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Twitter, huh?
There is a plethora of lawyers on Twitter, whether using personal accounts which make it very clear they are personal accounts; professional accounts which are largely news streams, or indeed a combination of both (Inksters and Mogers being among the best examples of the two+ accounts).
What there appears to be even more of, in my stream at least, are marketeers, who appear to have decided that lawyers are the client de jour of 2011, expounding the hypothesis that Twitter is the tool for directly increasing instructions from clients. In my opinion they are wrong. Very wrong.
Taking the example of the hypothetical Mrs A, an average Twitter user, who joined while having a career break to have babies, so that she could continue to enjoy the type of conversations she would have had at work. Her particular interests are politics, TV, child care tips and fashion.
While on her career break with baby 2, Mrs A realises that her marriage has gone very awry and decides she wants a divorce.
Does she
a) use the Twitter search function for a divorce lawyer or
b) put a shout out in her stream asking if any of her followers can recommend a decent divorce lawyer?
I think we can agree, based on how we would ask a similar question on Twitter, that she would naturally put a shout out. Certainly when I am looking for anything, the last place I would look is the Twitter search function.
For Mrs A to directly approach a lawyer, based on how Twitter works, that lawyer and she would have to have a Twitter relationship, meaning that the lawyer and she would have had, at some point, to have engaged, so that she gets to know him, and he gets to enter her Twitter circle of trust.
Let’s pause for a moment and think about that, with the marketeers favourite phrase of ROI in mind.
Based on the premis that time really is money to lawyers due to the way they charge, exactly how much would engaging with Mrs A to the extent she felt comfortable enough to directly approach you cost? Of course, this depends largely on Mrs A, and what level of depth she requires in a relationship before she would feel comfortable to make a direct approach, but I would suggest that the cost per client on this level of marketing is extremely expensive. Even if it only took an hour, and we work on the basis of an average charge out rate of £210 per hour, is there a justifiable ROI on that client? I suggest that if a marketeer were in your office proposing a marketing scheme that cost even half of that per client you would show him the door.
Turning this on its head and heading off the marketeer who I have seen suggest this, you cannot, in my opinion directly approach Mrs A if you become aware of her search for a lawyer, as it is my understanding of the Code that it offends Rule 7.03. Not that any of the Twitter lawyers I know would dream of making a direct approach anyway.
Am I therefore suggesting you all close your Twitter accounts and go off and do something more constructive with your time? Not at all. Go back to what Mrs A did. She put a shout out in her stream asking for a recommendation, the modern day equivalent of asking a friend/colleague to recommend a service/product. This is where the Twitter value is, especially for those who are easily able to deal with geographically dispersed clients. The ROI is impossible to quantify and it may be slow, but it is the same as any other form of networking, just with a far more diverse range and geographical spread of people than largely lawyers would otherwise come into contact with.
My advice? Ignore the marketeers, I have so far not found one who knows even the beginnings of what they are talking about regarding lawyers anyway. Stop thinking about Twitter ROI. See it as fun, carry on making friends, widening your circle, and enjoy the referral work which flows from that. Learn how to deal with clients who are outside the geographical range of your office on a remote basis.
A final thought. If you have been on Twitter a while and are not getting referrals, you are, I respectfully suggest, doing it wrong.
Amanda practised family law at the Bar before designing a digital law firm. Since then she has worked in the digital domain in many roles, including community management, project management and Web editing.
My wife is quite an expert on Twitter. No she has not been on swanky courses or listened to ‘gurus.’ She has just picked it up as she went along. She has been on Twitter probably longer than most of you who are reading this, so knows a thing or two.
So I asked her…do you ever use the search facility on Twitter? She said yes but only for people…and here is the important bit…that I either know or might know, NOT total strangers.
So I asked, hypothetically, If we were going to get divorced, (leave it!!), would you use it to find a lawyer? Absolutely not. So what would you do, I asked? Ask someone I kinda sorta knew she said. I would probably use my follower network as one but not the only way to help source a solution. Either way she would talk to some socially validated person, which in old money is asking someone you know.
