Four elements of law firm social media usage

Social media expert, John Cass, offers four elements of social media use within an organization. I thought they applied well to law firms.

His points with my commentary:

1. Blogger relations: (a) pitching bloggers and (b) conversational marketing. PR with bloggers is dramatically different than PR as law firms know it. Do not send me a press release. Get to know me. Establish a relationship with me, preferably through your own blog.
2. Employee social media training. No one is saying lawyers and legal marketing professionals are going to master social media overnight. But bringing in social media experts to talk with the firm and its lawyers and getting folks out to social media conferences (not legal marketing conferences) is a good start.
3. Social media marketing: (a) customer service, (b) product development, (c) social media optimization (note: some people debate the ethics of this approach) (d) public affairs, and (e) conversational marketing. It’s going to take a leap of faith, but law firms have much to gain from testing the social media marketing mediums being used by innovative companies, like as their own clients.
4. Changing business culture based on social media strategies. Using social media for internal processes and leadership transformation. Rather than arbitrary rules against blogging, Facebook, and the like, start using them on at least a trial basis.

Share John’s outline with folks in your law firm and your friends in the business. It’s a nice outline from which to fill in the details.