There’sNoExcuseforBeingAnti­SocialMedia ByKeithEcker|VicePresident,PublicReputationServicesatJaffePRYouwillhearalitanyofexcusesfromprofessionalsinthelegalindustryaboutwhysocialmediajustisn’tforthem.SomeofthemostcommonlyusedrationalesthatIhavecomeacrossinmyexperienceasalawfirmandlegaltechnologyvendorconsultantinclude:

• Socialmediaisfortheyoung.I’mtooold.

• Idon’thavetimeforsocialmedia.

• Socialmediamayworkforconsumerbrands,butIdon’tseeanybenefitsfortheB2Bindustry.

• Ihaveareputationtouphold,andI’mworriedsocialmediamightdamagemy

reputation.

• Idon’thaveanythingworthsaying.

• Ifindsocialmediatobeconfusing.

Let’stackleeachoftheseonebyone.Spoileralert:Notoneofthemholdsup.SocialmediaisfortheyoungAlthoughFacebookdoestendtoskewtoayoungercrowd,thisisnottrueofsiteslikeLinkedInandTwitter,onwhichprofessionals,marketers,andjournalistsofallagesheavilyrely.Infact,accordingtoEdisonResearch,54percentof45to54‐year‐oldshaveasocialmediaprofile.Meanwhile,InsideCounselmagazine’s2012In‐HouseCounselNewMediaEngagementStudyshowedthat50percentofin‐housecounselwhoare60yearsofageandolderactivelyuseLinkedIn.Infact,in‐housecounsel40yearsofageandupallreportedafairlysignificantincreaseinuseofLinkedInin2012from2010.Idon’thavetimeforsocialmediaWhilepostingupdatescanbecometime‐consumingifdoneonaplatform‐by‐platformbasis,therearesomegreatthird‐partytimesavingtools

thatcanhelpprofessionalsposttomultipleaccountsatonce,orautomatepostingsbasedonasetschedule.HootSuiteisonesuchbest‐of‐breedsolution,andit’sfree.Whengettingstarted,itisalsoimportanttosetachievablegoalsforintegratingsocialmediaintoyourlife.Don’tfeeltheneed

toposteveryhouronthehour.Startbypostingonceadayoreveryotherday.Seewhatkindoftractionyougetandadjustyourtacticsaccordingly.Over‐postingcanbejustasharmfulasunder‐posting.Contributingtosocialnetworksisasmuchanartasitisascience.SocialmediaisnotforB2BsThemediumisthemessage.Whileit’struethatFacebookisgenerallythoughtofasthecasualsocialnetwork,LinkedInhasbecomeacrucialrecruitmentandbusiness‐developmenttool.Professionalscanexchangeinformationandformnewconnectionsviaindustry‐specificgroupswhilealsoleveragingtheirprofilesasrobustself‐marketingtools.CompaniesandlawfirmscanusethefeaturesofaLinkedIncompanypagetodescribetheirservicesandproductsandpromotetheseservicesandproductsthroughclienttestimonialsandinsightfulupdates.There’sareasonwhy93.1percentofrespondentlawfirmsinthe2012Vizibility/LexisNexissurveysaytheyplanonusingLinkedIn.

Meanwhile,Twitterhasbecomeanincrediblypowerfulmarketingandpublicrelationstool.AccordingtoAllTwitter,34percentofmarketershavegeneratedleadsthroughTwitter,while20percenthaveactuallycloseddeals.Onthemedia‐relationsside,accordingtoa2010studypublishedbyPRNewswire,

morethanone‐thirdofonlinereportersuseTwitterasaresearchtool.Andthatwastwoyearsago.Twitterisalsooneofthebestnews‐monitoringtools.Inthisdayandage,nothingscoopsTwitter.Bycreatingtailoredlistsofrelevantpublicationsandjournalists,orbysettingupalertsthroughtheuseofthird‐partyapplicationslikeTweetBeep,youcanstayontopofbreakingtrendsandnewsitems.Tweetingatthesepublicationsandjournalistsandsharingtheirtweetsallowsyoutoreadilyengagethem.I’mworriedaboutmyreputationIt’struethatsocialmediausecanrequirerelinquishingsomecontroloveryourreputation.Twitter,forexample,allowsanyonetoviewandshareyourcomments,whileFacebookallowsuserstoleavetheirowncommentsonyourpage(thoughpageadministratorshavetheabilitytodeletecommentsandblockusers).However,withathoroughsocialmediapolicyinplacethatoutlinesappropriatecommunicationstrategiesforallemployees,itcanbefairlyeasytoupholdandadvanceyourreputationwhileengaginginthesocialmediamarketplace.

