

1. The reason you want to participate in social media.

2. The overall purpose of your law firm.

3. What you hope to achieve with social media.

4. What your target market looks like.

5. Which social media platforms your target market uses.

6. What information is most important to your target market.

7. What events are important to your target market.

8. What problems you can help your prospects solve.

9. The path your prospect takes from search to buy.

10. Where social media fits within the purchase path.

11. What your brand stands for.

12. What tone you should take in your social media posts.

13. What emotions you hope elicit through text and visuals.

14. What types of content you should post on each platform.

15. What types of content best support your marketing mission.

16. What resources you have to devote to social media.

17. Who should be responsible for running your social media program.

18. How often you should post to social media.

19. How social media integrates with other aspects of your marketing program.

20. How you will define success and measure ROI.

Created and executed correctly, a social media marketing program can help you connect with prospects you may never have found otherwise and drive the engagement on to more richly rewarding places like your blog, website or newsletter. Just don’t start the journey without a map.