Law Firm CMOs, time to understand and use social media

No question the time for social media has arrived in the marketing of large law firms. Social media is ranked the most popular Internet tool for business development by large law firms in a May report, Legal Marketing: The Shape of Things to Come, (pdf) from Thomson Reuters.

The problem for large law is that most of their CMOs lack a basic understanding of social media. Poor judgment on their part per a Forbes article by customer strategist, David Williams, entitled, ‘CMOs, it’s Time to Brush Up on Your Social Skills – Appoint Yourself Chief Social Officer.’

So maybe your consumer-facing organization isn’t ready for a c-level post dedicated to social marketing. But one thing is for sure, the CMO had better embrace social, and soon. With Facebook alone boasting 850 million users – and countless millions using other social media vehicles to engage with one another – social is firmly planted in our marketing landscape. While many of today’s new college graduates may be experts at navigating social media, CMOs are kidding themselves if they think they can delegate social tasks and not have a voice in the social conversation.

As social media continues to grow, becoming a core element in consumer behavior, success will depend on how we integrate social behaviors into the enterprise marketing strategy and ensure that social initiatives are in line with brand and consumer expectations. And that’s why it truly is a c-level undertaking.

I see large law and their CMOs hiring social media coordinators to lead their law firm’s social media efforts. Such coordinators often have little understanding of business development in the law. They lack context as to how social media can be applied to strategic marketing and business development by their law firm.

The coordinators are often charged with educating lawyers and other law firm personal on how to use a social media or social networking tool from a technical or mechanical standpoint. Not how to strategically use social media to network and engage so as to build relationships and further enhance the word of mouth reputation of the firm and its lawyers, the keys to business development whether online or offline.

That makes as much sense as hiring a ‘telecommunications coordinator’ to teach lawyers how to use their desk and cell phones and expect that the lawyers are now equipped to use their phones for business development.

Nearly two-thirds of executives at more than 200 North American companies with annual revenues of $1 billion consider social media “extremely” or “very” important as a channel for customer interaction. (Making Social Media Pay, Accenture). As a law firm executive charged with courting those companies, you cannot operate without at least a working understanding of social media.

How do you as an old school law firm CMO gain an understanding of social media? Here’s some tips from Williams, tailored to a law firm, its clients, prospective clients, and the industries they represent.

• Get personally familiar with social. Explore Blogging, Twitter, Google Reader, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Ask others for a hand if you need to. Get to know the different platforms in terms of the benefits they can offer, such as promoting brand awareness and facilitating communications with the business community and influencers of your clients such as bloggers, reporters, and association leaders. The more you know about what the different social media vehicles can do, the better steward you can be in aligning your social and brand strategies.
• Allow yourself and your lawyers to have an opinion in social media, or at least offer insight and commentary. Respect others’ opinions (even people from competitor law firms), even if they differ from yours, and use their commentary as an opportunity to engage with them.
• Don’t get blinded by social. It can be tempting to treat it like a shiny new object, haphazardly deploying random tactics, just because you can. It’s best to realize that social is here to stay, and is an integral part of consumer behavior. Leverage it as a new engagement tool that has the potential to increase client loyalty and further enhance the reputation of a lawyer and firm as an authority with great speed and effectiveness. Make sure your teams are implementing social initiatives that are consistent with your brand and will translate authenticity to your audience.
• Assemble social resources thoughtfully. Don’t hire people just because they have an eclectic Twitter following and have 756 Facebook friends. Social marketing is about utilizing social applications based on sound marketing principles. It is, in fact, more important to hire proven marketers (even if you are outsourcing part of the work and training), who know the business of law and social, versus active Tweeters and Facebook users who don’t have such a background.
• Hold marketing teams accountable for results and ROI. Despite popular belief, social ROI and value can be calculated.
• Task marketing teams with utilizing social insights to drive better cross-channel marketing. Social behaviors expose never-before revealed insights about clients and prospective clients and the industries they represent. Too often, we fail to leverage these new insights to inform other marketing decisions. Listening to social discussions about the areas of law you work in as well as the type of industries and people you represent can help inform marketing content, strategic decisions on what areas to grow, and client service needs.

Per Williams,

The time has come for the social element to be included in every strategic decision that a CMO makes. It’s not optional anymore. Marketers must understand the social consumer and leverage those insights in marketing and business strategy. You can’t deny social’s impact on the marketing landscape, so embrace its power to drive consumer engagement and loyalty, and ultimately your overall business success.

I am seeing some large law firm CMOs learning how to use social media. I am exchanging in commentary with them via Twitter, my blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Google+. But those CMOs are few and far between.

It’s time for most law CMOs to understand and use social media.