Insomeways,socialmediaactuallyallowsuserstotakegreatercontrolovertheirreputations.Bystrategicallysharingindustry‐relatedinformationandpostingcuratedcontenttoyoursocialmediaaccounts,youcanestablishyourselfasathought‐leaderina

particularniche.Youcanalsoincorporatesomeappropriatepersonalinformationintoyourprofileandpostingsthatwillgiveclientsandprospectsfurtherinsightintowhoyouare,ratherthanmerelywhatyoudo.Afterall,whenitcomestoprovidinglegaladviceore‐discoveryconsulting,prospectshireyouforyourknowledgeandadvice.Thereisnobetterwaytopositionyourselfasaqualifiedprofessionalthantoillustratethisthroughdirectexamples.Idon’thaveanythingworthsayingSocialmediagetsabadwrapasaplatformwherepeoplepostaboutwhattheyhadforbreakfast.And,yes,someusersactuallydothis–withaccompanyingphotos.Butit’sactuallysurprisinglyeasytomineyourbrain,andotherresources,forworthwhilecontentthatwillraiseyourvisibilityinthemarketplaceandpositionyouasane‐discoverythought‐leader.Therealwaysseemstobeacourtcase,pendinglegislation,orpieceofnewsthathasane‐discoveryangle.TaketherecentGoogle/OraclecasewherethejudgedeniedGoogle’srequestforOracletoreimbursethesearchgiant$4millionforcostsassociatedwiththecase,includinge‐discoverycosts.ThatisexcellentfodderforaposttoLinkedInoratweet.Newlegislation,newregulationsandlegaltechnology‐relatedupdatesalsomakegoodpostingfodder.Ifyourcompanyorfirmproducesalotofcontentthatishostedonitswebsite,considerpostingalinktothecontent,accompaniedbyasentencetoestablishsomecontextforthelinkedinformation.Clientalerts,casestudiesandproductannouncementsareallgoodcandidatesforthiskindofcuratedcontent.Youcanalsocapitalizeonyourmedia‐relationsefforts.Ifyouoracolleaguehasrecentlybeenquotedorpublishedinanewspaperormagazineoronawebsite,considercreatingapostthatlinkstotheoriginalcontent.Finally,youcanalsoleadpeopletothird‐partyresourcesthatyoufindinterestingoramusing.Therearesomegreate‐discovery‐relatedblogsoutthere.Pickafewofyourfavoriterecentarticlesanddistributelinksthroughyoursocialmediaaccounts.IfindsocialmediatobeconfusingIfyouarenewtosocialmedia,it’sgoingtotakesometimetoadjustandgetahandleoneachplatform’sfunctionality.Butlackofexperienceisnotanexcusetorefrainfromlearning.Thebestwaytounderstandhoweachplatformoperatesistouseit.Createanaccountandstartexploring.Gotothe“Help”sectionofeachsiteandreaduponthebasics.Anecdotallyspeaking,asitelikeTwittercan

takeusersthreetosixmonthstoreallygrasp,butoncecomprehensionisachieved,therewardscanbeplentiful.Ifyouarestillnotconvincedthatsocialmediaisheretostayandwillbecomeanindispensablestapleofthelegalworld,

considersomeofthefollowingstatistics,takenfromtheaforementioned2012Vizibility/LexisNexissurveyaswellasthe2012In‐HouseCounselNewMediaEngagementSurvey:

• 97.9percentofin‐housecounselrecognizeLinkedInasadirectorysourceforlawyerprofiles.

• 37percentoflawfirmsuseLinkedIn.• 62percentofattorneysuseLinkedIn.• 74.9percentoflawfirmsplanonusingTwitterformarketingpurposes.• 88percentofin‐housecounselperceivethecontenttheyobtainviatheirLinkedIn

connectionsascredible.• 34percentofin‐housecounselusenewmediatoolstoaccesscontentfromtheir

outsidecounsel,upfrom26percentin2010.

Whatdoesitallmean?Itmeansthate‐discoveryspecialistsandlawfirmattorneysneedtojumponthesocialmediabandwagonsoonerratherthanlater,orriskgettingleftinthedust.Youmightnothaveanactivesocialmediapresence,butyourcompetitioncertainlydoes.Stayrelevant.Stoptheexcuses.Andstartposting._________________________________________________________________________________________________________Abouttheauthor

KeithEckerservesasaVicePresidentofPublicReputationServicesatJaffePR,afull‐servicelegalmarketingagency.KeithregularlyworkswithlawfirmsandlegaltechnologyvendorstohelpmovethemupthepublicreputationcurvebyemployingthetacticsofLegalBrandJournalism.Formerly,Keithservedasanindependentmediaandmarketingconsultanttoanumberoflegaltechnologyproviders.Priortohismarketing

experience,hewasthetechnologyandonlineeditoratInsideCounselmagazine.