Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
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If you aren’t using Facebook events to market your law firm now is the time! Law firms have learned to use social media to interact with existing clients and reach out to new clients. Unlike other businesses, however, law firms face the challenge of working with a large number of one-time clients. Referrals have long been one of the best ways for lawyers to get new clients, since consumers often trust friends and family members when searching for an attorney.
There is one way law firms with a Facebook presence can get a sudden burst of referrals and social media shares. Facebook events are dedicated parties, held either directly on Facebook or at a designated location. In the case of online events, attendees merely go to the designated site at the event start time and interact with the event host. If your law practice is considering using Facebook events to market your practice, here are a few tips to consider.
Choose an In-Demand Topic
With so much competition for attention on Facebook, it can be difficult for an event to stand out. You may be competing with multilevel marketers, service providers, and nonprofits for attention from the site’s many members. One of the best ways to gain an advantage is by choosing a topic that a large number of consumers want to know about. When you invite your own followers to attend and suggest they share the event with others, they’ll be more likely to share it if they know it’s something their own online followers want to know about.
For a law firm, this opens up a wide variety of possibilities. A firm specializing in divorce may see a new local law that impacts the way child custody cases are decided. A dedicated event could result in Facebookers sharing the event with friends and relatives with children who happen to be preparing for a divorce. A firm could also host an event answering one of the most frequently asked questions it gets from potential clients. This type of event not only expands your law practice’s reach, but it also creates a resource that your attorneys can provide to future clients who ask those questions.
Make It Regular
A one-time event may not have the same level of success as an ongoing series of events. You could designate one day a week for customers to come to a dedicated event page and ask questions. You could also choose an on-site event such as a luncheon or breakfast and invite Facebook members to attend on a “space is limited” basis. This could be done as a series that customers begin to look forward to attending, eventually telling friends and coworkers about the great work your firm is doing.
As your events begin to generate interest, you can maintain that momentum by inviting attendees to subscribe to your events. This will generate a notification every time you’ve planned a new event, allowing subscribers to respond whether they’ll attend or not. This will give your firm a built-in audience that you can then supplement with the new members you bring over through attendee referrals and your own marketing.
Make It Interactive
Whether you ask attendees to come to a location or attend online, your event will be more effective if you engage your audience in discussion. For an in-person event, this is most effective through a lunch-and-learn type of setup, where you invite local workers to show up at lunchtime. Focus on one topic per meeting and set aside at least 15 minutes to allow attendees to ask any questions they have on that subject.
For events held directly on Facebook, your firm will need to assign at least one person to be present throughout the event period to initiate discussions and respond to commenters. Before the event, plan out a few ways to get participants talking, including questions that might incite conversation and perhaps even a contest with a gift card going to the winner.
Using Facebook events, you can interact with your loyal clients and possibly win a few new ones. Since professional expertise from attorneys is often in demand, legal professionals should consider the topics that most often come up in your daily interactions and tailor your events to those subjects. With careful planning and promotion across multiple platforms, you can use social events to reach new clients and get the word out about the great work you do.
