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Social Media Marketing for Law Firms

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Chapter 1: An introduction to social media

Social media platforms explainedBefore launching into a detailed explanation of Twitter, linkedIn, Facebook et al. let’s step back and look at how we’ve arrived at this point.

As human beings we are naturally social creatures, hardwired to live, work and play in groups of a size determined by cultural, geographic, demographic and economic factors. From as far back as man can trace we have had an ability and desire to communicate. Some may think work colleagues may not have evolved too far when all you receive is grunt acknowledgement for doing the coffee run, and it’s true that some of us are less capable and comfortable with social interaction than others. Cave paintings give a glimpse of the life of early homosapiens whilst Egyptian hieroglyphic writings depict the laws, traditions and mythology of their culture in a more structured and stylised method. Monks’ tablet writings which have taken years to perfect are yet another example of our compulsion to share beliefs and creativity with a wider audience.

Development of our language, education to enable reading and writing and paper and printing took the evolution of communication to a new level. Suddenly a single idea could be set in print, reproduced and distributed far and wide. Individuals could correspond over great distances by letter. We found a voice, a style and a form for our creative and work-related output.

Military and political leaders, philosophers, playwrights, authors,

musicians, comedians, artists and entrepreneurs have all used the power of the written word to shape the world we now live in. For many years print, radio and Tv were the mass communication forms but the end of the 20th century heralded a new revolution in technology and communication that would move the centre of influence from the gifted, dynamic and powerful, to anyone who had access to the internet.

Recent events in the Middle East that ironically started in Egypt were a stark demonstration of how far this power shift had gone. Where in the past insurgences could be smothered without a blip on the local let alone world media radar, they were suddenly gathering significant momentum. This momentum was driven by the communication stream of millions via readily accessible social media platforms. The fated government leaders in Egypt tried in vain to prevent the platforms from operating once they appreciated their impact, but it was too late.

The riots in london, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham in the summer of 2011 were a shocking example of how an idea can develop into a mass movement in moments. This shows how messages can become viral through social media.

In the beginning...Sir Tim Berners-lee is lauded as the creator of the ‘World Wide Web’. Founded as a method to communicate quickly with fellow researchers at CERN, this invention first

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proposed in 1989 created a new dynamic method of personal communication in digital form using http or hyper text transfer protocol (the first characters we see of a web address). This invention in itself sparked the imaginations of tens of thousands of entrepreneurs with the most successful websites being those that facilitated human interaction and became associated with the term social media.

But what exactly is social media? There are many definitions but it is often best to keep these matters simple. Social media is the distribution and creation of content that is of interest to a network sharing a common web-based communications platform.

Despite the positive outputs of bringing communities together and sharing ideas and experiences, you often hear the same negative views on social media, such as:

‘I just don’t get it’; �‘It’s a waste of time’; �‘It’s like walking down a street shouting �out random things to strangers’; ‘It’s for people with too much time on �their hands’;‘If I allow it in my business, staff will �spend all day on it’;‘I’m a private person, what about identity �theft?’; and‘No one wants to know about me and �what I put on my toast’.

Given the sheer proliferation of social media activity amongst the populations of the developed world, we can’t hide behind these views as reasons not to even try to understand what social media is all about. There are an estimated 200 social media sites – you’ll be pleased to note that we don’t feature them all here but simply highlight those that provide an insight into the mediums evolution.

GeoCities A name that may ring a bell with one or two readers but a far off distant bell. It was one of the very first sites to offer community engagement through the creation of websites hosted by GeoCities but managed by users. The idea was to have the websites associated with specific locations based upon the site’s content, hence the name. As an example of how a mighty idea can fall spectacularly, this is one of the best. GeoCities was purchased by Yahoo in 1999 for a staggering US$3.57bn. Yahoo moved rapidly to monetise and manage the site but this backfired, creating resentment amongst the free-spirited members. Membership numbers declined rapidly despite Yahoo’s u-turn on fees. Whilst the site still operates in Japan, it has been closed in all other countries having failed to capitalise on being at one time the fifth most popular website in the world.

Classmates.comRandy Conrad’s school friend connection site went live in 1995 and is one of the very earliest examples of a social networking site. It has seen a decline in membership since its heyday but maintains a core following despite recently falling to being only the 4,211th most visited site (see: http://www.alexa.com, March 2011).

Friends ReunitedCreated by an English husband and wife team in 2000, this is an alumni site. School reunion parties and alumni sites were becoming increasingly popular and as with classmates.com in the US, this site became one of the first and most popular social media platforms in the UK. The site has struggled to compete with the larger sites and its design and subscription costs led to a loss of membership. Its value has fallen

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too from the once heady £175m price that ITv paid in 2005 to £25m in 2009 when a subsidiary of the Scottish publisher DC Thomson purchased the site. The best ideas are always simple and this is no exception.

LinkedInlinkedIn started in 2002, a business professional to business professional member-based website that encourages users to connect to colleagues past and present, network contacts, clients, referrers and friends. The basis of linkedIn is that it offers a secure and structured environment for business-related communications. It enjoyed a steady growth which faltered slightly after a few years, only to recover and become one of the world’s leading networking sites and the primary site for the business community.

