Expanding your network using LinkedIn for lawyers
Thinking about social media marketing makes a lot of us cringe, but choosing targeted strategies can help ease your marketing burden. In addition, the right social channels will help you expand your referral network, which is why we recommend LinkedIn for lawyers.
Benefits of LinkedIn for lawyers
More than a social media marketing platform, LinkedIn encourages professional relationship-building. That’s a key distinction. With LinkedIn, you have an opportunity to create two-way interactions and to connect more deeply with professionals in your local area.
AttorneyatWork notes:
“Among nine key social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn has been ranked as the most trusted platform in the Digital Trust Benchmark Report for five years in a row.”
For lawyers, trust must create the foundation for any new client or referral partner relationship, so choosing a trusted platform like LinkedIn makes sense.
In addition to its trustworthiness, LinkedIn allows you to:
- Showcase recent work or knowledge in your area of practice
- Follow other subject matter experts
- Participate in groups and conversations that expand your knowledge and awareness
- Remain top-of-mind with your existing contacts
- Attract new followers and contacts who could become client leads or referral partners
- Publish blogs and articles directly to the platform, potentially increasing your content’s reach
- Receive endorsements and testimonials from past clients and colleagues
When you think of LinkedIn as an online professional conference, its possibilities for growing your law business open up.
LinkedIn best practices
LinkedIn provides you an opportunity to improve your personal visibility and online reputation (key components of personal branding). It also allows you to promote and grow your law firm.
In order to elevate both your personal and law firm brand, follow some key best practices:
- Create a strong personal profile, which includes:
- A professional headshot
- A unique cover photo
- A clear headline about the value you offer clients (not just your title)
- A concise job history with highlights about recent work
- Create a business page, which should include:
- A clear About section that helps differentiate your firm from the competition
- A unique cover photo
- A follow button and a custom button, such as “Visit Website” or “Register Now”
- Share your business page with your existing contacts and ask them to follow it
- Post relevant content to both your business and personal pages
- Share your business page posts to your personal feed
- Respond to each person who likes or comments on your posts
- React and comment on others’ posts to increase your visibility
- Engage in conversation to create a two-way relationship
LinkedIn also offers a 34-page guide for business owners that can help take some of the mystery out of how to use the platform as a business development tool.
Expanding your in-person network
No network is complete without opportunities to interact face-to-face, and LinkedIn contacts can become some of your best in-person connections.
After you have spent some time sharing relevant content and engaging in conversation on LinkedIn, identify the people who would make the best in-person contacts for you and your firm. Reach out via direct message and invite them to meet in-person, ideally, or over a video call to continue the conversation.
Keep in mind that these conversations are not a sales pitch, but are meant to deepen a two-way relationship. While these people may eventually become clients or referral partners, the initial conversation should remain casual and focused on information-gathering.
In addition, remember that LinkedIn is one tool at your disposal, but you should seek out other arenas for expanding your network as well. Local bar associations, conferences that relate to your practice area or general business, and coworking spaces offer in-person opportunities to meet and connect with new people.
Do you follow LawBank on LinkedIn? We would love to connect with you there. Learn more about our shared offices and coworking for lawyers at our website.
