Over the past few days, I’ve posted solutions for the most common social media mistakes lawyers make:

1.  No social media strategy (see 7/21 post)

2.  Taking on too many social media platforms at once (see 7/22 post)

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

Here are tips on correcting the final three mistakes on the above list:

Mistake #5: Treating all social media platforms the same. According to the ABA, 78% of attorneys are on more than one social network. However, many law firms make the mistake of posting the same information in the same way across all social media networks. They neglect to take into account the unique attributes of each social media site, and their results suffer for it. Here’s what we’ve found works best on the top 4 social media 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. Bare-faced firm promotion is a no-go on Facebook; instead, add your spin to contemporary news or trends, share an inspirational quote, or post something about your charitable endeavors.

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.

Twitter: immediacy is the watchword for Twitter; it is morphing 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. For example, a family law attorney can link their landing page for a free report on a divorce topic to the current trending topic of the Blake Shelton/Miranda Lambert divorce.

YouTube: if you have not broken into video marketing yet, you are missing a huge opportunity to connect with prospects searching for your expertise. Post informational videos on YouTube and load those videos with relevant keywords so they can be found in search. Google owns YouTube, so having a presence there will also help your search ranking.

Mistake #6: Ignoring the “social” part of social media. Social media is a 365/24/7 world, allowing you to engage with prospects at any time, and they with you. You must be vigilant about responding to posts and questions the same way you would in responding to a prospect that calls or emails you. Every point of contact is an opportunity to make a great impression.

By truly engaging on social media regularly, you strengthen your relationships with people you already know and start building new relationships with people you don’t know – your friends’ friends and followers.

Mistake #7: Neglecting to budget properly for a social media marketing program. While it won’t cost you a dime to sign up on social media networks, maintaining a robust presence on these sites does cost you – either time or money, it’s your choice.

Social media is the fastest way to build your sphere of influence, but it won’t happen overnight. Your sphere of influence is defined as how many people know (1) who you are, (2) who you help, and (3) why you are different.  If you only have 20 people who know enough about you to refer or hire you, then you are severely limited in how much you will be able to grow your practice.   Social media is a long-term play, and you need to commit to spending the time and money (either yours or hiring someone else) to achieve success.