WordPresslaunched in 2003, WordPress is a blogging site. Blogs are usually short articles written on a specific topic or associated topics by individuals with an interest or experience in a particular area. There is no limit to the amount of copy you can create for a blog and many professionals actively blog to demonstrate their level of knowledge on a given subject, such as employment law, tax or property.

MyspaceMyspace also arrived in 2003 and by 2006 had become the most popular social networking site in the US, a position held until April 2008 when Facebook took over. Owner News Corporation has built on the natural migration of the site from a standard social networking platform to one that focuses on music and entertainment with a design. The site has lost many users to other platforms but is now working on building on

what it has through linking with the larger sites such as Facebook.

Facebooklaunched in 2004, Facebook is quite simply a modern day phenomenon. Since April 2008 Facebook has been accepted as the world’s most popular and visited social media site. At the time of writing this report, an estimated 750 million users have Facebook accounts. The website enables users to create a profile and then seek out ‘friends’ who can view the profile and post comments, photos or videos. It is the most widely-used social media platform often overlooked by businesses as being inappropriate as a suitable business tool. The concern is born out of the general view that it is a platform used by individuals to share their private moments, relaying experiences when physically socialising. The volume of active users suggests that it is a site that should not be overlooked. Facebook holds extremely useful demographic data and the option exists to create company pages to promote services to specific users of the site.

BeboBebo, launched in 2005, is actually an acronym for ‘Blog Early Blog Often’. This is a good example of how social media is not always good news for business but successful for the originators, and timing is everything. The original owners sold the site to AOl in 2008 for US$850m. AOl in turn sold the site in 2010 for a reported US$10m. It is now reinventing itself, as it was originally used heavily by students and always fell short of the attraction of Facebook and Myspace.

Flickrlaunched in 2004, Flickr was originally conceived as a site for professional

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photographers to share and promote their work. Over time the general public and a number of businesses have joined the site to share personal and business related shots respectively. There have been some good examples of multi-platform promotions incorporating Flickr (which will be explored further in this report).

YouTubeYouTube started in 2005 and has fast become the pre-eminent video-hosting website. It enables account holders to view and upload video content from computers, tablets such as iPad and smartphones. Many organisations were quick to see the potential for their business. viral campaigns using video that could be easily shared via e-mail created great successes, but the majority of law firms have yet to reach beyond the ‘talking head’ method of winning new work. A quick search on the site for lawyers will reveal a wide variety of content with only a small number managing to entertain. Other video platforms include vimeo and Dailymotion.

QypeBased in Hamburg, Germany this site was launched in 2006. It has grown steadily across Europe, offering users an opportunity to rate experiences at a range of retail and leisure outlets. Qype also provides a platform for user interaction with groups and forums, friend lists and a badge system to reward regular reviewers and contributors to the site. It also contains a comprehensive list of events occurring across Europe.

TwitterFirst tweets were issued in 2006 and it has proved to be a sensational global hit if we look at the statistics. There are still

many sceptics who fail to see the attraction or reason for sending the 140-character micro blogs and it’s easy to see why. The constant stream of blogs seen in a typical timeline can appear as though someone is randomly shouting out the minutiae of their life to complete strangers. But somewhere within this jumble of communication lies an audience suitable for your firm, wanting to connect with professionals, share ideas and learn about your expertise. We will look at this in greater detail later in this chapter.

TumblrTumblr, launched in 2007, heralded the introduction of yet another micro-blogging site. In the face of significant platform competition it has carved a sizeable niche with the blog numbers alone exceeding WordPress with 20 million. Tumblr is currently ranked in the top 50 websites globally. As with most of the platforms, Tumblr has its own smartphone and BlackBerry app to enable users to post ‘on the move’ or without the hassle of logging on to a computer.

FoursquareIn 2009 from its base in New York, we witnessed the launch of the first major location-based social media site that made full use of the new smartphone GPS technologies. Foursquare users can ‘check in’ to locations that appear as listings of nearby restaurants and shops and you can create entries for your own location. ‘Check ins’ earn points and a regular visitor can be promoted to ‘mayor’ which, often in the case of retail sites on Foursquare, can reward them with discounts such as free refills of coffee or discounts on certain lines. Although primarily focused on the retail high street experience, it is possible to create entries for your firm and promote special offers.

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Facebook’s location-based application has also recently gained momentum and threatened to eat into Foursquare’s market. Another location-based site with a considerable following is Gowalla.

Quoralaunched in 2009 by ex Facebook employees Adam D’Angelo and Charlie Cheever, the site’s objective was to address the web’s lack of an easily navigable and user friendly Q&A site. There are a number of sites purporting to offer browsers answers to burning and not so burning questions, but the founders both felt there was room for improvement. Judging by the take up, they were right. Where it gains over its competitors is in the method of engaging users in the process, allowing comments and votes on the answers.

