THE SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION:
Soldiering Through the Tricks, the Traps and the Reasons You Can’t Ignore It
Kathy Gutierrez
Director of Marketing Operations
Haynes and Boone, LLP
214.651.5283
LinkedIn:
I.Introduction
Effective communication is vital to the success of any business.
In the past 30 years, technological developments have greatly increased opportunities to communicate. With the simple push of a button on a computer or mobile device, we can deliver a message to literally thousands of people in seconds. This outline reviews some of these new ways to communicate. We evaluate what is practical for law firms, and how to step into the social media world. We’ll bring some of the risks to your attention. And we’ll talk about the importance of a social media policy.
II.What is Social Media?
Social media is not a fad. It’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. Even if you don’t use social media, MOST of the people you work with do. Social media is here to stay. The incredible growth in social media means there are now many opportunities to further your business relationships via online methods.
Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, video and audio. Simply put, social media is about people connecting and sharing information online. This is done through avenues such as internet forums, blogs, podcasts, video, and community networks.
This outline will center around some of the most popular – RSS feeds, blogs, microblogging through Twitter, information sharing through Wikipedia, video sites such as YouTube, and social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
Changing the Way We Communicate
To understand the context for social media you need to understand that there has been a big change in the way businesses market themselves. Under the old model companies pushed information out to people.Most of the information available was what companies wanted us to know.
Research shows that on average a person is subject to some 3,000 essentially random pitches per day. Two-thirds of people surveyed said they feel “constantly bombarded” by ads, and 59% said the ads they see have little or no relevance to them.” [1]
The new communication model is a dialog. It’s not just for the young and the technical. There are many opportunities for professionals, and specifically legal professionals, to take advantage of online networking to help further their legal practice and:
•help raise the visibility of their practice
•attract and retain new business or referrals
•deepen existing client relationships.
When used appropriately social media can serve as a rich extension of in-person networking and thought leadership. While there are many different tools and types of online networking channels, it is critical to keep in mind the goals of the online networking to guide:
•what online networks you choose to participate in,
•whoyou want to connect with, and
•how do you want to network online.
Once you determine the purpose of your online actions, then you can start to use the tools and programs effectively with a clear purpose in mind. [2]
Remember - one out of every eleven minutes spent online worldwide is spent in an online community or social network.
There are organizations that use this to their advantage.
III.Growth of Social Media
Social media is only going to become more pervasive. By 2011, Millenials/Gen Y-ers will outnumber the baby boomers (Millenials = birth after mid-1970s). They already wield $350 billion/year in direct spending power. 96% of them have joined a social network. They make many of their business decision based on referrals and what their friends think.[3]
Lawyers on Social Media
Statistics regarding the legal community using social media:[4]
•Both Corporate and Outside Counsel are significantly more likely to report being a member of an online social network this year as compared to last year
•Approximately three quarters of counsel now report being a member of such a network
IV.Getting Started – Reviews and Recommendations
Blogs and RSS
•There are currently over 200 million blogs in existence
•In the US and the UKabout25% of the population using the internet have blogs; in Asia it’s much higher – over 70%
•73% of online users have read a blog
•A well-written and maintained law firm blog can enhance a lawyer’s digital profile by demonstrating thought leadership
Considerations
•Blogs should be monitored
•Many are short-lived
•Must be credible, relevant to client business needs
•Must be timely
•Most State Bars consider a blog advertising and require compliance to ad rules
•Blogs take time and a lot of work. It is estimated that a blog takes a minimum of 5-10 hours per week to be successful
RSS
•Really Simple Syndication – 39% of online users subscribe to an RSS feed
•Directs information to a central page – a “newsreader” or “aggregator”
•RSS can feed to an email account. As RSS becomes more prevalent, these services may disappear, but this can certainly be a useful tool as you learn
•Uses for firms include marketing alerts and publications
RSS and Blogs Recommendations
•If your firm is offering a blog, make it easy to locate. Provide links and “follow” buttons on the firm web site
•Provide RSS feeds on your web site
•See if there are people in your firm who want to author a blog and test it out. Be sure those people can give it the time it needs
•As an individual, create RSS feeds and follow blogs that are applicable to your practice. The best way to become a good blogger is to read a lot of blogs
•Be careful about the type of commentary you put on blogs – it doesn’t go away!
Considered the “business social network”.
