What Public Relations Means for Law Firms
The legal industry is not immune to the influence of image, and that’s where public relations can have a significant impact on driving business development. Increasingly, clients use the Internet to find law firms that can meet their needs. Law firms with a strong online presence can stand out from the crowd in a meaningful way. In markets crowded with larger firms, however, smaller firms will depend on word-of-mouth recommendations to grow their business.
When it comes to building your image, nothing is more effective than building relationships. Your current clients already know your firm and speak well of the professionals in your firm. This provides greater credibility when they mention your firm to others. But building relationships requires a commitment of time and effort. Law firms that perform community service or devote time and talent to non-profit organizations demonstrate a commitment to the growth and improvement of the communities in which they practice . Your participation in community activities is a great way to:
This doesn’t mean that you should volunteer for every event that comes along. You should be selective about the organizations you support.
Public relations (PR) is a set of communication strategies that are designed to promote and/or protect an organization’s image. One of the best ways to do this is to strengthen your position as a thought leader in your industry by becoming a regular source for the media. This could involve an interview with a reporter for a news article or blog post. Or it might mean writing a column for a publication targeted to your industry or speaking at events.
One of the key benefits of being seen as a thought leader is that it builds visibility for you and your firm. It helps current and potential clients to see your firm as knowledgeable, insightful and relevant to their concerns. It also positions your firm as the "go-to" provider in your industry.
Public Relations Strategies that Every Law Firm Should Utilize
There are a variety of strategies law firms can employ to make sure they are getting the most out of their public relations efforts. Some of these strategies include:
In order to maintain good media relationships, law firms need to focus on establishing themselves as a valuable resource for journalists. One way of accomplishing this is by developing a media list which contains the names, media outlets, and contact information for journalists who have covered issues, cases or subject matters your firm is knowledgeable about. Once the list has been built, it should be updated frequently to ensure that all information is correct and current.
Another way law firms can take advantage of PR efforts to create relationships with journalists, is by pitching story ideas. This is one of the most important activities a law firm can focus on in order to become more visible to their target audiences. A great way to accomplish this is by sending a short e-mail to the members on their media list, pitching the specific story idea along with a unique angle. Journalists appreciate a pitch that is interesting and short, so it is important to focus on providing an appropriate message. An effective way to ensure journalists read the pitch, is by focusing on the subject line – keep it short, but interesting. Also, making sure that the most important information appears first is also key.
Creating a blog is another great way to develop strong media relations. It allows you to distribute information about yourself, your expertise, what you can do for others, and why your firm is unique. Because blogs are not quite as formal as press releases, they are often times used for different purposes, but that does not make them any less valuable. If a journalist is writing an article about your area of expertise, they will likely search online for blog posts regarding the topic. It is a great way for journalists to get a better understanding of the law firm’s personality, as well as create potential news stories.
Getting the Most out of Media Relations
To truly make your mark on the public, you must establish yourself as an expert, and one of the best ways to do that is by working with the media. Building a strong media presence for your law firm takes time and effort, but it is worth the investment and can pay off tenfold in the end. Once you become a trusted resource for the media, you will reap the benefits, from speaking engagements to the potential for increased client inquiries. The question is: what are the best methods for getting started?
There are a number of effective strategies to keep in mind when it comes to building relationships with media outlets. One of the most important is, quite simply, to build relationships with media outlets. Promote your expertise to bloggers and reporters who write and report on law. Target those who have discussed legal topics (whether in the context of a story or as a guest) in the past to ensure you are sending them your pitches at the right time. This will ensure that your efforts are concentrated where they are most likely to be effective and that you aren’t wasting your time trying to pitch a story to a blogger who has never written about legal matters before.
To build on this, develop the right relationships. Leverage existing relationships from fellow professionals, colleagues, or even family members to establish new relationships with editors, reporters, bloggers, and producers. Identify the right contacts at the media outlets you want to target. Look directly on their websites for contact information or do a search on social media sites such as Twitter or LinkedIn for their profiles. Once you have these key contacts, begin by following them on Twitter or LinkedIn. Share their work on your blog or on social media so that they see you engaging with them, and try to build a rapport online. You might even get the chance to speak with them or meet in-person sometimes.
Next, find out who to pitch. In many cases, this will not be journalists who covered a similar story in the past, as their editors are likely to have specific reporters who cover certain issues. Find out who is responsible for covering your own area of expertise, and pitch to them. Try to avoid pitching to the editorial department in general if you can. When you come to know the journalists to whom you are pitching, you will be able to pitch stories that matter to them in the context of their own writing. This will help to build rapport with them, increasing the likelihood that they’ll cover you in the future.
Once you’ve identified the right contacts at the media outlets you want to target, try to create a contact database to help keep yourself organized. Not only will this make it easier to track when you last contacted someone so you can follow up, but it will allow you to effectively track their stories over time so you can build your pitches into the context of their writing. This inside knowledge can help you build rapport with these key contacts. This will help you grow a media list that suits your agency’s interests over the long term.
Once you have a solid media list, you can start to ensure you have all the appropriate contact information updated in a way that’s easy for any member of your team to use. Email addresses and phone numbers are essential, as they will help you send press releases promptly. Focus on using this information to build a professional, accessible database that lets you share press releases and other media materials with ease. Always remember to customize your emails and be sure to create a compelling subject line to increase your chances of getting a response. Adjust your subject lines for each of the contacts you send a press release to so that it will hold their interest. Finally, be aware of embargoes and be ready to handle them properly so as to increase your credibility with audiences.