InstagramAt the end of 2010 another social media variation developed a following by just using photos. Instagram has a retro feel with links to Kodak’s polaroid formats, enabling the user to upload their snaps in a square frame, but with a variety of colour styles/washes. The idea is yet again simple – instead of blogging you upload your photo to tell the world what you’re seeing, show your creativity and share your mood. It has the look of a stripped down Tumblr, but it is clearly making an impact with four million users and only four staff.

Google+ launched on 28 June 2011, this is a good demonstration of how the social media scene is ever changing with little respite. This platform, in a test phase at the point of writing this report, has yet to be officially launched. Users are testing the site’s functionality but early indications are that it

is likely to become a serious contender for eyeball time of social media users. Google has the advantage of having established apps that can integrate with this new layer of functionality that will combine services such as existing profile data and Buzz with new services. One such feature is ’circles’ where users can organise contacts into specific groups for sharing posts. ‘Hangouts’ are shared areas on the site where people can meet up to a maximum of ten at any one time.

These are but 17 brief examples of social media. Currently available platforms offer a variety of communication opportunities and challenges for the modern professional practice to engage with.

TechnologyFor many legal professionals, technology has become ever more important in the day job; from case management systems and accounts for billing, to online resources for research and precedents and the time-saving webinar broadcasts to keep you up to date with your specific specialist area.

As a result, one wouldn’t expect a deal of resistance to the introduction of an alternative communication medium such as a blog. The difficulty though is not in the technology per se but in the reasons and motivations for applying it.

If a lawyer can see that he/she can access key legislative information to support his/her client’s case by undertaking a quick search on a dedicated library portal, then he/she and the partners will be sold on the concept. Similarly if the case management system, populated with template letters and forms, makes the management of multiple cases simultaneously possible, then the firm can make a qualified assessment of the cost benefits of purchasing and using the system.

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Asking the same lawyer to tweet or blog, or even just network on linkedIn, provides less of a clear cut argument of how this activity will benefit them and the practice directly.

The point is that the technology is not an obstacle. The modern professional is very familiar with e-mail, web browsing and smartphone use but it is often the technology that gets the blame when practices are shown to have failed to use the various platforms.

It is important to note that the multitude of social networking sites use very similar technologies, providing slightly different user interfaces and features. If a lawyer knows how to operate the in-house systems, send and receive e-mail and browse the net for research, he/she will be more than equipped to tackle the various social media sites. We will look at how to engage your firm in social media in Chapters 5 and 6 but it is worth raising this important point before launching into the technical detail of the various platforms.

So why would we need to lift the bonnet on Facebook or linkedIn? For no better reason than to gain a greater understanding of the medium you’re working in. It’s not necessary to explore the finer details of the programming that created the sites but it is worth having an overview of what they’re built on and where that technology may lead in the future. The speed of change and growth in this field has been and continues to be quite astounding. By having an understanding of the basics, we can appreciate how innovations in communication software, applications and devices will impact on both your working and personal life.

Web 2.0 You may have heard reference to Web 2.0 as a concept – this is the evolution of

the internet moving from the early years of websites delivering data and effectively becoming information-based sites. Web 2.0 is a term that can be traced back as far as 1999 but didn’t really become accepted until web agency O’Reilly Media started its Web 2.0 conferences in 2003. The term seeks to classify the second stage of the internet life cycle and refers to new sites that allow users to interact far for more freely with the newly-introduced ‘platforms’ through client-side browser technology.

Web 2.0 combines elements of client and destination site software, dynamic content and network protocols. Before Web 2.0 – in the age of what is now termed Web 1.0 – site owners did not have the ability to give users storage space and areas to create their own content and provide such dynamic networking functionality.

There are three main aspects to Web 2.0:

SOA (service oriented architecture) or in �simple terms how applications interact on websites providing added services such as RSS feeds or tag clouds;RIA (rich internet application) – the ability �to access dynamic content, video, music or user experience, an example being Adobe Flash software; andSocial web – sites that provide browsers �with an experience in which they play a central part, describing most social media sites.

RSS feeds are often seen on sites as an orange icon which, when clicked on, allows the browser to subscribe to content from the site. Specific RSS web links can be created to enable users of sites such as linkedIn to post and share blog content from external sites to other users usually in groups. Tag clouds are a collection of words, phrases or names associated with

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a specific user experience, for example, Twitter analytics sites often use tag clouds to show the impact of followers on the user’s account, typically those with greatest influence appearing larger than others.

If you really want the spec on the new technology, browsers in the Web 2.0 era use JavaScript, Flash and XMl technologies to facilitate the downloading of data from the web server without a full page reload for each request. The real advantage is speed, with asynchronous data exchanges being made possible through these software developments, allowing users to continue to send messages or use features on a site whilst it deals with other user requests.

The increase in internet bandwidth has enabled the downloading and viewing of music and video files. Software such as Flash from Adobe has become one of the most popular applications used by web developers to add dynamic content to websites.

HTMl or hyper text mark-up language is the code used for the vast majority of websites. Try looking at the source code of a website by right clicking your mouse on any sight and going to ‘view source’. This is the code that created the website you’re looking at. The latest developments in this programming arena is HTMl 5 which offers the functionality of Flash, but could create something of a headache for web designers who are not sure which programme to use for maximum accessibility.