•57% of online users have joined a social network – most either LinkedIn and/or Facebook
•Allows users to be linked to their current and former employers, colleagues from those businesses and professional organizations
•Combines personal and business contacts
•Like a traditional directory, only more intuitive and up to date than an annual directory
•Groups and recommendations are valuable for business purposes – several legal and alumni groups exist
•Merges information into Martindale Hubbell Connected
•Good search engine visibility
LinkedIn Recommendations
•Add firm and group pages – recruiting, alumni
•Build your professional profile
- join groups
- provide and get recommendations
- connect to known professional contacts
•Establish firm guidelines for profile creation and management
Facebook is the most widely known “social network” platform.
Why Facebook Matters
•500 million users
•100+ million mobile users
•Facebook says that 28 million pieces of content are uploaded every month and 18 million users update their profile at least once a day
Understanding Facebook
•Individual Facebook profiles primarily geared for personal use
•Fan Pages and Groups available for businesses
•31 of AmLaw 100 have a Fan Page
•Firms are starting to use Facebook to build recruiting pages
•Multi-level privacy settings
Facebook for Law Firms
Many firms today use Facebook fan pages to extend their brand
•Post news releases
•Alerts
•Events
•Many are still waiting to see where Facebook will go from a business perspective
Facebook Recommendations
•Create a firm fan page and keep it current
•Individual profiles should be for personal use – not business related
•Encourage “business friendly” profile photos
•Educate on privacy settings
•Watch what you post
•Control where your information flows
•Monitor your wall
•140 character microblog
•May be public or permission-only
•Include links to web sites and articles
•Follow topics and conversation
•“Retweets” – viral marketing
•VERY limited shelf-time for each tweet
•Direct message (“DM”) other users (like IM)
Why Twitter Matters
•1,105% year over year growth
•Nearly 75 million people visited Twitter in January 2010
•Recently turned down $.5 billion buyout offer from Facebook
•It’s a great source for getting news
•Great source forlearning about your competitors
•Following your clients, prospective clients
•Ongoing news feeds throughout the day = short shelf life
•BUT – many opportunities to “retweet” important items and virally market your firm, your publications
•Powerful tools like ‘Twitter Search’ can direct people to your page
•Twitter posts can automatically be posted to legal blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn
Twitter Issues
•Twitter is not hard but it takes some getting used to
•It can take up a considerable amount of time – take you away from productive work
•Twitter site is often overloaded and requires the use of a Twitter feed such as Tweet Deck
•Twitter opens up the possibility for negative commentary
•Abbreviated URLs make it easy for viruses to present themselves
Twitter Recommendations
•Post firm information – news, events
•Marketing departments use Twitter to pitch to journalists and identify PR opportunities
•Use Twitter to publicize your blog
•Provide guidelines on individual Twitter use
•Discuss privacy and misuse
•For individual lawyer use – recommend observing first
•Check out LexTweet.com
YouTube
YouTube continues to grow rapidly. In January this year over 100 million Americans watched 2 billion videos on YouTube each day.
Why YouTube Matters
•Now the second leading search engine – bigger than Yahoo
•13 hours of video are uploaded every minute
From a business perspective, marketers are using YouTube as an innovative way to connect with their target audiences by running video advertising, sponsoring contests, creating brand channels. Law firms have been increasingly using YouTube to feature video clips of holiday cards, recruiting messages, and to display video clips from their web site.
It’s important to note that Google acquired YouTube in 2006. We expect to see a lot from this powerful platform in the future. For now, it’s a method of furthering any marketing of the firm through its video products.
Wikipedia
•Collaborative encyclopedia project
- more than 4,000,000 articles
•Registered users may freely edit content of ANY articles
•Content must be verifiable and factual
•Wikipedia regularly verifies and approves content
•Law firms should submit a firm page and continue to monitor
Other Law Firm Social Media Sites
•Martindale Hubbell Connected
•LegalOnRamp
•JDSupra
Practical Guidelines for Social Media Participation
•Listen first – find the tools that work for you
•Determine – where your clients participate
•Speak with them on their terms (watch the lingo)
•Enlist community managers to comment, read, write, share, participate
•Daily reading
•Firm participation
•Individual participation
•Know what people post about you – Google yourself
•Establish a social media policy and provide guidelines
•Analyze, Adapt, and Improve – you’ll quickly learn what works for you and what doesn’t
Blanket Posts
There are tools that will post law firm publications directly to a blog, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts with one entry. A publication posted to your firm web site can be set to automatically post to your social media accounts.
