Twitter's journalistic slant a good fit for attorneys

Tim Bradshaw and Richard Waters of the Financial times report that Twitter’s advertising model is still a work in progress.

But Twitter from a journalistic standpoint is a big hit. Per Mark Read, chief executive of WPP Digital:

Twitter is more of a journalistic than a marketing phenomenon. If you talk to newspaper editors and people in the media, they are obsessed.

By contrast, Twitter is “still trying to figure out” its advertising products.

For the right category of marketers – those that involve entertainment properties, personalities, launches and news, those that have their own content or sponsor events – it’s pretty relevant. But it requires a greater degree of sophistication than other forms of online advertising.

Newspaper editors. People in the media. Marketers with personalities and content. That’s a good fit for law firms and attorneys.

Good law firms have always leveraged the media and newspapers to get the word out on their attorneys. Attorneys that were personalities had more success.

Content has always been at the heart of law firm business development. Attorneys writing articles for trade and industry publications has historically been a way to drive one’s reputation. Today publishing a blog accelerates relationships and an attorney’s word of mouth reputation.

Though some advertisers such as FindLaw will pay $1 to $4 for each new follower through “promoted accounts,” Twitter requires some finesse to realize engaged followers and relationships with customers and influencers, such as bloggers and mainstream media professionals.

For lawyers you are personally using Twitter, not having a ghost Tweet for them, Twitter offers a strong return. Anita Newton, vice-president of retail and digital marketing at AMC Theatres, told the Financial Times, “The level of activity and interest on the part of our followers is greater than any other channel.”

No question Twitter’s advertising revenue is going to grow. But for lawyers there’s more to gain from Twitter as a method to engage others and receive timely information from relevant people.