How law firms plan social media better

Forgot to post something on LinkedIn again this week? Regularly updating social media profiles is a lot of work. But fortunately, there are tools that allow us to plan in a structured way.

Publication Date
10/2019
How law firms plan social media better

Why do I need structured social media planning?

First of all: Social media includes not only the well-known social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Instagram etc. but also the blog. Blogs traditionally have a social function by offering a discussion platform on specific topics. Company blogs on corporate websites are therefore also part of the social media activity addressed here.

No matter who is responsible for the content of the social media in a law firm or another company: they all need content. However, the procurement and correct distribution of this content is costly. If you are dealing with lawyers who are always busy in this context, you better plan well. What is not planned is forgotten. And it's like running a blog or newsletter: Something should happen regularly so that the brand remains visible and the readers or viewers remain interested.

Note: This also applies to Google - regularly new and relevant content on your website = good for SEO, more traffic, new leads, etc.

We do not recommend that you always look for the content for your social media profiles on short notice. If you do, you run the risk of wasting a lot of valuable time with this search. If you take the time to plan for the next few weeks, you can be sure that the essential activity is covered. There is also still room to take up short-term developments.

The creation of marketing content therefore consists of a structured and a spontaneous production.

Free tip: Why not check the holidays in advance in the calendar and coordinate your activities with these days. By the way, today, 2 October, is "International Day of Non-Violence".

The structured production of content in law firms

Definition and process for creating the calendar

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We speak of structured planning when it is determined in advance who contributes to which content, when and on which platform. This typically requires clever knowledge management. A popular opportunity in law firms is the exchange of activities, exciting cases and political developments in the various practice groups. It is important that the person responsible for digital marketing or social media is at the table.

Law firms that have created a well-organized social media process and integrated it into the already existing knowledge exchange are on the winning track. The result should be a calendar that defines, at least for the next month, which content will be created by when and by whom.

Sounds easy in principle. But it needs a good concept to avoid getting lost in the hectic of everyday life.

Technical tools for social media planning

"The existing." Microsoft Excel or Outlook

Wow. Groundbreaking. Not really, but if you want to make a quick improvement for your business, start with this. These tools are guaranteed to be available in all law firms. Everyone knows the tools and can use them. Granted: Excel has so many functions and possibilities that it is difficult - especially for us lawyers - to exploit its full potential. We actually prefer text to cells.

But: Once a clean template is created, it is easy to act. The construction of a template can also be commissioned (e.g. from us :) ). The complexity can vary depending on your needs. Different channels or contents and authors can be defined as desired, so that a structured planning is possible. It is important that the document is adapted to the specific requirements of the law firm.

Somewhat simpler is the integration of the tasks as appointments in the calendars of the responsible persons. This ensures that the persons are notified of their tasks in good time. The possibilities for linking and evaluation are limited in Outlook - compared to Excel.

"The New One." Project Management Tools

There are now many of these. Perhaps your law firm has already implemented one and the tool falls into the category "already available". Examples of such tools for task and project management are Click Up, Trello or Monday or Meistertask. All these tools are based on the idea of implementing projects together and working through tasks in a structured way. The programmes are easy to implement, relatively user-friendly and can be structured to fit your setup.

Usually, individual tasks can be assigned to certain persons, who can then be assigned deadlines to different tags. In the style of the Kanban method, the status (Open, In Progress, Done) of an activity can be tracked, so that the person responsible can intervene early if something is stuck somewhere (status: "stuck").

"The Specific": Tools for Social Media Content

Focused on social media, today there are also numerous tools to manage content for social media channels. Here you can link your social media profiles (company and personal). This works with most major social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

You can prepare your posts in the calendar via a "Content Planner". These are then played out at the scheduled time via your selected profiles. This simplifies planning enormously. It reduces the effort in production, as you can prepare all posts in one go. It is usually also possible to save posts as drafts and subject them to an internal review process, if this is provided for in your system.

Here are examples of social media management tools that might help you. If you have concerns or find the tools too expensive: Just get in touch with us. A cooperation can be formed via our agency accounts.

Conclusion on structured planning

No matter which aids are chosen for support: It is important that the entire process is set up in such a way that the marketing managers in your firm can plan optimally. It needs tools that the people can use. It does not make sense to simply use something that overwhelms the employees and does not add value. But: Those who do it right and educate and instruct the people properly will benefit continuously from efficient content production for digital marketing.

Spontaneous production of marketing content

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In addition to the structured planning of content, there is still a need for space to comment on developments that were not foreseeable. Depending on the area of law, political activities, for example, can be anticipated more or less well. It must therefore always be possible to react to such circumstances at short notice. It is important that the lawyers, who are usually well informed, know whom they can turn to with such content. Whenever something noteworthy happens, people should have it in their heads that they contact the marketing managers to discuss how the topic can be integrated into communication.

How HeadStarterz Can Help!

Marketing and communication of law firms is our core competence. This includes not only external communication, but in particular also internal organisation and implementation. We ourselves have worked as lawyers, in-house counsel and tax advisors and are familiar with the way lawyers work and the processes in law firms. We would be happy to support you in setting up a suitable and feasible plan for your activities in the social media.

The best thing to do is simply call(+41 61 554 55 74) or send an email(tobias@headstarterz.com). We are looking forward to it!
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