SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGY OVERVIEW · SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGY OVERVIEW This strategy...
Transcript of SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGY OVERVIEW · SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGY OVERVIEW This strategy...
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.
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.
Proposed Hashtags: #BWORlaw #BlanchardWalker #legalnews #law #legal #corporatelaw
#DOJ (e.g. the Department of Justice’s hashtag)
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