After working in law firms for more than 20 years, here’s what I’ve learned about writing better social media posts to promote your lawyer rankings such as Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers and even Chambers.

Don’t make it all about you or start off with how “honored” or “humbled” you are. It sounds boastful and formulaic.

Instead make it about the teamwork and contributions of your colleagues. Focus on your clients, what you did this year work wise or your how you got to where you are today.

Tell stories.

Be humble and stand out.

And watch people like and comment on the post and celebrate your success.

It’s how you tell the story.

It’s showing vs. telling.

Most content on LinkedIn is boring. It’s dry. It has no personality. It’s forgettable. And it’s too self-promotional.

The best way to promote yourself and your services is to provide value. So many people and law firms forget that.

They think if they brag about the closing of a big deal or their latest Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers or Chambers rankings, they will stand out.

But what clients care more about other factors when hiring outside counsel such as – do I like working with you, do you care about me and will you be responsive.

Me-centric or self-promotional content is not strategic marketing or business development. It doesn’t teach or help your audience. It’s all about you. It’s a vanity award – a feather in your cap. It doesn’t impact your client or your ability to do a good job.

When you do marketing right, you don’t need to tell people how great you are. It’s implicit. It’s conveyed in your message. That is much more powerful than telling people about your accomplishments.

I’m not saying don’t promote yourself or your successes. I’m just saying do it a little differently and take the time and effort to showcase it in a way that makes you stand out and sound human. It’s well worth the effort. When I looked at so many of these posts they all sounded the same, which really doesn’t help you stand out at all.

Most content on LinkedIn is boring. It’s dry. It has no personality. It’s forgettable. And it’s too self-promotional. Do it better and watch how you will separate yourself from everyone else.

It takes a little more effort to do this but it’s forth it. Will you try it?

PS – Don’t forget to recognize the lawyers that Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers didn’t. These peer-based publications don’t always get it right. Make sure to include a shout out to your top billers and revenue generators in your web and social media announcement, noting that you think all of your lawyers are best/super lawyers. You can say something like, “We are proud of these lawyers as well as every lawyer at our firm for their commitment to our clients, our firm and our communities.”

You can also congratulate the industry and the entity giving you the award such as, “Congrats to all of the lawyers in our industry who were recognized by Best Lawyers and thanks to Phillip Greer and the Best Lawyers research team for all of their hard work in putting this guide together!”

This can go along way.

Here’s a video with more on this topic.