Now me who, dare I say it, knows more than the average Joe about social media, was pondering on this post.
I don’t think I have ever used the search facility in Twitter. Well I have but just to find someone who I have or may have a connect with, just like my wife.
The point that is being made with this post is that it is not services or solutions that I necessarily look for on Twitter but people who I can connect with. Hey…wild stab in the dark, maybe that is why it is called ‘social.’
From my own point of view I get quality referrals and leads from numerous social media channels. For my take on this, and how I do it you could read
http://legal-two.com/social/
It is people who then connect me up with the services and solutions (theirs or others)…it is people who start building the solution. It is the tools that connect us up quicker, faster, better.
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Love this.
Just as many are now starting to take note (not before time) that you don’t just need to have a social media strategy but that you need to know WHY you’re using it in the first place, this makes the very valid point that we’re not by any means in an environment where Lawyers are going to be instructed through Twitter by the average consumer of their services (yet).
Twitter’s all about engagement – not something that comes easily to the profession. As Amanda quite rightly says, Twitter’s just one more way to create and foster relationships. Sticking your foot in the door through unsolicited spam is more than likely to make a naturally cynical social media audience even more cynical towards a profession that needs all the frends it can get.
Be yourself before you sell yourself. Authenticity is key here, and we’re a long way from it just yet. For those that really are committed to it, Twitter can be a great way to buld profile and expand a network, but it’s not going to make you rich overnight.
“I have so far not found one who knows even the beginnings of what they are talking about regarding lawyers anyway.” – maybe we should have a chat sometime. Not all marketing people are the same. Ask Jon.
I agree with the basic point in Amanda’s article, in most situations Twitter isn’t a useful communications channel in time versus return. I’d suggest all firms interested, join Twitter to listen and see what’s going on. Well before they dive in to contribute.
Great post.
The simple fact is, law firms have no idea how or why to use twitter. The only lawyers that do twitter well are individuals who are just out for socialising.
It’s like any networking one does. You don’t do it to get work. You don’t go to a function and jump into every conversation and say “I can do that for you”. No, you build up a relationship, but up mutual trust and a connection.
I agree, people won’t search for a divorce lawyer. But if mrs a follows mr b, who follows a lawyer, then a word of mouth recommendation might occur.
I tried to write about why law firms fail on twitter on my blog, but to be honest, I’m not as good as everyone else at blogging, so it’s not great
Hi Alastair, thanks for the comment.
I think there are good legal marketers and bad ones as there are good legal technologists and bad ones. I think your advice is sound. Not all legal marketers take as sober an approach as you suggest.
I think the point that Amanda is making is that we have to separate the good from the bad (and there is a lot of bad out there – but there is also good)…quality always rises to the top so to speak
Thanks Steve, can’t really add anything, other than say have a good holiday!
As someone who uses social/ new media heavily for work and for spreading the *word* on a specific area of law, you do notice very quickly that most people use Twitter to gain an intimacy that you can’t acquire via the cold face of a pre-set website (rather than a blog, for example) or the non responsive nature of conventional media.
It is, to my mind, about breaking down boundaries and demanding clarity in a world where the old channels of communication have become increasingly faceless and blameless.
Twitter (and I would modestly suggest blogging) fulfil that need beautifully. These mediums are fast becoming the underbelly and the infrastructure of media and business and I agree with Amanda when she says that marketeers are in the main not welcome additions to Twitter. That’s because, in my opinion, people don’t want to be subjected to the hard sell, even with a soft face. What people want to see, on Twitter at least, are the inner mechanics of a company or individual, which in turn allows the punter to decide for themselves, in a more honest way, whether what they’re reading fits the bill (pardon the pun).
I personally would use Twitter to feel out resources but after that, my instincts have to take over. I think if you use that combination, you can have success finding what you need via Twitter. However, personal referrals do still trump my line of work because ultimately, I think, you can’t beat advice from someone you trust. In any event, the more informed the public becomes about how business, law,or any sector operates, the more honesty they demand…. tweet no evil, see no evil, hear no evil!
