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Reach more clients when you Tweet with Hashtags
Twitter is an great way to get your name in front of people on the web. You don’t need a large following, as with traditional marketing efforts, just networking with the people you know can bring you leads or referrals.
But what if you do want to reach a larger audience, or you are getting overwhelmed trying to stay in touch with everyone, or you have different topics for different groups? This is where hashtags (#) come in.
A hashtag is just the pound symbol – # – followed by the name used to broadcast to a specific group. For example, you can have #lawyer or #attorney. Anyone that is set up to follow that tag will then receive your tweet.
Check out www.hashtags.org to see if a group exists by using their search box. And if there isn’t a group already, then create a new one by tweeting it. Just use the #hashtag in your post.
Let’s say you have multiple areas of practice and want to send a tweet, but it is only meant for a specific group of people. You can create a hashtag for #duilawyer and then a #drugcrimelawyer to tweet each potential client group separately. Although it is possible, you probably wouldn’t use #frensodrugcrimelawyer even if you are a Fresno Drug Crime Lawyer. The number of people following this tag is probably small, if any at all.
Keep your tags short. Sticking with our Frenso-CA-lawyer-theme, if you are a domestic violence attorney in Fresno and you have a tag like #fresnodomesticviolenceattorney, consider using abbreviations. This tag is too long and takes up a lot of your characters. You’re better off with #domesticviolence or even #domviolence.
There are some commands that you need to be familiar with some you can broadcast your message to the people who want to read it. Here are some of the key commands:
- Follow #tag – lets you follow all updates tagged with #lawyer.
- Follow username#tag – subscribe to all updates from a certain person that is sent to a group.
- #tag message – Send a message or question to the group.
- #tag !message – Send a message only to people who are subscribed to updates from #tag.
- Leave #tag – Unsubscribe from the group. If your friends are subscribed to this group as well, you’ll still get messages from them that include updates for the group through your friends.
- Remove #tag – Unsubscribe from the group and from friend messages that include this tag.
Some Helpful Marketing Tips for Small Law Firms – Part II
6. Consider clients’ frame of reference. Take a look at who your main clients are and what legal services you generally help them with. Make sure you promote those services and focus your marketing plan on specific areas. Also, make sure you understand how these services are seen through your clients’ perspective.
7. Use online directories. Make sure to get your firm listed in as many online directories as you can – especially the free ones. They’re all over the web and it’s important to have your name listed so that when people search for lawyers who practice your area of law, you’ll be seen and considered.
8. Make sure your pricing is reasonable. Everyone knows getting legal help from a lawyer is costly. That doesn’t mean you have to charge clients a ridiculous amount of money for your help. Obviously clients will be more drawn to you if your prices are reasonable, so make sure you’re not overcharging.
9. Publish newsletters. By simply sending out a monthly emailed (and free!) newsletter, you can keep in touch with your existing clients and keep them informed of what’s new with your firm. Taking care of your existing clients is more important that getting new ones. After all, they’re the ones referring new clients to you. It’s important to keep them acknowledged and informed.
10. Survey existing clients. Any firm – big or small – should survey its clients every so often. It’s extremely effective to gather opinions and suggestions from your loyal clients as to what changes in your business should be made, what’s good about your firm and what matters most to them personally. Shape aspects of your marketing plan based on the answers you receive.
Some Helpful Marketing Tips for Small Law Firms – Part I
1. You must have a website. No matter how small your firm is, you need to develop a website. Whether you have one attorney or five or your firm has existed for a few weeks or a few years, you need to get yourself on the web as much as possible. A website is a place for potential clients to come and read about the services you offer, become familiar with your firm’s staff and find out information to contact your firm and possibly hire an attorney. Nowadays everyone runs to a computer when they need to look up something. Not having a website can hurt any business.
2. Use a referral service. Especially if you’re in the process of building your practice, referral programs can be very helpful in gathering more clients. More calls mean more business so it’s important to take advantage of this service if possible, even if there is a small fee included.
3. Promote your firm to the fullest. Small law firms have the potential to market their services as well as larger firms do without the same financial budget. Some suggestions? In addition to creating a website, utilize free social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked In and free blogging sites that you can link back to your website. Also, take advantage of any low-cost advertising your firm can afford.
4. Connect with colleagues. It’s extremely beneficial for lawyers to have a network of colleagues who specialize in a range of legal services. This can increase business if one attorney refers clients to his/her fellow colleague who practices in the legal field that client needs help within and visa versa.
5. Get your staff together to brainstorm. If you’re trying to develop or improve a marketing plan for your firm, call your staff together for a meeting to generate new ideas and suggestions and discuss your overall marketing goals.