Access is a key factor and the Adobe versus Apple battle is just one example of how a technology giant such as Apple has flaws in its otherwise excellent offering. At present no Apple products can use Adobe Flash and sites that have been constructed using Flash (and there are many) cannot be seen in their full glory on iPhones, iPads, iPods, etc. Beyond the dispute between the two US technology companies, there lies

the greater question of how sites can best present themselves in such a multi-platform, multi-device, multi-browser world.

looking specifically at the social media websites such as Facebook, linkedIn and Twitter, they all have taken careful note of the multitude of methods their users may rely on accessing and using the various features of their sites. All offer the ability to upload photos regardless of your browser of choice. Occasionally there are glitches but in the most part the sites function well and are robust. They also employ a variety of security measures to prevent malicious attacks on multiple or single accounts, although there have been a number of reported cases where these measures have fallen short. While security and protection of the user experience remain a priority for the owners of social media sites, it would be imprudent to rely upon them for your practice and those who wish to engage in social media activity. Simple steps can be taken to limit your exposure and the availability of personal data on such sites. We look at these risks and security measures in greater depth in Chapter 6.

In addition to the main social media sites, there are many associated applications that are designed specifically to help the users of specific sites. TwitBird Pro, HootSuite, SocialOoomph, TweetDeck and SlideShare are amongst those to choose and we have a selection of top sites to consider in Appendix 1.

Technology – Top tipsAs will be discussed in further detail in later chapters, your chosen social media users will likely be familiar with the technology that social media sites use, but don’t assume they will be comfortable in trying it out. Provide a simple ‘how to’ guide for the platform(s) in question and spend time ensuring users

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understand how to get the most out of the sites.

Use Google news alerts to provide suitable content for potential tweets or blogs. Create alerts on terms related to your field such as ‘employment law’ and each time a story appears on the web, Google will send a brief e-mail and a link to the full story.

If creating a group on linkedIn, identify the RSS feeds that add suitable news content and copy and paste the links into the function on the site. Add your own RSS feed from your own blog (if you don’t have one, create one).

Only upload content to your followers that is suitable and does not infringe any copyright laws. Keep abreast of trends in social media and don’t be afraid to try out new sites as they could be the next big site. A word of caution – only ask others to join new sites once you have established their merits. There is a danger of social media site overload and you will lose the interest of your active users.

StatisticsThe statistics in social media are almost unbelievable. News reports list the huge volume of accounts, users, followers and connectors, creating massive amounts of content – blogging, messaging, video footage and photos.

It’s not difficult to see why professional marketers are drawn to social media.

LinkedInFounded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, the site has 100 million members in 200 countries and is reportedly growing by a new member every second. Seventy per cent of members are aged 25-54. Fifty per cent of members are based in North America (US = 44 million) and 25 per cent in Europe (UK = four million).

linkedIn is actively used by 69 of the Fortune 100 companies. It is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Russian and Turkish.

WordPressFourteen per cent of the world’s top one million websites use WordPress as their platform.

FacebookFacebook has approximately 750 million users with 48 per cent falling into the 18-34 age range. There are, however, over 28 million people on Facebook who are over 45. The average user:

Has 130 friends; �Spends over 30 minutes a day on �the site;Sends eight friend requests a month; and �Creates 90 pieces of content per month. �

200 million people access Facebook via a mobile device each day.

The site is valued at US$41bn, making it the third largest US company by revenue after Google and Amazon. Security software removes approximately 20,000 user profiles a day for a number of breaches of its protocol; these include underage users (you must be at least 13 to register on Facebook), spam and inappropriate content. Founder Mark Zuckerberg still owns 24 per cent of the company.

FlickrFlickr contains an amazing five billion photos with over 50 million accounts worldwide.

YouTubeYouTube has 490 million users with the average user spending 20 minutes per day viewing the site’s content. It enables account

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holders to view and upload video content from computers, tablets such as the iPad and smartphones.

TwitterThe first tweets were issued in 2006 and the latest reports indicate that there are 100 million active accounts, creating some 55 million tweets (micro blogs) per day. These 140-character micro blogs can include links to external website content, video and photos.

FoursquareFoursquare has created 400 million ‘check ins’ by its users.

Statistics – Top tipsDon’t get lost in the numbers or confused over conflicting statistics relating to the same platform. Use trusted sources to establish the facts and appropriateness of engaging with a specific social media site. Use tools to generate your own statistical information, track from launch and check progress; for example, http://www.klout.com measures the reach of specific accounts across multiple social media platforms.

BehaviourWe’ve touched on the history of human interests in all things social but we need to bring ourselves up to date to understand how these various platforms are both common and at odds with each other. It is demographics – age, social status, profession and leisure interests – that often determine which social media sites we frequent. The list of 17 platforms highlights that the choices are many, but as we all know too well, time is a scarce and valuable resource.

