According to an audit published this week by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, very few global law firms have fully integrated Social Media into their legal practice marketing strategies.
The audit analyzed the use of social media from April to mid-May 2011 among 110 global law firms. It followed LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, as well as other social media networks and found that firms are open and interested to the idea of using social media as a major marketing strategy, especially firms in New York, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe.
However, the majority of the companies surveyed use social networks only to publicize company news, and very few are using YouTube or blogging to create a dialogue with their audience on the internet.
The audit found the following social media usage:
- 77% of firms surveyed had profiles on LinkedIn
- 31% used Twitter
- 29% used Facebook
- 10.9% used YouTube
- 8% had official firm blogs
- 7% used social media widgets to integrate firm web sites
In general, the study found that law practices are slow to integrate social media into their legal website design and firm image.
According to an article by Jennifer Smith on the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, lawyers are worried about liability and client confidentiality issues. Some lawyers are even concerned about posting false statements and the embarrassment aftermath of having their image more public.
