LinkedIn Targeted Updates : Law firms may deliver content to niche audiences

April 17, 2012

More and more law firms are turning to LinkedIn, not only for lawyer and law firm profiles, but also for business development opportunities through networking. One large law firm I visited last month is holding a ‘LinkedIn Week’ to get their over 1,000 lawyers using LinkedIn at the next level. Last week LinkedIn launched another valuable feature for lawyers and law firms. It’s called LinkedIn Targeted Updates and is being rolled out gradually to all users. Via Targeted Updates you can deliver highly relevant content (maybe a blog post) to targeted audiences to drive increased engagement. You can target industry, size of company, location, you name it. Rather than spam everyone on your ‘list’ you can identify the audience who would the information most helpful. Your audience will receive the updates in the updates on their LinkedIn home page. I am not certain if it will run across their LinkedIn mobile environment as is the case with content shared on LinkedIn by people in your network. You will also have access to see what the level of engagement was from the content shared. Who read what? When? Who were they – by demographic. Pretty good stuff for marketing professionals. LinkedIn studies have shown a 66%+ increase in audience engagement as the result of Targeted Updates. Here’s a video clip from LinkedIn that explains what Targeted Updates is all about and how you can use the new feature. http://youtu.be/gxGCKJAJlpE Here are 5 tips LinkedIn suggests (pdf) will get the most engagement from your audience in your use of Targeted Updates.

Content – Share relevant industry insights and news with your followers.

60% are interested in industry insights.
53% are interested in company news.
43% are interested in early access to new products and services.

Length – Less is more. Shorter messages have higher engagement.

Frequency – Send at least 2-3 updates per week for each audience. 70% of followers are reached within the first 48 hours.

LinkedIn Groups – Cross-promote and use groups for extended discussions.

Employees – Keep employees in the loop. Employees actively spread your message by sharing updates with their networks.

It feels a little dirty to me to break down engagement into a science as LinkedIn does in these tips. I say get comfortable with what feels right on the engagement side and see how your audience is responding. Ask clients, your employees, and others who may be receiving the content what they think. Does it feel spammy? Also remember that engagement through networking online is personal in nature. How are your individual lawyers personally using LinkedIn to network. Networking after all is a personal, not corporate/law firm thing. It’s this personal networking that builds relationships and reputations, the cornerstones of business development in the law. Don’t believe for a second you cannot ‘hand off’ social networking and social media to the marketing department and not have lawyer involvement. Nonetheless, I see a role for LinkedIn Targeted Updates for law firms. Highly relevant information other than the old blanket bombing approach. Hat tip to Lisa Barone (@lisabarone) for letting me know of Targeted Updates.

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LinkedIn and Social Media Principles