Facebooklet’s focus on the main social media platforms for this section starting with the

big one – Facebook. So big in fact that a blockbusting film has been made about its creator and the story behind its phenomenal rise in popularity and financial standing. Mark Zuckerberg and his lesser known co-founders Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin and Chris Hughes could hardly have imagined in their wildest dreams that their student directory inspired website would grow from zero to 500 million users in little over six years. Zuckerberg had an opportunity to sell out to large corporations but resisted and kept faith with the initial concept of making the site as accessible and open as possible without the constraints of securing a financial return. Most social networking sites that have been bought out by established companies have failed to maintain the momentum. From Yahoo’s purchase of GeoCities, ITv’s purchase of Friends Reunited, Bebo being sold and News Corporation’s purchase of Myspace, it seems that as soon as things go corporate, followers fall away.

This is a lesson for the existing sites and one that Facebook appears to have overcome because naturally it has gained investors over time, though Zuckerberg still owns 24 per cent, enough of a stake to keep his open ethos alive. It is friendly in style and easy to use and, in general terms, populated mostly by those aged 13-25. To protect children, Facebook denies access to anyone under the age of 13, although the rules are quite easily breached with many active users below the age limit. The difficulty is that many parents are simply not aware of the rule. This point on the access of children to Facebook will already have sent a shiver of concern over readers and endorsed the feeling of this social media platform not being suitable for the business. In reality, Facebook has had security issues but it is simply a tool that can be used by anyone

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bright enough to access the internet and type two words together. Most children now are born with a mouse in one hand and a mobile phone in the other. Those who are 35 and over have found themselves overtaken by generations of internet-savvy young people who understand the way the web works, how sites function and even how to create a hieroglyphic language of their own.

The younger generation has led the way with the majority of social networking sites, showing their parents and grandparents the power of this new communication medium. It is of no surprise that many adults see it as something of a ‘child’s toy’, like a Tv programme written just for a certain younger age group, rather than the addictive yet effective communication tool that it is.

Facebook is a site that certainly divides opinion in the business world and in the rather risk-averse world of law firms, few have capitalised on the audiences that could be reached. The dilemma is that the users of the platform, like any social media site, can see a sales pitch coming from 24 monitors away, so any marketing needs to be highly targeted, value based and often without any obvious direct return. The currency is information and that is what Facebook holds in abundance. It knows its users’ names, ages, locations, likes, friends and what they get up to at weekends. While this could be another potential reason not to use the site, it is important to view this differently. Forget about the traditional advertising and promotion of your practice or the placing of an advert in the paper or magazine that may have reached a few hundred potential clients in the hope that one or two may have a need to pick up the phone and instruct you. Even your website which has taken years to develop has yet to bring in the volume of work you had always expected. Social media sites are full of people online and engaging in conversations; some

are even asking questions that you are ideally placed to answer.

The challenge is to position your firm on Facebook in such a way that meshes and sits comfortably with other users. Being an Adult (with a deliberate capital ‘A’) will not endear you to possible friends or those who may ‘like’ your company page. You can expect to see posts that are random, often surreal, too personal and, on occasion, slightly offensive, but it’s no different to attending an enormous party or networking event. You want to look like you fit in and give a good impression of yourself, and Facebook for the business is no different.

Users who are comfortable posting to their trusted network know that there is a far more open and relaxed atmosphere and it would be worth asking someone you trust such as a family member or friend if, for research purposes, you can look at how they interact. Ideally set up an account and seek out trusted friends and family who are already online and observe their conversations.

There are many varieties of posters and the following are just a few observed from my own research:

The mad sportsman – posts every run, �bike ride and gym session but fails on reporting their prowess;The gamer – those who play the �Facebook games and are desperate for you to join them to pick out the ideal vegetable crop for their farm or help them find the magic jewel of stickleback mountain or the gangsters who play mafia wars. Yes you can learn a lot about your friends!The flirt who only wants to engage with �the opposite sex;The random loner who posts as if they’ve �been talking for 30 minutes and you’ve interrupted their chat;

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The younger contributors who want to �show how mature they are with exploits of drinking games and nights out;The older contributors who also regale �their friends with tales of daring and drinking over the weekend;The Tv, film or music critic who just �wants to tell the world about their latest experience;The local celebrity – or those who think �they are; andThose pouring out their troubles online �and seeking agony aunts.

And I could carry on but you’ll find in reality that most people on Facebook fall into one or two of these categories and tend to shift depending on their mood.

TwitterMost of the behaviours identified for Facebook can, in the main, apply to other social media sites but there are subtle differences.

Twitter is space-limited blogging and forces the user to condense thoughts, news, jokes, gossip or publicity into those 140 characters. This, in itself, is the biggest behavioural moderator and creates a new skill and style in getting the message across with brevity. This is a great discipline if you can master it.

The early adopters of Twitter soon realised its power to reach wide audiences when messages of particular interest were transported beyond their own group to others by re-tweets. In this way, an individual or organisation can communicate on a massive scale, but only if anyone is listening.

The key then is getting a good group of followers. Not necessarily the largest but one that would benefit the sender of tweets, provide feedback, re-tweet and send favourite messages.

With all social media, it can be argued that there is more than a hint of narcissism

– seeking approval from large groups. I’ve often heard it said that many reach for their smartphone first thing in the morning to check their tweet timeline before they get out of bed.