Crafting Effective Social Media Strategies for Law Firms
The ever-changing reality is that just the use of one or two platforms will not work long term otherwise you can be too niche and lose out.
Let’s brainstorm a few flavors for your recipe. Web site: small firms need to have a good web site. this must be your foundation; in addition, three pages of links does not make for good web site content. combine your Twitter feed with your blog and add a pitch page and testimonials. Blog: small firms must have a blog, invest the time and make it work. any lawyer can be a good writer if you want to outsource. Facebook: many of you may still resist Facebook as a platform to regularly use, but it has legs. Like it or not, we all want to know what you are doing. The good news is that the search engines are turning into social search engines and that means you need to use Facebook. It’s a must part of your PR strategy. Twitter: your blog and the PR you are doing will lend itself well to Twitter. Several of you are tweeting well already and your PR can be added very easily to the mix. LinkedIn: this is an absolute must do for your law firm, small or large. In fact, Medium Law Firms and Large Law Firms need to be communicating everything you do on LinkedIn. Even Big Law firms are regularly posting their news. Your old resume is dying a slow death so you really do need to be using LinkedIn. One idea for a law firm page on LinkedIn is to include a portfolio link. Google+: I get resistance from some of you on Google+, but you have to add it as a second layer to Facebook for a while. I have a hunch this will change quickly and soon Google will be able to embed more into the search results. So, here again, I think of it as a baby step until you get comfortable with Facebook and LinkedIn. Email: Email is still an effective tool, but it is only a tool. It is not a strategy. It is also again a tool that will take your PR to a higher level, but it is not a PR strategy built around email. Book more speaking engagements to promote your law firm’s PR as well. These are just a few ways law firms can leverage social media to get the word out about your law firm. There are many other platforms where you can instantly reach people and help your law firm to be more responsive to a larger audience.
Handling Public Relations Issues for Law Firms
The best way to protect your law firm’s reputation in the age of social media is by preparing a crisis communication plan. Not only will it dictate how your firm handles an unexpected event, but it can actually help minimize your exposure when something does occur.
- Prepare Your Crisis Communication Plan. This is the ideal time to prepare a crisis communication plan. You’re not in the midst of crisis, and the dynamics aren’t changing with every tweet, blog and article published. So, do a little research about the potential crises that could affect your firm. Then get to work with a team of professionals — including your marketing and/or PR team — to write a crisis communication plan.
- Anticipate The Most Likely Crises. Most likely, your firm will control a very small portion of what would go on your law firm’s social media channels – whether it be a post on your firm LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook page. In this way, you’ll need to know your social media policy cold. Even so, it’s important to anticipate all of the crises that could affect, implicate or involve your firm. Working with your marketing and public relations firm, develop appropriate responses to each scenario.
- Assign A Team and Hire A Professional. After doing all of the preparation work ahead of time , the last thing you want is for your lead attorney and top marketing person to be stuck in traffic when your law firm is the target of an assault of negative publicity. If possible, have a team in place beforehand, and assign roles to each member of the firm. Consider hiring a public relations agency to work with your firm and act as your representative when a crisis strikes. They are experienced in dealing with the media during challenging times.
- Train Your Team. Implement training sessions that teach all of the key players how to respond to a crisis. Make sure every person on the team understands the chain of command, along with the most likely crises, assigned roles and responsibilities, and each team member’s individual strengths and weaknesses. In addition, of course, they should all know the law firm’s social media policy cold.
- Create A Media List. No matter the size of your firm, it’s wise to prepare media lists that include top reporters in your local market, regional and national markets, online, and television. Keep these lists updated, and make them available to key members of your team.
- Personalize Your Responses. For each of the above scenarios, make sure to personalize your responses. No two crises are the same. Remember, it’s your job to show the human side of your law firm, even while you’re fielding reporters’ questions and preparing statements for your site and social media channels.
Public Relations Success for Law Firms
Understanding the impact of your public relations efforts is essential to determining whether they are effective and delivering on their promise. Several factors can be used to gauge how successful your activities have been. When it comes to analyzing media coverage, law firms must take into account not only the frequency of appearances in the media but also the quality. The topics covered should include all the relevant news stories for your law firm; significant articles should be measurable in terms of the audience reached and the perception created. Deliverables, such as press releases, blog entries and website updates, should also be evaluated. The quantity and quality of these items, as well as the overall strength of the content created, are indicators of the effectiveness of your PR efforts. You can also measure effectiveness by analyzing client feedback. Simply asking clients how they perceive you is a direct way to gather insights into your reputation. While it’s not always easy to initiate these discussions, they can be fruitful. These measures can be compared over time to see how improvements have been made. Online metrics are important as well. Engaging with audiences over social media or through a blog is a direct way to facilitate two-way communication. The reach of these communications, as well as the amount of traffic driven to your website, tells you a lot about your PR return on investment.
How to Find the Right Public Relations Agency for Your Law Practice
When deciding on a public relations agency for your law firm, there are a number of key factors to consider:
Expertise in the legal sector. Look for an agency with a strong track record of working in the legal industry like we have here at The Rainmaker Institute. An agency should have experience working with lawyers and law firms of all sizes to help promote them to both the media and the public.
Track record of results. Finding an agency with published results is critical. You want to know that the agency you work with has produced results for other law firms and that you have confidence in their ability to get similar results for your law firm.
Cultural fit. The services and capabilities of an agency are important , but you also want to make sure that whatever agency you use is a good cultural fit so you are on the same page in terms of values and ideas for how to promote your law firm.