SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGY OVERVIEW

This strategy includes the tactical objectives to be used to accomplish the brand imaging and

promotion of Blanchard, Walker, O’Quin & Roberts. This strategy is exclusively for social media

and will be incorporated into an overall marketing plan at a later date.

“Spending money on designing and building a website without first developing a written

marketing strategy…is like starting construction on a house without any architectural

blueprints….Strategy comes first.” James A. Durham & Deborah McMurray, The Lawyer’s

Guide to Marketing Your Practice, American Bar Association, 171, (2004). Just as with a

website, creating a social media presence requires a strong, detailed strategy. With an effective

social media content strategy, you will be able both to interact with potential clients and drive

traffic to your website. This will increase your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) value and

page rank. This broadens the firm’s visibility substantially to those people that participate on

these various social media platforms.

The purposes for integrating social media into the Blanchard Walker’s marketing plan, as seen in

the below social media goals, is not to solicit new clients. “Social media adds brand value by

promoting the firm and its lawyers, establishing lawyer’s knowledge or skills by sharing subject

articles and news about the firm, building a sense of community, and highlighting the firm’s

values.” Social Media Guide for Lawyers, Meritas Law Firms Worldwide, 5 (2011). Brand

value and awareness is one of the most significant marketing tools available to the law firm. It

allows for visibility across media platforms while not directly soliciting potential clients. By

building the Blanchard Walker brand via content strategies, without the use of advertising, that

incorporate social media, it builds a trust in the audience because, simply put, people trust what

they are familiar with. “Technology today provides law firms with opportunities to promote

their brand in ways that did not exist in the past…Nowadays, the firm makes use of digital

marketing efforts such as blogs, social media, periodic newsletters, e-cards and search engine

optimization techniques to boost brand recognition.” Nicole A. Cudiamat, Study on Small Firms,

Big Marketing: Part 2, National L. Rev. (2014). http://www.natlawreview.com/article/study-

small-firms-big-marketing-part-2.

If your law firm is branded appropriately, the community will know your practice areas and your

reputation. How this firm presents itself to the corporate community and the public is not only

important for potential clients but it is also crucial to maintaining the respect of your peers and

your prominence in relevant professional organizations. Social media has been shown to provide

a cost-efficient and effective means of building brand awareness. “Some attorneys have found

that social media can provide potential benefits in marketing, networking, and as a litigation

resource.” Michael E. Lackey Jr. & Joseph P. Minta, Lawyers and Social Media: The Legal

Ethics of Tweeting, Facebooking and Blogging, 28 Touro L. Rev. 149, (2012). Blanchard

Walker is currently not active on any social media platforms. This content strategy outlines how

the law firm should enter social media by explaining the goals, legal guidelines, content

management and content examples.

SOCIAL MEDIA GOALS

Blanchard Walker must define the reason that it is engaging in social media. Defining the goals

of a social media strategy will help firms determine whether it is meeting its full potential.

Carolyn Elefant, The "Power" of Social Media: Legal Issues & Best Practices for Utilities

Engaging Social Media, 32 Energy L.J. 1, 50 (2011). It is important to note that the goals set

forth below are not intended to advertise for the firm nor to solicit clients, rather the goals are

intended to broaden online visibility of the law firm. The Blanchard Walker social media goals

are as follows:

Boosting your overall exposure online: Each social media profile is an extension of your

website, expanding your reach and giving you the opportunity to funnel prospective and

current clients to the newest features on your website.

Increasing brand awareness: When a prospect for the firm’s services comes across the

Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn profiles and decides to follow or like the firms social

media page, the firm is then able to offer that individual an inside look at not only the

business aspect of your firm, but at your personal side as well. This helps people identify

with your business because they redefine you in personal terms: you aren’t just another

attorney and/or law firm; you’re the attorney and/or law firm who is sponsoring a little

league team, who shares helpful articles about recent changes in law, and who gives

valuable legal advice.

Increasing SEO efforts for your business website: By incorporated social media and

mentioning the website in posts, the firm can increase the number of links that track back

to your website. By adding more websites and resources that link back to the firm’s

website, the keyword ranking elevates in search engines that describe your niche practice

areas and the names of the attorneys in your practice. Note: When mentioning the

website in social media posts, the firm will not solicit and/or advertise their practices, but

present factual and current information and news. Social media can be used to post

recent news (e.g. press releases posted to the firm’s website or outside media outlets)

which will, thereby, increase visibility and searchability of the news content.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT LEGAL GUIDELINES

As methods of communication have drastically shifted to online media, it has become

increasingly necessary to maintain an online presence across multiple platforms for businesses

including law firms. Law firms differ from businesses in that the social media content and

strategy must be for the purposes of brand promotion and not solicitation. Recent guidelines

have been put into place for law firms to adhere to. As such, this section of the strategy outlines

the guidelines set forth by the Louisiana Bar Association that may directly pertain to social

media marketing with particular attention given to the solicitation rules (reference the full set of

guidelines for advertising at

http://files.lsba.org/documents/LawyerAdvertising/Rule7amended06222011.pdf).