A fantastic article; thanks Legal 2.0. I’ll be adding you guys to my weekly reading pile!
Natasha (and Steven) thanks both of you for your comments.
I think these tools are exciting, powerful but what lawyers should avoid is to shoe horn the social media model of a n other market on the legal one. Legal services are miles away from say a Tweet sent by @LoveFilm about a new release.
Also there may be some interesting movies being dropped into 2.0 so lawyers can click and make their own minds up.
Glad to hear you like 2.0, amazing where an idea on a train can end up.
I have been pondering on this Twitter debate for a few days now.
One thing that hardly ever gets brought up is how we actually engage with Twitter itself.
Now me I never ever use twitter.com. I am far more app focused. Yet my wife never uses an app and always uses Twitter.com. I mock her for this and she retaliates by not sharing her Maltesers with me. Harsh but fair.
But I use different apps in different ways…all device dependent.
So on my iPhone I will skim and read Tweets but hardly ever click to a link etc and all that follow business is far too clunky. The browser ‘leap’ is poor generally, partly dues to screen size and partly due to the fact that we may be using 3G.
On my iPad I use Flipboard that elegantly opens up my stream and all the associated links immaculately. It also does a fine job on Google Reader and Facebook too.
On my desktop again I use apps and enjoy the links etc.
My point is it is not just what we read but where and how we read that can have a huge effect on the whole engagement bun fight.
Nice one Jon and contributors!
As I’ve said before, the twegals of today will be the legal sector leaders, eventually, of tomorrow.
Wherever I can I look to aquire services I want to spend money on from my twitter circle as not only can I get to know people well on twitter (and through their blogs), but I also know they will be better informed on their niche, know more people, be more influential, understand trends and, well, be more social, more effective and easier to deal with than people not on twitter. Importantly, its the old business principle of gaining from working with influential people.
Just as I am now choosing to work with a web development agency based on knowing them on twitter for two years, people are increasingly turning to me for work after having got to know me on twitter over several months (and years) now.
Its a bit dated now as I got a vacation student to write it over 18 months ago, but I posted a little guide to lawyers using twitter on my blog a few weeks ago:
http://jonathanlea.com/how-can-law-firms-and-lawyers-use-twitter-for
Thanks Jonathan for hitting another nail on the head.
Nice clean engaging webpage too. Tells me what I want to know, not what you think I want to know.
An interesting post and I think you are quite right on the division between Twitter search (generally used for finding people you already know you want to look for or information about events) and Twitter requests to your network (which is generally my starting point if I am looking for a referral for a heating engineer, garage etc. etc. locally). If you want to search then you are probably better off with Google as it does a better job of giving you relevant results (which include Tweets anyway).
One point I would make in addition is that social media isn’t some kind of magic bullet. There are the kind of lawyers who have always networked effectively, helped out their contacts and promoted their business with a certain amount of “emotional intelligence”… and they will probably use social media similarly in an effective way.
Equally, there are those people who you wouldn’t want to get stuck with at a real life networking event who are constantly in sales mode, pay no attention to what others have to say and who you end up being desparate to get away from.
Social media won’t change anybody from one of these types to the other and it doesn’t exist in a bubble either. I am willing to bet that the lawyers who are using social media effectively and (as a result) getting referrals from it are certianly doing the same in all manner of other arenas.
So far as Jon’s comments on the app/web thing is concerned I think it is interesting that the latest version of Twitter for Mac is clearly designed to look much more like the iPhone version than a desktop app… is this a push by Twitter in the direction of mobile / apps or just me overthinking?
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An interesting article.
We get followed by quite a few law firms (we deal with divorce/separation) and with this experience I think I can offer all law firms three top-tips on using Twitter for free:
1. Give the Twitter account to an outgoing female member of staff and let her get on with it. No really. She’ll be fine! Don’t be so nervous.
2. Do not under any circumstances give the Twitter account to a male Partner of the firm (just too boring)
3. Give Twitter time…as mentioned in the post and in various comments – it is all about relationship building. Years not months…but it will work for you, of that I’m sure.
Bob