You must know what you want to achieve with social media before you start marketing yourself on a platform. Most lawyers say they want the typical results such as likes, engagement, and followers. However, this leads us to the first two mistakes people make with social media: they have the wrong expectations and measure their success based on the vanity metrics we just mentioned.

Building a social media following requires a significant amount of effort. Larger businesses employ one or more people whose sole purpose is to handle their social media. However, you don’t need to devote this much time or money to social media to see its results. There are three ways in which social media can work for you:

1. People who have never heard of you find you on social media and choose you to become their attorney. 
2. Your previous clients follow you. 
3. People get referred to you and then look you up on social media. 

Dollar-for-dollar, focus on points #2 and #3. Why? Because they are not reliant on followers, engagement, or likes. When your previous clients follow you, you stay at the top of your mind and increase your chances of referrals.

And even if you have zero followers, people will still research your firm before calling you. A social media presence built around informative and educational content makes them more inclined to book a consultation, not the number of followers you have. Having a social media presence is akin to having a website; you don’t want a potential client to see that you don’t have either. 

The third mistake people make is underestimating the time it takes to have a social media presence. You need to post something each business day. That sounds like a much taller task than it is because there are very efficient ways to do this. Regardless, it does take a modicum of energy, focus, and commitment to do this every day for years. People get busy, focus on their clients or firms, and lose steam. Consistency is an integral part of an effective social media strategy.

Lastly, they also post the wrong kind of content. If you’re hunting for likes, you may post funny videos or anything else that aligns with common social media trends. Whereas they may get you likes, they aren’t getting you clients.

As mentioned above, your posts should be educational and informative because they’ll give you credibility. People go to attorneys for solutions, and this is also what kind of content they are looking for. Don’t try to post things to build an audience because your past clients are your audience. They are also your best salespeople. 

Keep in touch with your network on social media, get referrals, and allow prospective clients to view your content before hiring you. This is how social media works and is the least expensive in terms of time and money.