Competence: Louisiana Rule 1.1 requires that attorney’s exercise a degree of competency in

their work. Blanchard Walker must have an understanding of social networking sufficient to

prevent inadvertently undermining or harming clients. If Blanchard Walker develops a social

networking presence, Louisiana Rule 1.1 requires that the firm have a working knowledge of

how to manage these online tools. Some now argue that Rule 1.1 requires attorneys to

understand how social media works, what risks it poses to clients, and the ways it may serve

clients needs. As society becomes more embedded in social media, a working knowledge of how

it works may inevitably be critical to competently representing clients.

Solicitation: Louisiana Rule 7.4(a) prohibits an attorney from soliciting “professional

employment from a prospective client with whom the lawyer has no family or prior lawyer-client

relationship, in person, by person to person verbal telephone contact, through others acting at the

lawyer's request or on the lawyer's behalf or otherwise, when a significant motive for the

lawyer's doing so is the lawyer's pecuniary gain.” “Multiple studies indicate that Facebook users

search for parties with whom they share an offline connection rather than randomly add friends.”

Nicole Ellison, Charles Steinfeld, & Cliff Lampe. (2007) The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:”

Social Capital and College Students’ use of Online Social Network Sites, Journal of Computer-

Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html.

Therefore, the act of the individual attorneys asking their Facebook friends to Like the Blanchard

Walker Facebook page would not constitute solicitation due to having a prior relationship and

not seeking legal employment. Furthermore, for a communication to be considered a

solicitation, it must be directed to a specific person. That means that a Tweet sent out to all your

followers and inviting your Facebook friends to “Like” the Facebook page of the law firm that

you are a member of is not solicitation because it is not sent to a specified recipient with the

objective of soliciting employment. Additionally, Facebook users have the ability to restrict the

receipt of solicitous information by changing the settings. Daniel R. Anderson, Restricting Social

Graces: The Implications of Social Media for Restrictive Covenants in Employment Contracts,

72 Ohio St. L.J. 881, 890 (2011).

States have far greater authority and are more likely to regulate solicitation compared to speech.

The problems with solicitation such as pressure to engage in speedy and uninformed decision-

making are not generally present with social networks, because the pressure of a face-to-face

solicitation is not present. Individuals who visit voluntarily “Like” or “Follow” Blanchard

Walker on a social network are actively seeking out information on a range of subjects over an

extended period of time. When Blanchard Walker attorneys invite their Facebook friends to

“Like’ the Blanchard Walker page, it needs to be written in the invitation, “If you would like to

receive notifications from Blanchard Walker’s Facebook, please click ‘Get Notifications.’” With

Twitter, because of the use of hashtags, the audience can search for the hashtags in order to

follow Blanchard Walker; therefore, there is no threat of potential solicitation at all.

Diligence: Louisiana Rule 1.3 requires attorneys to exercise diligence in representing clients, and

some attorneys and legal scholars argue that it may now or will eventually require to monitor

social networking sites like Facebook for potentially damaging information about the client

posted by him/her/it or another party.

Louisiana Rule 7.6(b) imposes certain content requirements on Blanchard Walker’s website,

Facebook profile, LinkedIn profile, and any other account that features a page with content

dedicated to the firm that Blanchard Walker exercises control over, although the rule does not on

its face apply to posts, Tweets, or other text-based online content with limited space. The rule

basically imposes certain disclosure requirements on profile or homepages that the firm uses.

Louisiana Rule 7.6(c) regulates “electronic mail communications.” There is some chance that

tweets, Facebook posts, etc. technically constitute “electronic mail communications,” triggering

the statute; however, a Louisiana court is more likely to adopt a more limiting definition of the

term “electronic mail communications” that does not include Facebook posts, especially since

the broader definition raises potential First Amendment concerns. Even if the court concludes

that the chosen medium is an “electronic mail communications,” application of the rule requires

that the content not be solicited, and the friends/followers of the firm on networks like Facebook

and Twitter agreed to receive content from Blanchard Walker. Even if that is not the case,

compliance with the terms of this provision is unlikely to be extremely difficult.

