Pump Up Your Online Engagement: Tips to Extend Your Brand reach

The landscape of legal firms has evolved, requiring firms to become more active in their social presence. Staying engaged with your audience is the key to extended reach of your brand. Marketers are constantly testing ways ramp up organic reach to extend to larger audiences. In my own practice, I am always researching and looking for new ways to get my audience involved in the conversation. Here is some different tips that I use to pump up my engagement online for my practice.

Enchant your audience.
Enchant your audience through customized legal content. Take the opportunity to sell your message by providing value and empowerment to others. I always stay current with the latest trends and current news in immigration law. I love to use Twitter and Google alerts to keep relative in the information I provide and be able to provide “breaking news” alerts to them.

Offer valuable content.
Provide relevant information. Demonstrate your expertise through e-books, whitepapers and Q&A scenarios to position yourself as an expert while keeping the audience interested in what you have to say. My latest ebook download had over 200 new leads!

Be shareable.
Every piece of advice, content or conversation should be shareable across multiple platforms. Readers frequently share information to help broaden the perspective of others. Encourage your audience to share!

Use video.
Video is one of the easiest ways to engage, educate, entertain and can quickly go viral to attract a larger audience. Facebook video is giving a much larger extended reach to your correct audience and reaching new prospects. You can use YouTube to start a channel, place a video on your website or add a link to your social media platforms.

Start a new trend.
Look at what is going on around you. How can you capture this information and turn it into a win? Starting new hashtags on Twitter to support a legal cause or precedent will increase your visibility.

Be visual.
Today’s audience is very visual. Bold and vivid images used the right way will keep interest and help reinforce the message you are sending while driving traffic.

Say something.
Being social starts with a conversation. Participate in legal forums or conversations on social media, interact with others and be proactive in offering legal advice and recommendations.

Be a leader.
Providing information on new laws, or upcoming debates on hot topics in the legislature will help you become a thought leader and expert in your field.

Be entertaining.
Humor can be effectively infused into any topic, and having an engaging atmosphere when offering information is a great opportunity to educate others, even if the topic is one that poses a number of challenges. Also, have a little fun outside of the box at times.

Add a social sign-in for your members or clients.
Using a social sign-in like Facebook on your site opens up opportunities for more visitors who value their privacy while providing options for sending shareable content.

Stay tuned to the buzz.
What is everyone talking about that relates to your industry? Following other attorneys, firms and legal venues is a good way to see what’s trending and how you can create relevant content that focuses on hot topics.

Use links wisely.
Every communication doesn’t have to be all about you. Use links that have meaning, not just for the sake of redirecting the audience.

Give credit.
Linking to content that has value, even if you didn’t write it, is appreciated in the online community.

Livestream big meetings.
Livestreaming major events or legal cases will draw an audience and keep them engaged and looking for more.

Utilize polls.
Polls can keep your audience engaged and will alert you to topics of interest.

Use social media widgets.
Use social media widgets where you can to draw interest from others. People are social creatures and flock to where others congregate.

Follow your subscribers.
Take the time to follow your subscribers. It encourages loyalty and helps gain a new audience. Thank you goes a long way in connecting.

Create a blog.
Blogs are the “personal” side of your company and are a platform to engage users. This can be used to address issues, allow questions to be asked, and introduce your specializations.

Study your metrics.
Knowing who your visitors are and where they come from helps tailor your messages for optimal social engagement. Google Analytics is a good resource that can provide you with information on your visitors. Social platforms also have analytics which help determine how well you are engaging your audience.

Tell interesting stories.
Slideshare is a good way to tell stories and provide free content that clients would otherwise have to pay for. Also, it shows your expertise in your line of practice.

Use engaging platforms.
Using the platforms where your customers are is key in attaining the audience and visibility you want. Target audience plays a key factor in determining where your firm should have a presence.

Be charitable.
Partnering with other firms on community projects can improve your visibility and expose you to an online audience that never knew you existed. Show the human side of your brand.

Make it easy for others to follow you.
Make sure all your platforms are tied to each other in some way so that your growing audience can find you. Include social icons on your website, your email signature, email marketing campaigns and marketing collateral. Anywhere you touch your audience make sure they can easily connect with you.

Use LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a good tool for connecting with professionals to offer relevant content. Create a personal profile and a company page. Be relevant with current information and make a good impression by having a complete profile. Add a follow button to increase engagement.

These are tips we have used in our own practice and they have been  effective in engaging with our audience and growing our social presence. Having a digital strategy in place will help you attain success. Planning with purpose but having fun along the way will lead to engaged clients and new prospects.

Do you have a tip to share that has worked well for your practice? Or maybe something that did not work well that you could share with our readers? Share with below. Thanks for reading! Until next time…..stay Enchanting.