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NEW YORK, NY – Good2bSocial today published the results of the 2020 Social Law Firm Index, examining how Am Law 200 firms adopt and apply digital marketing in terms of outreach, engagement and business development.
The Social Law Firm Index analyzes each firm’s digital footprint and evaluates their use of social media to extend thought leadership messages and otherwise engage with clients and constituents. These factors are reduced to numerical measures, weighted and incorporated into an algorithm to develop each firm’s rank on the Index.
Most large firms practicing in the United States now have an understanding of the value and necessity of digital marketing to their operations. This year, Good2BSocial measured reach, engagement and marketing performance on platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and new this year included firms’ performances producing podcasts.
“The global pandemic had a significant impact on all aspects of our society, which included marketing at law firms,” said Guy Alvarez, CEO of Good2bSocial. “Firms had to pivot and shift their entire practice online and figure out how to still connect with and build their client base. We saw firms embrace webinars, write and promote content, increase their social media advertising budgets and launch podcasts. Digital marketing is here to stay and it’s great watching firms embrace it and learn from best practices and opportunities to grow.”
Among the key findings in the 2020 Social Law Firm Index are:
The year of webinars
When the global pandemic shuttered offices and sent employees home, law firms scrambled to find a way to continue marketing and providing valuable content to their clients and prospective clients. Enter the year of webinars. Webinars have always played an important role in increasing brand awareness and delivering content to an engaged audience, but none more so than in 2020. It became one of the most effective and innovative tools at a business’ disposal. From featuring relevant content to a very targeted audience or marketing a new attorney, webinars offered something for both the law firms and the clients.
Rise of podcasts
Podcasting allows brands to communicate to a captive audience. Law firms can tell their story at any time and demonstrate expertise and subject-matter authority in their industry, building advocates along the way. Top law firms around the world have become more active and creating more podcasts. Starting one allows firms to build relationships with not just your existing client base, but potentially reach a brand-new audience.
Increased interest in SEO
Google’s 2019 BERT update forced SEO professionals to put the focus more on optimizing content based on search intent instead of keywords. Websites that publish content that matches what users are searching for now could be given higher priority in searches. Now firms need to focus on the intention behind the search, not how often a specific keyword is used in your content. To benefit from this shift, law firms should emphasize their efforts on creating the most useful, relevant and targeted content.
Paid LinkedIn goes mainstream
B2B marketers report that 80 percent of their social media leads come from LinkedIn and it’s 277 percent more effective than Facebook in generating leads. The platform’s major selling point for marketers is its ability to target an audience by their industry, job title and work experience and more, not just their demographics. LinkedIn is a platform where people expect and seek out work-related content. The site is also considered more trustworthy than other social platforms.
The 2020 Social Law Firm Index Best Performing Firms:
The Overall Top Five Firms demonstrated the greatest comprehensive adoption, integration and use of digital marketing, social media and thought leadership content to market and grow their practice. The firms topping the list are:
“We try to be strategic in our social media efforts,” said Leah Schloss, associate director for NA Communications at Baker McKenzie. “We want our content to resonate with people, and especially, our clients, and it’s a great thrill when there’s recognition for our efforts.”
The 2020 Social Law Firm Index rankings are based on a proprietary methodology developed to assess the effectiveness of each firm’s use of social media and digital marketing. The full report, including overall and individual channel rankings, along with feature stories on the top-ranking firms in each category, is available here for download.
About Good2bSocial
Good2bSocial’s mission is to help lawyers and law firms understand and leverage the power of digital marketing, content, and social media, using unmatched experience and the latest technology and techniques to power measurable marketing and business development strategies. Good2bSocial offers a full suite of digital marketing services for law firms and companies in the legal industry, including social media management, high-impact content strategy and production, email marketing, online advertising, SEO and marketing technology consulting.