Regular Filing: Louisiana Rule 7.7, plainly read, would probably require that all content posted

on Facebook or Twitter be submitted for approval to the Professional Conduct Committee along

with a fee; however, in the Eastern District Court of Louisiana’s holding in Public Citizen v.

Louisiana Disciplinary Board held that the application of this rule to pay-per-click

advertisements violated the First Amendment, because it made those kinds of advertisements

financially and logistically impossible. The reasoning is just as, if not more applicable, to

applying Rule 7.7 to Facebook posts and Twitter tweets, because its strict application is

incompatible with the ability of law firms to post content to social networks and websites. Still,

Blanchard Walker should maintain a record of its posts and tweets to the extent that its social

network account does not independently perform that role.

Confidentiality: Louisiana Rule 1.6 requires attorneys to maintain the confidentiality of a

client’s information. The casual nature of a social network like Facebook or Twitter may

encourage attorneys to reveal sensitive content on Blanchard Walker’s wall or on the general

news stream. Blanchard Walker should prohibit the mentions of clients or ongoing matters to

safeguard against any violations of confidentiality.

Inadvertent Attorney Client Relationship: Web-based and social networking communications

may inadvertently create an attorney client relationship, conflicting Blanchard Walker out of

important cases. The firm should be cautious about making statements that imply the existence

of an attorney-client relationship. Ideally, the firm should only offer information, not advice, but

if that is not possible, and then it should not go beyond fact-specific legal advice in the context of

a general legal topic. Additionally, an appropriately placed disclaimer can be used to reduce the

risk of an accidental attorney-client relationship.

Unintentional Practice in Other Jurisdictions: Since social media sites and web pages are

globally available, some attorneys are concerned that a law firm or attorney might be accused of

practicing law outside of his/her jurisdiction. The obvious solution to this potential dilemma is to

avoid giving specific legal advice. If that is not feasible, a disclaimer that describes the state in

which the firm is allowed to practice law would help avoid an allegation of practicing without a

license.

*Guidelines were reviewed via phone conversation with Eric Barefield of the LSBA Ethics

Council and special attention was paid to ensure any possible “Liking” or “Following”

scenarios mentioned previously would not violate Louisiana Rule 7.4. Barefield stated that

since social media users have already opted into the social media platform, those that already

“Like” the Facebook page inviting their Facebook Friends to “Like” the Blanchard Walker

Facebook page would not breach the solicitation guidelines because by being social media

users, they have opened themselves up to invitations and can decide to either reject or accept

the invitation. Therefore, Blanchard Walker attorneys and staff that “Like” and “Follow” the

Blanchard Walker social media site and then invite their friends and followers to “Like” and

“Follow” the Blanchard Walker social media sites would not breach solicitation guidelines.

He went on to say that so long as the information presented on social media is not false

Blanchard Walker will be within the guidelines. Barefield can be reached directly at 504-619-

0122.

PARTIES RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT

Of critical importance is whether the social media site is company operated or operated by a third

party. It is much easier to regulate content when a member of the firm staff is responsible for

producing and monitoring content. It is easy to start a conversation about the company or its

products on social media platforms, but it is very difficult to control that conversation. Randy L.

Dryer, Advising Your Clients (and You!) in the New World of Social Media: What Every

Lawyer Should Know About Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, & Wikis, Utah State Bar Journal,

(2010). http://webster.utahbar.org/barjournal/2010/05/advising_your_clients_and_you.html.

Therefore, it is necessary to dedicate someone on the staff to monitor the conversation to ensure

that comments remain within the constraints of the legal guidelines (e.g. responding to comments

appropriately, removing comments etc.). Phone apps such as Hootsuite and Facebook Pages

Manager will be used to monitor social media while away from the desk or outside office hours.

A content schedule will be submitted for approval prior to posting on social media.

Recommendation: A schedule for the upcoming week will be submitted no later than the

Wednesday before for approval.

CONTENT TYPES

1. Photographs

2. Event creations and publicity

3. Media mentions

4. Knowledge sharing (e.g. sharing American Bar Association articles, etc.)

TRACKING TOOLS

1. Hootsuite – allows tracking for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

2. Facebook analytics

3. Twitter mentions

4. Google Analytics – tracks website analytics and where website visitors are being

directed from

FOCUS CHANNELS

1. Blog

a. Purpose: Increase recognition, increase activity, increase engagement and

searchability.

b. Metrics of Success: Number of posts, audience growth (unique and

returns), comments/likes and SEO improvements.

