Inner Architect is proud to announce that our client, pioneering asbestos law firm Kazan Law of Oakland, California, was honored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform as one of the legal industry leaders in law firm marketing in the very competitive asbestos and mesothelioma practice area. Inner Architect has been managing, producing, and consulting on the law firm marketing strategies and campaigns for Kazan Law since 2011.
“The marketing around asbestos/mesothelioma is among the most sophisticated undertaken by plaintiffs firms” –U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Law Firm Marketing Report Parameters
In the U.S. Chamber report titled “Trial Lawyer Marketing: Broadcast, Search, and Social Strategies,” the U.S. Chamber focuses on a number of law firm marketing strategies contained in the following categories:
- Broadcast Television Messaging: Media Spending and Placement
- Search Marketing: Search Volume and Keyword Cost
- Search Marketing: Search Engine Optimization
- Social Media: Network Ties and Key Influencers
One of the major questions the U.S. Chamber of Commerce looks to answer is: Who are the leaders in trial lawyer messaging and “what are their strategies for reaching potential litigants through broadcast, search, and social?”
Kazan Law and affiliate Mesothelioma Circle were distinguished for their Twitter strategies within the Social Media: Network Ties and Key Influencers category. Within this category, Twitter was the focus of the report due to its “large, longstanding network composed around a specific product category (asbestos) and medical liability topic (mesothelioma), with a large online community of activists, advocates, and super-tweeters.”
Kazan Law Touted as Leader in Law Firm Marketing on Twitter
Kazan Law and MesotheliomaCircle.org were cited within the Social Media: Network Ties and Key Influencers section of U.S. Chamber report for their strategic approach to the asbestos-mesothelioma community. The report characterized and commended Kazan Law’s positioning within the ultra-competitive asbestos-mesothelioma community:
“Kazan Law has the deepest penetration into the realm of medical doctors and the cancer research/treatment community of any law firm observed in this mapping of online interactions.”
The report further describes Kazan Law’s strategy:
“Kazan directly connects to key influencers such as doctors and cancer centers, cancer non-profits, asbestos and lung cancer activists, and topic-focused journalists. This indicates a multipronged strategy and demonstrates that some pioneering law firms are quickly adapting to the evolving social media landscape.”
Traditional marketing and advertising on television and digital marketing efforts through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), and pay per click (PPC) advertising are often times most effective when supported through non-traditional social media marketing channels like Twitter.
Inner Architect’s Law Firm Marketing Twitter Strategy
Inner Architect’s strategy in utilizing Twitter to support Kazan Law and affiliate Mesothelioma Circle is a multi-pronged approach that requires patience, time, and effort. Unlike many digital firms that support shortcuts and rapid-fire tactics in an attempt to connect within a Twitter community, Inner Architect embraces a methodical approach.
By first observing, and eventually joining in, ongoing real-time conversations within the asbestos-mesothelioma community, Inner Architect was able to identify the key influencers made up of asbestos-mesothelioma advocates, asbestos safety experts and consultants, patients, doctors, hospitals, journalists, and cancer organizations. Relationship building and interaction became an ongoing focus that continues today.
Basics of Law Firm Marketing on Twitter Step 1
Regardless of whether you are representing your business or that of a client, there is a basic approach to law firm marketing on Twitter. Although it seems obvious, many people fail to identify their goals in utilizing Twitter. Whether it is increasing brand awareness, building a following, fostering real-time conversations, connecting through referral relationships, announcing breaking news, distributing your owned content or any number of other uses, you must understand your goals.
Basics of Law Firm Marketing on Twitter Step 2
Once you have your goals listed, you must create a priority list based on the results you seek to achieve. Without prioritizing your goals, the likelihood of success is decreased while the correlating time line to success is lengthened.
Basics of Law Firm Marketing on Twitter Step 3
You now have your goals and a priority list in place. The next step is to choose tools that will help you understand your level of reach, market penetration, and standing within the community you seek to engage within. Here is a short list of tools that can get you started:
- Twitonomy.com
- Analytics.twitter.com
- Hootsuite.com
- Buffer.com
- Advanced Twitter Search
- Topsy.com
Roll Out Your Twitter Law Firm Marketing Strategies
Now you have everything in place to begin a simple campaign or an ongoing long term effort on Twitter. What are the next steps? Try the following ideas:
Listening-Observing
Do not place you and your brand into a community stream by first contacting, communicating, or introducing your brand. Instead listen and observe conversations within the community. Create a private Twitter list(s) and simply watch who tweets, what the conversation focusses on, and when the interactions are happening. Are you in the same time zone, same state, or same country as a person/brand you wish to begin a relationship? How do they prefer to communicate? How often? Do they prefer to use direct messaging, do they use hashtags, or do they rarely if ever engage in real-time conversations? Who is in alignment with whom? Are there rivalries? Are their competing businesses or sensitive subject matter you need to understand?
Finally, do you need to understand community jargon, industry “speak”, or professional decorum for any or all of the people/brands you wish to connect? Can you talk the talk?
Monitoring-Tracking
The greatest feature, in our opinion, any social network can provide is a list building function. Twitter’s list feature is a critical piece to beginning your listening and observing. It is also just as critical in tracking and monitoring posts from any community. By building lists you are able to easily organize and segment the population of users you are targeting. The asbestos/mesothelioma community is a rich community with asbestos activists, cancer advocates, doctors, asbestos abatement companies, safety consultants, hospitals, cancer centers, patients, cancer survivors, nutritionists, cancer organizations and many more participants.
Once you have built your lists, private or public depending upon your goals, you can then employ any number of Twitter analytics-tracking tools for deeper understanding. Tracking tweets from your community members will uncover who the influencers are, who the key influencers who shape the community are, the reach each member has within the community, and the potential size of the audience each community member represents.
Keeping it Real
Just because you have a treasure chest full of analytics, monitoring tools, scheduling tools, and strategies at your disposal, doesn’t mean you will be successful. Automation, the act of scheduling your tweets, is a double edge sword that cuts both ways. Simply put, if you are not willing to spend real-time in conversations building trust and adding value to the community, you or your brand will never be a significant member.