V.Social Media Issues – Things You Cannot Ignore
Throughout this document, I’ve raised various issues and risks with social media. This section summarizes the most important issues for lawyers to remember when using social media to communicate and nurture relationships. ALAS recently published an excellent report on Ethics and Liability Issues, and many of these topics are covered in their report.[5]
Inadvertent Creation of the Attorney-Client Relationship
Many social media sites provide the ability to post questions and answers to topics. A response online runs the risk of being considered an establishment of an attorney-client relationship. Be very general in your responses. Do not offer any advice.
Confidentiality
Just as it applies with in-person conversations, lawyers should be careful not to release any confidential information about clients, matters or their firm in their conversations online.
Copyright and Trademark
Identify all copyrighted, trademarked or borrowed material with citations, bibliographies and links. When publishing any material online that includes material from another source, always give credit to the original material or author.
Conflicts of Interest
If a lawyer takes a position on a networking site that is in opposition to a firm client, it potentially raises a conflict issue. Another type of conflict can arise if a lawyer acquires information from a non-client through a social media channel that is considered confidential.
Unauthorized Practice of Law
Social media allows people to communicate with one another without regard to physical location. If a lawyer provides information online that is considered advice, they not only create the inadvertent attorney-client relationship, but they may also be providing advice in a region they are not licensed to practice.
Electronically Stored Information
A firm’s presence on a social network such as Facebook and Twitter may have implications if the firm is involved in litigation, as information from these sites may be required during discovery.
Advertising and Solicitation
As mentioned earlier in this document, many social media forums are a form of communication and advertisement, and many are governed under the advertising and ethics rules for the State Bars. Be familiar with and always follow the ethics and advertising rules for the states in which you operate.
Candor
Never be false or misleading in your credentials or your posts. Don’t exaggerate your professional accomplishments on any profiles. Always think about compliance, integrity, security and governing rules – then post.
Be Careful Who You Friend
Understand the difference between professional networking and social networking. Just because you find someone on LinkedIn or Facebook that you know, doesn’t mean you should add them as a friend. If your Facebook account is primarily a social outlet, don’t add people in your business network. If your LinkedIn account is all professional relationships, be sure your connections are all part of the network that you want displayed to clients and people who work with.
Potential for Viruses
Social media sites often use abbreviated URLs when referencing a link to information. These abbreviated URLs mask the actual web site name and can potentially lead the viewer to a web site containing viruses or to unwanted information. Be careful what you view.
VI.Social Media Policies
Social media policies should be created to outline acceptable and non-acceptable use of social media within a law firm, and to provide guidelines for acceptable social media use for business purposes. Law firms should apply existing standards to a social media policy. Social media policies should also keep in mind the State Bar guidelines for ethics and advertising.
Recommendations for Social Media Guidelines
- Introduce the purpose of social media in your law firm.
- Employees should be responsible for what they write. The “right to express oneself” does not allow a lack of accountability when saying things that can be damaging. All members of the firm should take responsibility for what they write, exercising good judgment and common sense.
- Remember the audience. Social media channels include current clients, potential clients, alumni. Consider that before you publish anything. Don’t alienate people.
- Exercise good judgment. Just because you can give an opinion doesn’t mean you should. Whether work related or personal, people should refrain from comments that can be interpreted as demeaning or inflammatory. Employee’s use of social media reflects not just on the person but on their firm affiliation.
- Respect copyrights and fair use. Always give people proper credit for their work. Obtain rights to use anything you publish.
- Protect confidential and proprietary information. Firm information should not be shared outside of the firm. Do not share information about clients.
- Protect privacy rights. Do not post pictures or information about coworkers.
- All standard firm conduct still applies. Any conduct listed as prohibited by the firm is also applicable for online activity. Attorneys and staff still need to respect their coworkers.
- Know and follow the ABA and the applicable state bar rules and codes of professional conduct as concerns commercial speech and client confidentiality. Also know and follow any applicable state bar advertising regulations.
- Content that is published to any web site or blog that is related to firm practice areas, or related to subjects associated with firm clients, partners or staff, should use appropriate disclaimers.
- Always make the marketing department aware of online publishing so they can ensure compliance with all appropriate external and internal regulations and policies.
Excerpts from Social Media Policies (Best Practices)[6]