2. Facebook

a. Purpose: With a professional Facebook page, you can build a business

profile that connects with people in your targeted demographic, shares

your content with relevant users and drives traffic to your law firm’s

website.

b. Metrics of Success: “Likes,” “Reach” and “Talking About This.”

c. Proposed Facebook Profile:

About

Blanchard Walker is dedicated to providing the highest standards

of legal service, marked by experience, dedication, and

responsiveness to clients' individualized needs.

Mission

Our mission is:

•To translate law into action on behalf of those we serve.

•To offer a broad range of services delivered by skilled

professionals.

•To maintain resources and technology for the efficient, effective

delivery of services.

•To uphold standards of excellence that reflect positively on our

firm and our clients.

•To commit to a continuing leadership role in the legal profession.

Description

Blanchard Walker has maintained a tradition of excellence since

1917. Our focus on results and service has helped build many

longstanding relationships with valued clients across the country.

Clients served by Blanchard Walker include a wide range of

individuals, business professionals, and businesses.

Our attorneys are experienced negotiators and trial lawyers with

extensive experience in state, federal, and appellate courts.

Utilizing its intellectual and technological resources, the firm

offers a sophisticated legal practice that has earned powerful

results for a diverse client base.

3. Twitter

a. Purpose: A search engine friendly Twitter account with relevant tweets –

short, 140-character-or-less messages – can promote your firm’s online

visibility and send traffic to your primary blog or website.

b. Metrics of Success: Followers, 2nd

– order followers (follower’s follow

count), social capital (influence of social followers) and mentions.

c. Proposed Twitter Profile: Blanchard, Walker, O’Quin & Roberts provides

experience, dedication, and responsiveness to clients' individualized

needs.

4. LinkedIn

a) Purpose: LinkedIn is a professional social networking site meant to

increase brand recognition and online searchability.

b) Metrics of Success: Number of followers and comments and likes.

c) Proposed LinkedIn Profile: (See Facebook profile)

CONTENT FOCUS

1. Increase brand recognition through promotion of firm news and subject matter

articles.

2. Stimulate Engagement.

3. Demonstrate knowledge and thought leadership.

4. Cross-promote between social networks and website.

ACTION PLANS

Blog Average 3 hours (2 hours for attorneys to write)

ACTION

TYPE

PRIORITY DETAILS FREQUENCY METRICS TIME/WK MEANS

Blog Posts 1 Write post

content.

1 post/wk # post views

# social

shares

# feedback

2 hours per

post

Synapse

Admin

Reputation

Management

2 Reply to

comments on

blog posts.

Search for

mentions.

Ongoing %

impressions

% feedback

30 minutes Synapse

Admin

SEO 2 Align content

with

company

description.

Optimize

tags, photos,

videos, etc.

Ongoing # Blog views 30 mins Synapse

Admin

Facebook Average 7 hrs 30 min weekly

ACTION

TYPE

PRIORITY DETAILS FREQUENCY METRICS TIME/WK MEANS

Increase

“Like”

Count

1 Produce and post

interactive

content. Utilize

hashtags and

links.

Ongoing %

impressions

% feedback

3 hours Facebook

platform

Post Content 1 Utilize existing

resources to

create engaging

content: news

releases, events,

legal articles, etc.

Minimum 1

post daily

%

impressions

% feedback

3 hours Facebook

platform

“Like” Fan

Pages

3 Search for

relevant pages to

receive updates

2 new

Likes/wk

# of Likes 30 minutes Facebook

search

Internet

search

Events tab

for page

2 Create tab, create

events and invite

relevant

followers

Ongoing # of Page

views

# of

Attendees

As needed Facebook

platform

Community

Engagement

2 Like and

comment on

relevant posts.

Post questions to

community to

insight

responses.

Ongoing % Feedback 1 hour Facebook

newsfeed

Twitter Average 9 hours weekly

ACTION

TYPE

PRIORITY DETAILS FREQUENCY METRICS TIME/WK MEANS

Increase

Follower

count

1 Tweet

relevant

content.

Utilize links

and hashtags.

Ongoing # Following

% Increase

4 hours Twitter

platform

Follow Users

Follow Backs

1 Search for

and follow

relevant users

according to

profile

Ongoing # Following

Follower:

Following

Ratio

2 hours Twitter

platform

Community

Engagement

and

Management

2 Retweet other

Twitter user’s

content.

