Larry Bodine is certainly a well respected guy in the world of legal marketing and it seems he really does not like Twitter!  I have to say, I disagree.

I mean no disrespect to Mr. Bodine.  I subscribe to and read his blog regularly and recommend others do likewise.  His posts are regularly excellent.  It is just that my experience with Twitter has been contrary to what he expressed in his blog post Twitter [is] Not Effective for Law Firm Marketing.  His objections are:

• 60% of Twitter users drop out after one month.
• It is the least effective way to boost traffic to your website, compared with SEO, email promotions and blogs.
• Twitter will generate leads, but not necessarily sales.
• Twitter can get lawyers and firms in a lot of trouble in the event of litigation.
• Twitter is a powerful distraction from getting real marketing work done.

I'm a bit surprised at the vehamence of Mr. Bodine's objections and, as I noted above, they just do not square with my experience on Twitter.

The first point is true but irrelevant.  Twitter has been growing by two or three times that amount.  I've gone from zero to almost 1700 followers in just a few short months.  I suspect that 60% of people drop out of Rotary or don't make a substantial commitment to it, but that doesn't mean it isn't a tremendous marketing tool for those who remain and are part of that community.  You can't do Rotary and you can't be part of Twitter just to market, you have to be part of the community first and the marketing follows organically from that.

The second is flat wrong in my experience.  My Google Analytics numbers tell a completely different story. Twitter has been the major drivers of traffic to this website.  It has to work in tandem with putting the effort into the site to make it interesting and putting effort into the being a productive and interesting part of the Twitter community - I don't know any other way I could be in regular contact with almost 1700 (and growing) lawyers and legal professionals within a couple of months and have them actively engaged in what I'm writing.  I love being in tune with what the lawyers and legal professionals I am following are talking about.  Again, it is being part of a community.

I just don't get the argument about leads and sales - you need the former to get you the latter.  Why would one turn down qualified leads from the very group one is trying trying to market?  If those leads aren't turning into sales that's not Twitter's fault, it's the laywer's fault.  In all fairness, I can't say that I've "sold" anything as a result of Twitter but then I'm not really trying to.  SmallFirmSuccess.org is meant to be a resource for Solo and Small Firms and Twitter is a great way to get the word out to solo and small firm laywers about it.  However, I don't see any reason why a lawyer looking for referals from other laywers can not translate leads (contact with other lawyers) into sales (referrals of work from those leads).  The same would seem to hold true for lawyers providing good information in their practice area, like Bill Marhler does about foodborne disease, which is the focus of his practice.

I haven't heard of a lawsuit yet, but litigation trouble can be found in emails, telephone calls, letters, and words shouted in anger - I don't see how Twitter is different, in fact, since Twitter is difficult to archive, it might be safer

Mr. Bodine's last point assumes its conclusion, that Twitter is not the real work of marketing.  I simply have found the contrary, that Twitter is the real work of marketing.

In the end, marketing is networking, networking is most effective when one is an active, respected, and trusted part of a community, Twitter is just a different sort of community.  There are a lot of laywers on Twitter and more joining every day.  That certainly makes it a good place to network with other lawyers.  Is it the most effective for every lawyer?  Certainly not.  That is an individual decision of each lawyer about where their target market can be found and what community they want to be an active part of.  It could be your church, synagogue, Rotary, Bar Association, or even, heaven help us, an online community like Twitter.  The question is more where are your interests and where do you want to put in the time and effort to be an active, respected, and trusted member of a community.

- Peter H. Berge
 

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed