Law firms are spending a significant chunk of their marketing budgets on social media, but do not really understand how to make it work and so are seeing little return on investment, new research shows.
The average firm spends around a quarter of its marketing budget on social media activity, despite nearly one in four partners dismissing it as a “waste of time”.
With 90% of the UK adult population on social media, however, it is a channel firms cannot afford to ignore.
First4Lawyers carried out independent research among senior marketers at 100 law firms in England and Wales handling personal injury, clinical negligence, conveyancing and/or wills and probate work. Budgets varied from £84,000 to £159,000, on average, annually depending on the size and make-up of the firm.
The UK’s largest independent legal marketing collective also reviewed firms’ levels of activity and engagement on Facebook, X, TikTok and LinkedIn for its 10th annual white paper, TikTok or TikNot? Law firms in the social media age.
The results indicated some muddled thinking. While reviews and recommendations are consistently found to be the most important factors for consumers choosing legal services, most social media channels – which lend themselves to people sharing their experiences – were considered highly unlikely to generate new business. This was despite 40% of firms believing that a strong social media presence was among the factors most likely to influence decision-making.
TikTok was the least popular, hardly surprising given just 11 of the 100 firms were actually on it and even fewer post regular content. This compares to 75 firms on Facebook, 96 on X and a full house of 100 on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn was the favoured social media platform, with 21% of marketers ranking it in their top three most effective channels. The professional network was the fourth most popular channel overall, beaten only by search engine optimisation (31%), email marketing (27%) and event sponsorship (23%).
Qamar Anwar, managing director of First4Lawyers, told The Professionals: “A firm’s social media presence is an extension of its reputation, but it requires significant investment of time and resources to be successful. You have to really understand your audience, their preferences, what platforms they engage with, and the type of content they want to see. Only when you have that authentic relationship will they engage and, in turn, promote you to other potential clients.
“Whilst our research indicates that there is no one standout channel, social media – both paid for and organic – is an important part of the marketing mix and firms who fail to embrace it risk losing business.”
Few marketers agreed that their firm “fully embraces social media” and cited problems such as lack of resource or clear business objectives and difficulties in getting fee-earners to contribute content as preventing them from achieving their aims.
The biggest issue highlighted in the research, however, was the lack of engagement on socials. A fifth of the firms posting on Facebook every week were talking to an audience of fewer than 500 followers, for example. Likewise, the number of likes, shares and comments for most law firm posts on X did not exceed single figures.
Qamar adds: “Consumers want content that is engaging, relevant to them and adds value; they don’t want a sales pitch and will be quick to see through corporate speak.
“It also doesn’t matter how often you post if you’re not reaching the right people. It’s about defining and then building your tribe – people interested in particular legal news, advice and commentary. Most law firms have not yet got to grips with this, which is why they are seeing minimal return on investment.
“Checking socials is now part of the buying journey for a growing number of consumers, particularly the younger generation, and if yours aren’t up to scratch then that could mean the end of their journey with you.”