Reply to

users who

engage with

Blanchard,

Ongoing % Feedback 3 hours Twitter

stream

Walker,

O’Quin 7

Roberts.

Comment on

tweets related

to keywords,

phrases,

industries,

etc.

LinkedIn Average 8 hours per week

ACTION

TYPE

PRIORITY DETAILS FREQUENCY METRICS TIME/WK MEANS

Posts 1 Post content

to include

new

happenings at

the firm and

legal news

3 posts/wk # post views

# social

shares

# feedback

4 hours LinkedIn

Platform

Reputation

Management

2 Reply to

comments on

posts. Search

for mentions.

Ongoing %

impressions

% feedback

2 hours LinkedIn

Platform

Community

Engagement

2 Share

relevant

content and

articles

Ongoing # Post views 2 hours LinkedIn

Platform

SOCIAL MEDIA SCHEDULES

Facebook Schedule

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday PM: Legal

News

Article

post/share

AM: Thought of the

Day

PM: Post about

events/speaking

engagements/charitable

engagement

AM:

Thought of

the Day

AM: Thought

of the Day

PM: Legal

News Article

post/share

AM:

Thought of

the Day

PM: News at

the firm

(link to Firm

News page

on website)

AM:

Thought of

the Day

PM:

What’s

BWOR up

to this

weekend

(fun post

about

outside

activities

attorneys

participate

in.)

AM: Post

about events,

community

involvement,

and/or

charitable

engagements

coming up

*The above schedule is for new content posts and/or events. Reminders of events, sharing and

commenting on followers’ posts relevant to the firm, and onsite event posts will be dispersed in

addition to this schedule.

Twitter Schedule

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday PM:

Retweet

legal news

article

AM: Thought of the

Day

PM: Tweet about

events/speaking

engagements/charity

engagements

AM:

Thought of

the Day

AM: Thought

of the Day

PM: Legal

news article

tweet

AM:

Thought of

the Day

PM: News at

the firm (link

to Firm

News section

on the

website)

AM:

Thought of

the Day

PM: What’s

BWOR up

to this

weekend

AM: Tweet

about events,

community

involvement,

and/or

charity

engagements

coming up

* Reminders of events and relevant retweets will also be dispersed in addition to this schedule.

LinkedIn

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday AM: Thought

of the Day

PM: Share

Legal News

Article

AM: Thought

of the Day

AM: Thought

of the Day

PM: Post about

upcoming

events/speaking

engagements

AM: Thought

of the Day

PM: News at

the firm (link

to Firm News

section on the

website)

AM: Thought

of the Day

PM: Post

about

community

involvement

and/or charity

engagements.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT EXAMPLES

To build momentum, the Blanchard Walker should post consistently across the social media

platforms. LinkedIn and Facebook are slower moving mediums and therefore, require at least

one post per day. However, Twitter is a much faster medium and requires at minimum 3 tweets

per day. Below are actual examples taken from various U.S. law firms’ social media.

Facebook

Proposed Hashtags: #BWORlaw #BlanchardWalker #legalnews #law #legal #corporatelaw

#DOJ (e.g. the Department of Justice’s hashtag)

Article Share Example:

Firm News Post Example:

Firm Event Post Example:

Twitter

Proposed Hashtags: (See Facebook)

Legal Article Tweet Example:

Firm News Tweet Example:

Event Tweet Example:

LinkedIn

Legal News Article Share Example:

Firm News Post Example:

Event Post Example:

MEASUREMENTS OF SUCCESS

It is recommended to measure the impact of your conversations to see if any adjustments to the

content strategy are needed. Measurements to include:

Track how many comments and Likes Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter posts get.

Track monthly how many followers, shares, retweets and mentions Blanchard Walker

receives.

Measure social media referral traffic to your website. In other words, how much traffic is

sent from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

CONCLUSION

Social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn provide a fast and cost-efficient way to

build brand awareness and keep up-to-date with industry trends. Social media, for the purposes

of this content strategy, in essence, is a networking tool that can supplement, but not replace,

offline activities. In summary, Blanchard Walker’s social media content should maintain the

following:

1. Not to publish content that can be traced to a client

2. Not to publish content that could be construed as legal advice

a. Limit communications to more generalized legal information rather than specific

legal advice

b. Clearly state that responses are not intended to serve as legal advice and

recommend that the user seek legal advice of an attorney within his or her

jurisdiction

3. Avoid commenting on pending matters before the court to avoid an image of impropriety

4. Not to lie or otherwise misrepresent or omit the truth

5. Not to criticize judges or the court or create an image of an improper relationship