The need to be adored or liked is not uncommon, it’s a human condition but with celebrities there is a greater drive to have fans follow and to create a massive follower base. Pioneer Stephen Fry has had his love-hate relationship with Twitter and in the darker moments it is those who post insensitive or unkind messages that cause greatest upset. Sports stars have also come unstuck in their communications by letting slip key details of what is happening with their team only to be publically admonished by the coach. These are the occupational hazards of the celebrity tweeter.

Many attempted to follow the celebrity lead and mistakenly sought out the biggest possible follower base. Whilst this works for a celebrity and very large corporations such as Starbucks, it’s not quite so effective for your average-sized professional practice. Where followers would look to hang on the every tweet of a celebrity or seek special offers or prizes from large corporations, few would have an initial interest in tweets from a law firm.

Big in follower terms was not the way to go but many have fallen into that trap. The most effective professional firms have a clear sight of their target groups and have actively sought and connected to them.

In demographic terms, it is women who are more likely to tweet than men. Most tweets happen towards the end of the week and at specific times of the day: early morning, lunchtime and early evening.

Of the many millions of accounts created, it’s staggering to note that only 20 per cent are actually active, with many merely dipping their toe into the site. Once

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they view the timeline stream and the language of 140 characters, they become confused and simply don’t return.

The key is to ensure that those you follow not only meet your key target criteria but are also active on the site.

A lack of a photo on the account used to be fairly common in the early days of Twitter but now signifies someone who is probably only going to try a couple of tweets.

LinkedInlinkedIn users are almost exclusively individuals in business either working for a company, running their own business or looking to be employed by one of the millions actively using the site.

For this reason the site has the feel of a corporate Facebook with a familiar layout and yet is more structured and less chaotic than Facebook. It allows the user to find and connect to their alumni, school friends, work colleagues and contacts with whom they’ve previously made a physical connection.

There’s less of a clamour to grab and grow your network, although there are still plenty playing the numbers game. It is, however, more likely to find the average user with no more than 200 contacts, but the network will be focused and appropriate to the sector and geography of the account holder.

New apps allowing linkedIn posts to be fed to Twitter are useful, although this has led to a few users thinking the platforms are the same.

When on linkedIn it is obvious that you are in an environment that speaks of and expects business to business interaction. It works on a number of levels in providing access to groups with a wide range of interests and it’s unlikely that you’ll fail to find your particular area.

In the next section, we will look at how the platforms are evolving and again touch

on a number of factors that affect our use of the sites.

Behaviour – Top tipsFacebookTry to avoid engaging in and sharing posts that are too personal. Facebook is a very good site for keeping in touch with friends and, as an individual with your own personal account, you may be more relaxed about the conversations you have. As a business, you need to maintain the corporate position without appearing too stiff. If you’re struggling to pitch the business page at the right level, then have a look at a few shining examples – Porsche, Starbucks and Sony.

TwitterIt’s worth considering the behaviour of the people you’re looking to follow to ensure that your network carries value. There is a strong argument for looking at those who have themselves created a reasonable following of 200+ but not as high as 1000+. Why make this determination? If you have 200 followers you’ve built a good-sized network – if it’s well in excess of 1,000 it is unlikely that your particular messages will permeate through the mass of timeline traffic.

LinkedInDon’t fall into the trap of chatting on linkedIn in the same way you do on Twitter or Facebook. Keep posts focused on business-related matters – this doesn’t mean you can’t inject some humour or personality (which are essential ingredients for a positive contributor).

The differences between posting on linkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are the following:

linkedIn is a water cooler chat with a �colleague, boss or business contact in

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an open-plan office. Share and respond to questions and posts but in a professional manner;Twitter is informal networking and chat. �Share information which may be business related and occasionally promote; and Facebook is far more the social event �sharing site, with lighthearted postings on personal pages but with more of a linkedIn approach to the business page posts.

TrendsIn this section we explore the development of the leading social media platforms and discuss the trends developing in the sites and user activity.

LinkedInFor a change, let’s start with the business professional networking site linkedIn. One of the most established of the current leaders, linkedIn started with a clear view of its target audience – the business community and professionals who wanted to meet fellow specialists and practitioners to share ideas, learn and connect. It has not strayed far from the original idea of providing an online space for professionals to network which, in fact, is the core of linkedIn.

Over time new features, advertising and apps have appeared to offer the user a richer environment in which to engage with their networks. As we saw from the statistics, the site’s reach is enormous with 69 of the Fortune 100 companies profiled and executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies represented.

But what are current active users doing? They’re still growing their personal networks, on average 200+ per user, but also increasingly joining specific groups that assist with their line of work, professional associations, interests and research.

We’re seeing the usual direct and unsolicited approaches from users hungry to grow their networks but not always abiding by the linkedIn principle that you should, in almost all circumstances, have had some form of interaction with the individual you’re looking to connect with. With the greatest of respect to the industry, the biggest culprits are recruitment consultants and executive search agencies. If you do connect to a recruitment consultant, they are then, unless you’ve tightened your contact visibility settings, able to see all of your personal network.

