The Benefits of Twitter for Lawyers: A Strategy for Engagement

 By Gina Rubel
Special to the Legal

There are many benefits of lawyers using Twitter. In fact, I know many lawyers who have met both referral sources and new business contacts using Twitter.

As far as having a plan to engage in Twitter communications, I recommend taking the following approach: Define Purpose > Follow > Listen > Create > Engage. Here’s how:

1. Define your purpose in using Twitter. Identify what you want to accomplish by using Twitter as a vehicle for communication.

2. Follow: Identify the target audiences you want to reach: business and community leaders, referral sources, colleagues, experts, media, prospective clients and other thought leaders. Research those within your target audience who are using Twitter. Search for them by name, company name, topic, hashtag, etc. Start by following those people who are thought leaders in your industry.

3. Listen: Pay attention to what others are saying online. Add each person you follow to a defined list. Keep the lists private. For example, you can have lists for colleagues, legal media, experts, etc. Be careful, however, how you name your lists, as nothing is every truly "private" online. For example, I don’t recommend naming a list "clients" or "referral sources." Consider that T.M.I. (too much information).

4. Create: Create and or share content and information of value, such as breaking news, important news stories, upcoming events, resources, interesting observations, industry trends, articles, blogs posts, valuable website content (articles, practice area information), etc.

5. Engage: Engage in two-way conversation by direct messaging, mentioning others and retweeting information of value to your target audiences.

Twitter is an excellent tool to add to the mix of communication vehicles that you are using to build or reinforce your brand, increase referrals, build community relations, share information and build your network. Other benefits include crisis management, issue advocacy, marketing, public relations, media relations, reputation management and thought leadership. Just be smart about using social media, encourage the implementation of a social media policy in your firm and always be sure to adhere to the rules of ethics proscribed by the states within which you practice law. 

  Gina F. Rubel is the owner of Furia Rubel Communications Inc., a public elations nd marketing agency with a niche in legal communications. A former Philadelphia trial attorney and public relations expert, Rubel is the author of "Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers." Rubel and her agency have won numerous awards for legal communications, public relations, media relations, strategic planning, corporate philanthropy and leadership. She maintains a blog at www.ThePRLawyer.com and is a regular contributor to The Legal Intelligencer blog. You can find her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/ginafuriarubel or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ginarubel.  For more information, go to www.FuriaRubel.com.

Comments

[Melissa]

Great article. One more benefit: monitoring. Also applies to all industries. Twitter is great for gathering business intelligence to learn what is being said about you as well as your competition.

[David Hobbie]

If you keep all your lists private, then you are losing an opportunity to engage people, who may leverage your organization of useful sets of twitter users. I have people following some of my lists; I gain by having me on some of my own lists, and by the "credit" of having done something useful for them. Plus, with public lists paper.li provides a user-friendly way to view the useful stories posted by people on a list.

[The Outlaw Mom]

I agree with Melissa - Twitter, and all forms of social media, for that matter, are great sources of easily digestible information on timely topics.

[Gina Rubel]

Great feedback all - and I agree. For monitoring, it can be done inexpensively via Google Alerts or using tools like TweetDeck or HootSuite. I use HootSuite and love it. As for lists, I have some that are public and some that are private. I think everyone should maintain a healthy mix of both.

[Twitter Deal]

I appreciate with these post for twitter which would be helpful to the lawyers. However it will be good for evidence. It provide a good way to provide the justice for the people. Thanks for sharing.

[Web Development Services India]

A lawyer can gain immediate expertise from a thought leader across the country by asking a general question or sending a direct message via Twitter.