When it comes to an effective social media strategy for small businesses, many marketing gurus will tell you that engagement is the name of the game. The more likes, comments, and shares you get, the more successful your presence will be.
For law firms, that isn’t true. This is the ONLY area where legal marketing is the exception to the rule.
But why? It actually isn’t because your subject matter is dry and boring (even though you may think it is). Rather, it’s because a lot of your subject matter is very sensitive and heavy. People won’t want to engage with that sort of content because they don’t want to air their dirty laundry out in public.
So what are you to do? If no one comments, what’s the point? Should you just abandon social media entirely? NO!
Here are three other metrics you want to focus on instead to gauge your strategy’s effectiveness:
1. Reach
Reach refers to the number of unique views that your post received. When there isn’t much engagement, reach can tell you how well your posts ended up doing. While some platforms (FACEBOOK) limit the organic reach of content, you can boost posts for as little as $1 per day to extend that reach beyond just the people who already follow your page, making it an attractive and cost-effective alternative to past forms of advertising like billboards and Yellow Pages ads.
2. Impressions
Impressions are the TOTAL number of views that your post received. This number will always be larger than reach because it counts multiple views from the same user. The billboard example from the previous point works here, too. Whereas “reach” would only count your vehicle seeing that billboard once, “impressions” count every single time your car passes it each day.
3. Click-Through Rate
If your content is valuable (blogs, videos, lead magnets, etc), then you’ll be encouraging people to click through to your website to consume that content. That’s why your teasers and captions need to be well-written and paired with an eye-catching graphic so as to get peoples’ attention as they scroll down their timeline.
What About Engagement?
If you’re still hoping for a lot of engagement, mix up the kind of content you post. People will engage more with things they find entertaining, so share more behind-the-scenes pictures and videos of life at the office. The more you can humanize yourself and your firm, the more people will be comfortable with engaging.
However, you also get what you give. Don’t just sit back and wait for people to comment. Go out and participate in the social media community as well by leaving comments on others’ posts!
A Final Note About Your Numbers
You’re likely still wondering something like, “What’s a good number of impressions or clicks for my firm?” The answer, as usual, is “it depends.”
After all, a firm in Salina, Kansas, won’t have as large of a market as a firm in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal, at least to start, is to work on building your reach until you notice a plateau. That may be 5,000 people or 500,000 people. Regardless, it will take time to get there, so focus on what you’re posting and how people click through or how many impressions you can get.