Spam is also creeping into linkedIn on the back of an increased desire to monetise paid-for advertising which is, at times, a little intrusive but, for some, appears to declare open season on selling services, products and programmes and abusing the network or group that they belong to.

One of the most common posts, especially in groups, is a question. I recently posted one in a group that specialises in IT for the legal sector. The question was clear, specific and not in any way ambiguous, but did suggest that because I asked the question, I lacked certain knowledge on the topic. It was in fact related to the migration of IT systems and services to the cloud. On the upside, I received a tremendous range of responses and useful insights, but on the downside, it opened the door to those members of the group who quite justifiably have services to market and used the question as a prompt to push their wares. In reality the approaches were genuine, well presented and very polite but this highlights the practical outcomes of trying to obtain information within such groups. One suggestion may be to have a ready-made small print statement for all posts, such as: “Whilst I welcome feedback on my post, I am not in a position or prepared to enter

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into any dialogue concerning the selling of services related to this query.” You can then justifiably point to the statement if someone chooses to ignore your statement.

Advertising on linkedIn is on the increase and offers businesses an excellent audience from which to select a specific professional demographic. Some words of caution: in my experience and those of contacts interviewed on the subject, you can generate a great deal of interest but results are, to date, quite poor. Click-through rates generally fall well below Google and Facebook, but as with any advertising medium, success is built upon understanding your market and having a product that meets a need and is packaged in an attractive way to appeal to the browser.

linkedIn engenders a great deal of collaborative goodwill between users and this is very neatly demonstrated in applications such as Slideshare. Sharing a recent presentation with your network or a group has become popular and can help position you as a thought leader and ‘go to’ person in your area of specialism.

On the same lines, Google Presentation can offer the opportunity to share, but more importantly, you can create the presentation within the linkedIn environment and include video.

If it’s a report or whitepaper you’re looking to share, the application box.net can make that process possible. You can also collaborate by allowing others access to the document during its production, especially useful in tender proposals where you have colleagues in multiple locations.

Project management and file-sharing software Huddle continues the collaborative theme by allowing users to have a free 1GB of memory to edit and share files.

Other app links to share, such as Twitter, can be useful but avoid the growing number

who simply post on linkedIn as if they were tweeting. There is a need to differentiate your message, from the often frivolous tweets to the more business-focused linkedIn posts. One analogy to help with this differentiation is to think of Twitter as a fairly relaxed party where those you work, network and socialise with are congregated. It’s an easy atmosphere where there is usually a strong emphasis on the lighter side of information sharing and entertainment. linkedIn is far more like a water cooler gathering in the office – two people having a chat, specifically with someone with whom you are trying to create a positive impression, not in a formal meeting room but in an open-plan work environment. You are less likely to be discussing X-Factor or celebrities than exchanging useful work-related information. That doesn’t preclude humour but it does require a little more thought as a hard-won reputation can be quickly unravelled via a poor shot selection on a social media site.

WordPress as we have commented is the world’s leading blog-hosting site and, helpfully, it can link to your linkedIn account. If you host your blog with WordPress, you should ensure that it populates your linkedIn profile automatically each time you blog.

If you’re on the move, Tripit gives you the ability to track your and colleagues’ travel schedules and meet your linkedIn contacts when you are both at the same location.

Company Buzz is a tool to help analyse what others are saying about your business on Twitter.

Reading lists is another useful application powered by the world’s largest book seller, Amazon. It enables you to list the books you’re reading or those that you recommend.

Have you noticed the occasional polls that appear on your linkedIn page? There’s no reason why you can’t post your own poll, but just remember to make it relevant

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and interesting enough to generate a reasonable response.

TwitterTwitter continues to grow at a steady pace despite many commentators’ suggestions that it is in decline or beginning to plateau. Twitter’s evolution from a friendly, advertising-free forum changed with its introduction of an online form to express interest in promoting a business via sponsored tweets. There will be further changes soon that may well see a Google Adwords style function set up. Twitter is soon to introduce an automated sales function that will appeal to a wider business audience who are keen to harness the reach of the platform to benefit their business.

It’s estimated that Twitter could make as much as US$150m in its first year of selling advertising space on its site, but the impact on its wider user base is perhaps a little harder to predict.

Of course the word trend means something specific to a regular tweeter. It is the use of the hashtag (#) before a term, such as #Olympics or #NASA, that enables users to join in with non followers to discuss a particular topical item. The use of this tool has enabled a ground swell of opinion to form and persuade political leaders on certain matters. Once a politician can see a demonstrable shift in public opinion, their decision making becomes somewhat harder. Of course this is a rather sweeping generalisation but it’s worth noting that the hashtag can also be used for good to promote a cause or even a service that you want to see pushed to a wider audience.

The ability to attach files through links in tweets is increasingly popular as demonstrated by author, satirist, radio producer and comedian, Armando Iannucci. At the height of the News of the World

phone hacking scandal Iannucci sent a tweet to his 170,000 followers, urging the paper’s advertisers to boycott it. The story generated a great deal of anger focused at the Murdoch-owned News Corporation but Twitter simply magnified the attack.

