In my previous post, I discussed how the use of social media makes sense for attorneys because it offers tremendous personal-effort efficiency. With one action – social media – lawyers can initiate and advance relationships…and they can enhance their digital footprint, making it easier for search engines to find them.

A second great reason that lawyers should care about social media is that, unless one subscribes to enhanced versions such as LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator, it’s a free medium.

In 2012, both the Harvard Business Review and the McKinsey Quarterly pointed out that because of the emergence of social media, sophisticated commercial companies are able to reduce advertising spend and, even for companies that still spend big, to dramatically leverage their advertising’s messages via social media.  One of the reasons that law firm advertising has been limited is because of the placement cost, which, in a professional services firm, is a direct hit on partners’ wallet. However, social media removes that barrier.

Next: How attorneys can use social media to leverage content.

Note: This post is the second blog entry based on a Nov. 17th presentation I made at the 2012 Lex MundiLatin America/Caribbean Regional Conference in Santiago, Chile.

Read the rest of the series:

Why Social Media Matters to Lawyers – Reason #1: Personal-Effort Efficiency