LinkedIn analysis of selected Swiss law firms: Developments from 2019 to 2021. For the third time, we have collected and analysed various LinkedIn data from law firms in Switzerland.
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Note on data collection: The following data were collected at a specific point in time in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They are therefore figures for a specific cut-off date. Deviations are therefore naturally possible and the actual figures no longer correspond to the current status at the time of publication of this article.
Addendum: Click here for the LinkedIn Study 2022
Basically, it can be said that law firms have gained followers every year. This shows that LinkedIn has steadily gained in importance in recent years.
The leader in terms of number of followers is once again the law firm LALIVE. Schellenberg Wittmer and Lenz & Staehelin also made it onto the podium. An order that is already familiar to us from 2019 and 2020.
The number of followers per legal employee also increased constantly from 2019 to 2021. LALIVE proves that the size of a firm does not determine the number of followers alone. The law firm is able to outperform its larger competitors on LinkedIn. The following factors certainly also have an influence on the number of followers of a company profile:
The assumption that top performers always stay ahead in terms of the number of followers is persistent. But is that the case? The answer: sometimes!
As mentioned at the beginning, the top group remains unchanged in 2019 and 2020. The five law firms with the highest number of followers were able to maintain their position at the top throughout the years. In addition to the aforementioned top three, these are Bär & Karrer and Walder Wyss.
However, certain law firms were able to increase their number of followers considerably and catch up on some ranks. One of the winners is Homburger. The Prime Tower law firm was able to generate more followers in 2021 and jumped up two places (new: rank 6). MME was also able to significantly improve its position in the ranking compared to 2019 (from 12th to 9th place compared to 2019).
A special case is the increase at former Meyerlustenberger Lachenal AG, which was able to generate an enormous number of new followers in 2021. One explanation for this is certainly the merger between Froriep and MLL to form MLL Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Froriep AG (MLL).
According to our analysis, no law firm suffered a decline in the number of followers. However, some firms experienced a comparatively smaller increase in followers. For example, the law firms Niederer Kraft Frey (NKF), Kellerhals Carrard and Pestalozzi were overtaken by previously lower ranked competitors.
On average, the LinkedIn follower numbers of the law firms analysed increased by 262% from the year 2019 to 2021. From 2019 to 2020, the average increase was still 176%, while from 2020 to 2021 the increase was around 139%.
As a further guideline, we have analysed the development of responses per contribution. Most law firms received significantly more reactions per post in 2021 compared to the two previous years. Reactions are defined as likes, comments and sharing of the post.
This increase is a positive development that clearly shows the increase in the importance of virtual communication.
However, even with this metric, the picture varies: Not all law firms developed in the same direction. While some firms were able to generate significantly more engagement in 2021 than in previous years, other firms received fewer responses. What is the reason for this? Of course, the fact that the law firms generally generated more followers and thus a higher reach on LinkedIn has a positive effect (cf. point 1 above). As is well known, the regularity and quality of the posts also have an impact on the engagement rate.
By the way: On LinkedIn, the share of engagement that comes from the employees of the respective company is around 30%.
The reason why a law firm was able to improve its engagement rate or lost responses would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis. If you are interested, we would be happy to support you with a corresponding analysis. Write to us: hello@headstarterz.com!
The quality of the content has a great influence on the engagement and reach of the posts. Those who communicate content that meets the interest of the target groups have a greater chance of receiving likes and shares. And the LinkedIn algorithm helps with distribution: posts that generate many reactions are shown to more users.
It also showed: Those who post regularly generate more reactions. Posts introducing employees, about awards won and about the team in general were very well received. These posts have a sympathetic effect and have the advantage that (familiar) faces are more likely to generate likes than just plain text. Posts with short but informative references to ongoing or completed "deals & cases" of the law firm, also were often rewarded with more reactions. Contributions about cooperation with universities or students also stimulated engagement. Few reactions were generated by posts about job advertisements, references to newsletters or posts with a lot of text.
For advice on how personal you should communicate on LinkedIn, see our blog post on this topic.
The regularity of quality posts can lead to appearing more often in the feed of one's followers as well as other users, thus gaining more attention. This in turn increases the likelihood of converting interested people into permanent, new followers.
Fact: A comparison of all companies on LinkedIn has shown that the engagement rate for companies that post at least 1x per week is twice as high as for companies that do not.
Thus, it can definitely be stated that the quality and regularity of the posts play a role in the reactions per post and the number of followers.
The regularity and quality of posts differed greatly among the law firms. While some regularly published valuable posts and thus generated many reactions, other law firms neglected to share posts or shared too few quality posts.
The following statement is confirmed in our analysis: Success in social media is based on consistency, frequency and quality.
Marketing on LinkedIn is a process that is time-consuming and constant. If you want to keep up in the battle for the attention of target groups on LinkedIn, you have to keep at it and invest. What it needs above all:
This has shown that law firms can leave their larger competitors behind in the race for the attention of their clients.
We support law firms and other companies in optimising LinkedIn activity: In doing so, we train employees on the use of company profiles, help individuals optimise their own marketing and develop structured LinkedIn communication concepts for firms.
If you have any questions, Tobias will be happy to help you: tobias@headstarterz.com
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