Some law firms are not taking control of their associated LinkedIn business pages, which undermines individual reputation management as well as law firm business development efforts and credibility. These issues are compounded when a law firm has no social media policy to guide individuals’ content. The resulting spellings/misspellings of the firm name, along with inconsistent and inaccurate job titles, leave visitors uneasily wondering who’s minding the shop.
How can you combat this? Take control of your firm’s LinkedIn company page and the impression being delivered to referral sources, in-house counsel and other potential clients with a few simple steps:
- Assign someone to administer and update your business page on a regular basis (posting alerts and firm news and events, at the least).
- Populate the page with current, accurate and informative descriptions of your services.
- Connect with your website, RSS feeds, blogs and video resources.
- Develop and adopt a basic social media policy that clearly outlines your firm’s defined style and expectations for online behavior.
- Revise outdated titles and inconsistent firm names.
- Ensure that former employees no longer list your firm as their employer.
Lawyers’ roles are increasingly focused on business development. Firms should do their part to bolster those efforts and present a “buttoned-up” view for potential clients and referral sources. The good news is, the fix is simple and it’s free.