LinkedIn for Lawyers
When it comes to marketing your law firm and attracting new clients, LinkedIn is the most important place that attorneys should be focusing their social media efforts. It’s not only the platform that most of your competitors are using, but it’s also the place where decision-makers build their professional networks and share meaningful insights.
Today, 9 out of 10 law firms are on social networks, and 87% of firms use LinkedIn, according to the American Bar Association’s most recent Profile of the Legal Profession. This represents a significant increase from 76% reported in 2020, demonstrating growing LinkedIn adoption among legal professionals.
In fact, LinkedIn is used more widely by law firms than any other social media platform, as evidenced by these statistics:
- LinkedIn – 87%
- Facebook – 62%
- X (formerly Twitter) – 38%
- Martindale – 37%
- Avvo – 18%
When it comes specifically to law firm marketing efforts, once again LinkedIn leads the pack of social networks. About 51% of law firms use LinkedIn as part of their overall marketing campaigns, according to the ABA study. No other social media sites come close where legal marketing is concerned — Facebook (27%) and X (14%) are used far less. And it’s not just law firms. Most individual lawyers also use social media for professional purposes, such as building a broad referral network. Virtually all attorneys are on LinkedIn (96%). Only 31% are on Facebook and even fewer are on X (20%).
Social Media Brings in New Business
Today, more than two-thirds (71%) of lawyers say social media is “very” or “somewhat” responsible for bringing in new business, up from just 38% in 2020, according to a survey by Attorney at Work. When it comes to the content being posted, lawyers report that 70% of posts are “content I’ve written,” followed by “content written by my firm” in second place, and “curated industry news” ranking third. Nearly half (45%) of lawyers say they spend 1 to 5 hours per week on social media, while another 27% spend 5 to 10 hours per week.
A Global Behemoth: LinkedIn’s Reach and Demographics
LinkedIn is also the place where decision-makers and community leaders spend their time. About 96% of executives use LinkedIn as their preferred content source, and more than 70% of users are decision-makers in their companies. LinkedIn produces 80% of social media-driven B2B leads. Being on LinkedIn means being seen — 59% of C-suite officers and 31% of in-house counsel access LinkedIn at least weekly. The average visit to LinkedIn lasts more than 8 minutes, with 7 pages viewed per visit.
LinkedIn is a global phenomenon as well as a critical place to market your law firm in the U.S. It is used by 1 billion people in 200 countries and territories, with more than 199 million in the U.S. alone. LinkedIn supports 26 languages, and the site continues to grow — three new members sign up on LinkedIn every second!
Why Should Attorneys Use LinkedIn?
There are many reasons why attorneys should use LinkedIn, both professionally and personally. It’s not only a way to stay informed but also a place to meet new colleagues. LinkedIn will help you…
Build a Powerful Professional Network
Networking is critical for attorneys and law firms who want to build their client base and enhance their bottom line. Networking costs almost nothing and produces lasting results. Whether networking in person or online, the results are powerful when done consistently.
Showcase Your Expertise
By posting and sharing insightful and timely content on LinkedIn, attorneys can demonstrate their expertise in their chosen practice areas and elevate their visibility.
Stay Informed on Legal Topics
LinkedIn is also a place to read content written by other lawyers and stay abreast of big cases, U.S. Supreme Court rulings, and other legal topics that are emerging.
Attract Bright New Talent
Most law firms compete for the brightest law school interns each year. Law students are on LinkedIn, and this is a platform where they find out about successful law firms and smart attorneys.
LinkedIn: A Unique Digital Business Card
Did you know that there’s a QR code associated with your LinkedIn profile? The LinkedIn QR code makes it easy to meet someone offline – say, at a legal conference or in-town meeting — and then stay in touch with them on LinkedIn. It’s a little-known function that people are slowly discovering, and it’s very handy for networking! Another person can simply scan your QR code with their mobile device and instantly link to your site. It’s like a digital business card. This feature provides a simple and efficient way to find LinkedIn members and stay connected with them. To find and share your QR code, follow these simple instructions from LinkedIn:
To Find Your QR Code:
- Open the LinkedIn app on your mobile device.
- Tap the QR code in the Search bar at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
- Tap the My code tab to find your QR code.
- You can tap:
- Share my code to share your QR code via message, email, or other third-party apps.
- Save to photos to save a copy of your QR code to your mobile device’s photo gallery.
- Tap an option from the dropdown that appears and follow the prompts.
To Scan a QR Code:
- Open the LinkedIn app on your mobile device.
- Tap the QR code in the Search bar at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
- Tap the Scan tab.
- Hold your mobile device directly above the LinkedIn member’s QR code that you’d like to connect with.
- You can also tap Scan from photos to select a QR code that you’ve previously saved to your photo gallery.
Once the LinkedIn member’s QR code has been scanned, you will be redirected to their profile. Check out how you can invite or connect with people on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Engagement Tactics
Research shows that 89% of practitioners say LinkedIn is effective for organic social media content, far exceeding any other platform. If you want to stay relevant and top-of-mind among members on LinkedIn, there are several tactics you can use. Be sure to maintain active participation by engaging in the following:
- Respond promptly to comments and messages that you receive.
- Share valuable articles, resources, white papers, and data with your connections.
- Make sure your content is relevant, timely, and high value to drive engagement, shares, and likes.
- Regularly comment on other members’ posts with meaningful insights.
- Focus on building long-term relationships rather than pushing for immediate sales.
- Ask for referrals, when appropriate, to expand your referral network.
- Be sure to acknowledge other members’ milestones like work anniversaries, birthdays, and promotions. This helps you engage with decision-makers at a moment when they’re most receptive to outreach.
- Share photos as well as written comments.
- Analyze your engagement patterns using LinkedIn’s page analytics and algorithm.
A LinkedIn page is your personal brand’s hub, and it’s wise to treat it like a powerful marketing tool rather than an afterthought. Spend some time curating and updating your page to maximize your LinkedIn ROI.
LinkedIn Page Analytics
You can measure your LinkedIn engagement by utilizing LinkedIn page analytics. This will help you optimize your outreach and grow your followers. By using LinkedIn analytics, you can turn data into insights, and insights into a larger network on the platform. When you access your LinkedIn page from the admin view, you’ll find an Analytics menu on the top bar, with three different options: Visitors, Updates, and Followers.
Visitors
This is where you can learn about members who have checked out your LinkedIn page. You can see what type of device they were on, spot content and visitor trends, and view aggregated professional attributes.
Updates
How are people engaging with the content you share? This is where you can get a high-level view of your page by analyzing metrics like clicks, comments, impressions, and social engagement percentages.
Followers
You can find out more about your current followers’ demographics based on location, seniority, job function, and more. You can also identify patterns and find a list of companies and people to track and follow.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Another hidden gem on this platform is LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Available through LinkedIn’s Premium version, it allows you to narrow down potential high-value contacts based on selected criteria and conduct advanced searches to ensure that you pinpoint contacts who could be potential clients or referral sources.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator will help you unlock high-quality conversations rather than spending too much time commenting on posts that don’t bear fruit. You want to prioritize quality over quantity when building relationships with other members on LinkedIn. Navigator will help you create a visual “relationship map” and multithread with other members. It also provides an AI-powered company/law firm summary so that you show up as a trusted source with potential clients.
Leveraging LinkedIn as Part of Your Social Media Strategy
When creating your law firm social media policy and strategy, make sure LinkedIn is at the top of the list. LinkedIn is where your competition, colleagues, and potential clients spend their time. You don’t want to be left out. Spending even 30-60 minutes a week on LinkedIn is time well spent, and it will boost both your law firm’s visibility and your referral potential.
