Twitter is now a key referral source for lawyers, as Legal Futures reports. New research conducted for Orange Business reveals that there has been a massive increase in people asking for recommendations of professional services providers through Twitter - and solicitors are near the top of the list.
With the research reporting a 663% increase in people using Twitter to get recommendations of professional services firms and with over 10 million people in the UK now using Twitter, Orange said that “small businesses are missing a trick if they take their eyes off tweets”.
The most in-demand professionals were web designers, with solicitors coming a close second. Orange said “Second on the list are solicitors, who may not be aware of the fees they could be missing out on by not engaging with the public and other businesses via Twitter.” Other popular services which attract many referrals through Twitter include accountants, architects and copywriters.
Small business marketing director at Orange Business, Mike Tomlinson noted that “It is clear from this research that you can’t just rely on posting adverts in the classifieds. Today, Twitter represents a compelling word-of-mouth engine that can deliver significant business opportunities to small businesses across a wide variety of sectors."
Comment: 7 reasons for solicitors to be using Twitter
The findings reflect our experience of using Twitter, both ourselves and on behalf of our law firm clients. We thought it would be useful to provide 7 reasons why Twitter works so well for solicitors:-
- Increased awareness of your practice and your services among target clients
- Increased relevant traffic to your law firm's website
- Improved favourable perceptions and increased trust of your firm's brand and your own personal brand
- Development of targeted marketing activities
- Increased search engine rankings for your website by virtue of social media bookmarking
- Development of business relationships include an increased chance of word-of-mouth referrals and referrals from other solicitors
- Ultimately, the generation of new business
How to get the most from Twitter
With over 30,000 followers across our networks on Twitter and with first class social media strategies implemented for our clients we know what works and how you can get the most from Twitter. Have a look at some of my Twitter Tips from 2011 and please do give us a call on 0845 620 5664 or complete our contact form if you'd like to discuss how we can help you and your practice.