How to Effectively Market Your Law Firm on Twitter

 
 
Earlier this week, Twitter announced several changes to their platform, including a new font, more color options for user profiles, and the addition of new buttons on profile pages. How do these changes affect your law firm? Chances are the font change doesn’t, unless you have a particular love of Helvetica. However, the other updates do present new marketing opportunities.

The additional color options mean you have greater flexibility in branding your Twitter page. Your profile should include an appropriate thumbnail image as well as cover art. I recommend styling your page to coordinate with your website and other social media accounts. Maintaining a consistent look, with the same logo and color palette as your other marketing materials will help establish your law firm’s brand, making you easily recognizable online.
 
The new “Tweet to” and “Message” buttons on profile pages will make it easier to communicate with other users quickly. If you click “Tweet to” while looking at the Academy’s Twitter profile, it opens a new tweet with “@aaepa” already added to your tweet. Keep in mind that a tweet that starts with an @mention will only appear in the timelines of those who follow both you and that other account, so make sure that @aaepa mention doesn’t appear at the beginning of your tweet.

The “Message” button creates a direct message to that account.
Making use of these features allows you to easily communicate with prospects, industry leaders, and other professionals you’d like to network with.

Law Firm Twitter Tips

• Set a Goal. Being aware of why you’re using Twitter will help you decide who to follow and what to tweet. Common goals include:

• Engaging with clients
• Observing competitors
• Networking with referral sources
• Nurturing relationships with industry leaders
• Optimize your Twitter profile. In addition to thumbnail and cover art images, add a short bio describing what you do and where you do it. Remember, Twitter is searchable so this is a great place to include keywords and your city so prospects can easily discover you.
• Connect and Engage. Find your clients, staff, community Members, industry leaders, and referral sources. Retweet their content, reply to their tweets, ask them questions, and tag them if a news item might be of interest.
• Post interesting, relevant content. Twitter is not a sales platform, so save the hard sell for another environment. Rather than posting exclusively about your firm, establish yourself as an authority by tweeting about industry news. Highlight the fact that you’re a local business by tweeting about your community. Content should be either educational or entertaining – and always appropriate and engaging.
• Include photos and video. One recent study found that Tweets that include images uploaded directly to Twitter are 94% more likely to get retweeted. The optimum image size is 1024 x 512 pixels, according to @Canva.
• Be succinct. The limit is 140 characters, but your chances of being retweeted are higher if you keep your message to 120 characters or less. Doing so leaves space for the person retweeting you to add their comment.
• Be consistent. Don’t bombard your followers with a huge number of tweets today, then disappear for the next month. 3 to 5 tweets per day, sent throughout the day is optimal. Twitter use is highest at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m., so plan accordingly. Using a tool such as Hootsuite to pre-schedule some tweets will help you adhere to that plan.
• Use hashtags. Remember, Twitter is searchable. If someone is searching for information on #yourtown or #yourindustry, make sure they can find your tweet by adding a hashtag.
• Test & Measure. As with the rest of your marketing efforts, it’s important to measure your success.  Metrics can include follower engagement, reach, traffic, or conversion. Analyze which posts are most successful – what types of content, what day or time of day, etc.

With 271 million users, Twitter can be a cost-effective way for lawyers and law firms to expand their online presence and connect with a new, relevant audience. Investing a small amount of time and effort can bring great rewards. Start by following us @aaepa for more great tips on law practice marketing.

Rita Chaires
SEO and Social Media Manager
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (800) 846-1555
www.aaepa.com