In a previous post on The PBEye, our friend Lisa W. Borden, pro bono shareholder at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C.* wrote about the importance of social media to a law firm’s business and gave some tips on how firms can be savvier in promoting their pro bono work online. Now, a recent article in The Washington Post depicts a growing trend. “Leaders at several top 100 firms are for the first time hiring full-time social media specialists to manage firms’ LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter accounts, and many more are making a concerted effort to prioritize social media outreach in marketing campaigns.”
Large law firms are beginning to realize that their growing presence on social networking and blogging sites can bring in clients. Based on results from a recent survey mentioned in the article, now “20 percent of law firms have a full-time social media specialist on staff, and about 40 percent said blogging and social networking initiatives have helped the firm land new work.” The PBEye expects to see this upward trend climb as firms continue to see results from building new relationships using modern methods of communication.
In order to help firms capitalize on their social media presence, PBI will discuss the topic at our 2012 Annual Conference in the session “Please ‘Like’ Me: Using Social Media to Enhance Pro Bono.” We will talk about how to best use free tools like blogs, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook in order to improve pro bono programs marketing, recruiting, and gathering intelligence.
*denotes a Member of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project