Should You Follow Other Law Firms on Social Media?

Following other law firms on social media might seem counterintuitive, since one of the goals of social media engagement is to gain followers for your own practice. However, following other attorneys, law firms, and relevant organizations on social media is a great way to not only stay competitive, but to engage in thoughtful discussions displaying industry knowledge and attracting valuable attention.

Twitter and Linkedin are particularly useful platforms for attorney networking and conversation.

While Instagram and Facebook provide largely individual user experiences in the sense that it is not particularly common to have full conversations between commenters, Twitter and LinkedIn are well-known for bringing people together for discussion. While discussions on Twitter are limited to a much smaller character count than that of LinkedIn, conversation threads on Twitter are a great way to attract attention and discuss a shared interest. Commenting on posts made by other legal industry leaders and hopefully sparking a conversation exposes your profile not only to your own followers but to the followers of the other profile as well. Many Twitter users enjoy following conversation threads between different profiles both for entertainment and for learning purposes.

LinkedIn is another great social media platform for connecting with other attorneys and law firms. Depending on your practice area, this may or may not result in increased visibility to potential clients; for example, law firms that practice business law and converse publicly with other law firms on LinkedIn could attract valuable attention. However, even if a LinkedIn interaction doesn’t receive views from potential clients, it’s still a great way to network, make useful connections, and keep tabs on what’s going on in your field, including what kind of issues your target clients are interested in.

Not all follows are equal.

It’s important to keep in mind that if you want to be viewed as a leader in your field, you need to follow other industry leaders. Engaging with attorneys and law firms with strong reputations, success rates, and/or unique expertise is more likely to encourage viewers to categorize industry leaders together—meaning you or your firm. Additionally, following and engaging in discussions with relevant nonprofits, advocacy groups, and similar organizations can have the same effect and can expose their followers to you or your firm’s practice area knowledge and authority as well. If viewers like what you have to say, they might follow you too.
While following other successful law firms on any social media platform can be a great way to observe which marketing strategies do and don’t work and collect new ideas to try, doing so can offer invaluable networking, discussion, and opportunities for natural promotion.

To learn more social media tips for attorneys, reach out to a legal marketing expert.