About a year ago I conducted a review of the Largest 100 law firms in Massachusetts (as compiled by the Boston Business Journal) to see how many firms had created (or at least claimed) a firm-branded Twitter account. One year ago, a scant 15% of firms had claimed or were actively tweeting under the firm brand. (See previous review here: Making the Case for a Firm-branded Twitter Presence.)
One year later the numbers have risen, yet nearly three-quarters of all law firms are not using Twitter in any way. My most recent review shows 26 percent of law firms are actively using or trying to use Twitter to help reach and engage audiences, help promote and distribute firm content as well as relevant content and opinions from others on the platform. The good news is that more firms have at least “claimed their brand” on Twitter. In addition to the 26 percent of firms that are actively tweeting, another 20 percent have seen it worthwhile to at least create and hold an account using their firm identity. But more than half (54%) seem to have no foothold in the Twittersphere, having not claimed a firm-branded account.
A few firms are doing a great job of using Twitter under firm brands. These include:
- Goodwin Procter, which in addition to a firm-branded Twitter account also has sub-branded Twitter accounts on specific niches — such as @FoundersToolbox and @GreenBuildLaw
- Rackeman Sawyer does a nice job of working to lead and own the topic of land use using both a blog and Twitter account @landusemonitor
- Pepper Hamilton has also created separate Twitter identities for specific sectors such as @PepperTax, @PepperIP.
If you work with one of the 26 actively tweeting firms, please share with readers of this blog your experiences with Twitter or what leads you to believe that it is worth your time. If you’re still on the fence, see my previous post on this topic, which includes 5 top reasons why your law firm should tweet.
Your comments welcome!
Great to have some real data on the relatively slow march of law firms into twitter usage. I think it may be indicative of my view that twitter will never be a 100 per cent utilised legal marketing tool for law firms. For many of my clients there just aren’t enough clients, particularly in the small to medium business sector, using it on a day to day basis for it to be a necessary communication medium.
Hi Amy – thought you’d like to know that we have up to date social media metrics from Twitter, Klout, PeerIndex and LinkedIn from over 400 law firms worldwide. Take a look at http://apps.fellsoft.com/snmetrics