The old maxim that bad news travels fast is more true of Twitter than of any other social media platform. It not only travels, it can become a tsunami of content that can take down personalities, businesses and even a country’s political leaders.

Company use of Twitter is on the increase and this is manifested in individual accounts being created for specific areas of a business rather than one simple account for all. If this can be done without confusing the followers or those managing the accounts, it’s worth pursuing to narrow the field of focus on your target groups.

As businesses look for a bottom line return on their investment in Twitter, pressure is being placed on the marketing teams to deliver. This can manifest into more directed sales or promotional tweets and repeats of blogs and news created by the business to ensure that full value is received. There remain a large number of business leaders who struggle to see the benefit of Twitter as an effective marketing tool. The next year will see greater polarisation between the firms which have embraced social media and integrated it into the overall business strategy and those who prefer to use more traditional marketing methods to promote the business.

It is becoming increasingly important to access and use analytical tools to measure the reach and effectiveness of those who tweet. Sites such as http://www.klout.com can prove useful when trying to establish the impact of your own Twitter accounts and those of competitors – but be warned, they can be addictive and should only be used a guide.

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As with all platforms, access and the active use of the sites via mobile devices is on the increase. The linking of messages, who’s re-tweeted, followed or favourited your tweet can all now be sent as alerts via e-mail, keeping the user fully informed of account activity.

Tweetups (social events and physical gatherings) are proving popular as networks mature and users become more comfortable with each other. These events started as purely social occasions but are fast becoming active networking events with groups sharing common industry interests and getting together offline to ‘meet the tweet’.

FacebookFacebook’s dominance of the personal social media environment is such that it can afford a little breathing space whilst it considers the much rumoured initial public offering (IPO). But fellow web-based giant Google has not given up on its attempt to shift Facebook from its position.

It is too early to say if Google+ will eat into Facebook’s world domination, but with very deep pockets, a multitude of useful apps and a site that most users go to for information, it will be an interesting battle.

Of course there will be those who will want to have their Facebook and Google+ accounts along with Twitter, linkedIn and the occasional check in on Foursquare, but that will all take precious time.

Facebook still appeals, in the greater part, to the younger generation. It was, after all, founded on a school yearbook idea.

It is this generational bias that has dissuaded many professional practices from engaging with Facebook as a business development or communication tool. This concern for appearing to encroach on the domain of young people and general fears over appropriate use by employees and those

who become ‘friends’ of a company page are very real. The professional sector is famously risk averse and only a hint of negativity linked to the firm’s profile will discard any thought of promotion via Facebook.

These barriers to engagement will be overcome by more firms as they begin to embrace the opportunities within Facebook’s huge population. Demographic data is there to be applied to help present the firm and target services at key sectors.

If Facebook does go down the IPO route, it may prove to be lucrative for the owners, but in the long term, social media companies tend to shed users at an alarming rate once they become perceived as a corporate entity.

Increasingly business pages are using alternative platforms to bring users to ‘like’ their pages as Facebook seeks a minimum number of ‘likes’ before you can claim your personalised URl. While the objective to gather the minimum 25 ‘likes’ is understandable, many continue in a quest to gather numbers.

The ‘likes’ on Facebook become the site’s currency content as is proven with analytical tool likester, which identifies the top trending topics by number of ‘likes’. By way of example, at the time of writing this report levi’s launched a new jeans range and managed a highly impressive 6.1 million ‘likes’ to top the chart. Marketers are actively seeking methods to capture the attention of their target audience by creating impactful advertising and viral campaigns that generate the waves of clicks necessary to create a positive trend.

Of course levi’s is a global brand with a multimillion dollar marketing budget, but that shouldn’t prevent the more forward thinking law firm from using the methods outlined previously to draw potential clients to their Facebook page and ultimately to the firm as a client.

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Google+Google+ is the new kid on the block and promises to shake the social media tree having launched a restricted trial very successfully. We say restricted but there are a reported 20 million users, each of whom has the ability to invite contacts to share the new experience.

It is too early to say definitively if Google+ is a winner on the social media scene – it may be one too many for a number of businesses already struggling to keep up with the existing sites.

The key for Google+ will be in its ability to harness its software and apps to provide a positive experience for social and business users.

Circles appear to be one of the major differences introduced by Google+. It enables users to separate groups of contacts into specific circles that relate to common topics – school friends, team mates, colleagues, family, referrers, etc. The user decides on the groups or circles. There are additional features and no doubt many more to come.

OverviewThis obsession with numbers, being liked, followed and connected is something that social media suffers from and is hard to shake. The trend in many networks will be a culling of those who add little if anything to the group or who are unlikely to become a client. A return to a common-sense approach in knowing your client and focusing on quality and not quantity will see businesses look differently at their various social media platforms.

Trends – Top tipsFind a way for your firm to keep abreast of the developments with social media. Use Google Alerts to pick up news items with the key words related to the topic.

Brief a member of your team to be the eyes and ears of social media and to communicate on any developments that could impact on the social media strategy.