The most authoritative source on Internet usage is the Pew Research Center, and their latest report released last week on Social Media Usage finds that 65% of American adults use at least one social media site, compared with just 7% only 10 years ago. That adults total, not just adults who use the Internet. Of that audience, 76% use at least one social media site.

Breaking social media usage out demographically, it’s obvious that social media users are the kind of clients just about any attorney would like to have. They are:

More educated — 76% are college graduates:

Have more money — 78% have household incomes of over $75,000:

Social media use is more prevalent with those under the age of 65, although senior use has has more than tripled in the past five years, from 11% in 2010 to 35% today:

More women than men use social media, although the differences are narrowing. Currently 68% of women and 62% of men use social media. Racial differences are not that evident as social media use has grown, with 65% of whites and Hispanics and 56% of blacks categorizing themselves as social media users.

The challenge many law firms seem to struggle with is finding the right social media network to zero in on for engaging prospective clients. Frankly, it’s not that difficult. The most important thing in identifying the right social media platform is to know your target market.

Once you know the characteristics of your market, you can then focus on the social media networks that do the best job of reaching that audience. If your market is business-to-business, then you want to have a robust presence on LinkedIn.  If you market to consumers, then Facebook is your best bet.  If you want to go after a female clientele, then be sure you have some presence on Pinterest.

Once you have done the necessary homework on knowing your prospect inside and out, then it’s much easier to find the best places on social media to reach them.