Law firms that are thinking about improving their websites need to stop adding yet more text to their pages and focus more resources on creating compelling graphics and online videos.
The upstart company Pinterest – a site for posting and sharing online images — is growing rapidly, similar to the way YouTube fast became THE place to host videos from anywhere on Planet Earth.
What this tells us is that people are VISUAL. Statistics from many technology surveys continue to reinforce the fact that people are far more likely to stay on a website or social media site if there are interesting photos or videos. That’s true whether your client is the average consumer, a CEO or a referring attorney.
If law firms are creating more text and using the same boring content (e.g., “We’re a full service firm that….”) how do those firms expect to get noticed? Most won’t particularly if they don’t already have a specialty or a trusted brand that started decades ago.
What kind of photos and videos should a law firm use on its website and in social media? No, not a bunch of partners with their arms folded in front of law books or the spiraling staircase. GET OUT OF THE OFFICE. Here are just a few ideas for the kinds of shots I’m talking about:
1 – A partner who represents a manufacturer at a client’s factory, maybe even wearing a hard hat
2 — An environmental law attorney in front of a threatened lake or river at peak foliage or with sweeping views
(photo by Rich Klein, 2011)
3– An entertainment law attorney with his or her extensive vinyl collection or playing favorite records
4 — A corporate attorney in front of the shiny new headquarters of a newly merged company whose agreement he or she helped negotiate
5 — A commercial real estate attorney in front of a new shopping center or apartment complex in the community
6- A land use attorney near a rail station
(photo by Rich Klein, 2011)
7–An intellectual property attorney at a high profile technology trade show
8– Any shot or video of attorneys attending bar association functions
9– Photos and videos of partners at conferences where they are speaking
10- A group of attorneys involved in a community/pro bono project
Get the picture (or video)?
Once you have a nice collection of photos and videos, find someone who understands law firm public relations and social media to help you select the best shots/footage and to decide how and where they should be displayed.
If you really want to get noticed, don’t just sit back after you have an improved website with visuals. Few prospective clients will know how to arrive at your website if you have zero social media properties. Law firms should be using Twitter regularly. Twitter is a great place to link to your photos and videos along with white papers, articles, news releases, etc. Firms can use their Facebook and Google+ pages for the same purposes. And every partner should be updating their LinkedIn profiles with client-centered content (e.g., copies of articles, slides from your last speaking engagement, etc.)
For more information, please visit www.LawFirmsPR.com and www.RichSocialMedia.posterous.com.
