/>iIn today's digital age, social media has become an essential tool for businesses to reach their target audience and grow their brand.
And while many law firms may feel that social media is not relevant to their industry, the truth is that social media, particularly Instagram, can be a valuable marketing tool for showcasing your legal expertise and attracting potential clients.
Instagram is so much more than influencer pics, dancing videos, and cat memes. It can be a valuable tool for drumming up more visibility, engaging your audience, and growing your business.
In this article, I cover best practices for marketing your law firm on Instagram. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or a large law firm, you can learn how to leverage Instagram to promote your services and reach new clients.
Is Instagram relevant for law firms?
It might be easy to dismiss Instagram as a platform for influencers and food pics, but it can actually be a powerful tool for marketing professional services. Case in point, over half of the US’s top 20 law firms are using Instagram to market their services.
So yes, Instagram is definitely relevant for law firms. With over 1 billion users on the platform (80% of which are following businesses), law firms would be remiss to not be active on Instagram. In fact, Instagram is the third most popular social channel, right behind YouTube and Facebook.
Benefits of law firm Instagram marketing
With so many active users, Instagram presents a huge opportunity for law firms to reach more potential clients and build online authority. It’s always a way to reach people who may not have otherwise heard of your firm.
There are many benefits to law firm Instagram marketing:
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Showcase your expertise: Instagram allows you to showcase your legal expertise and help potential clients learn more about the services you offer. You can share educational content and industry insights, helping to establish your firm as a thought leader in your market.
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Build relationships with potential clients: Instagram allows you to connect with potential clients on a more personal level. You can share business updates, post behind-the-scenes content, and interact with your followers in real time. This will help you build relationships with people who may be interested in your services.
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Increase website traffic: As you grow on Instagram, you can drive more users to your website. Just add a link to your website in your bio, posts, and Stories with a call-to-action for your audience to work with or contact you.
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Humanize your brand: Instagram allows you to humanize your brand (which is super important for the often “stuffy” legal industry). Share photos and videos of your team, events, community involvement, and more. This will help potential clients feel more connected to your brand and build trust in your services.
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Save money on marketing: Compared to traditional marketing methods, Instagram marketing can be a relatively cost-effective organic marketing channel. With the right strategy, you can reach potential clients without spending a lot of money on paid advertising.
10 Tips for Marketing Your Law Firm on Instagram
Many of the Instagram marketing best practices for other types of businesses apply to law firms as well, though there are nuances.
Below, I outline some of the best law firm Instagram marketing strategies to grow on the platform.
1. Focus on your niche
If you specialize in a particular area of law, then you will want to create content that focuses on the specific value and services you offer. This content should speak directly to the types of clients you serve and the types of challenges they face.
For example, if you are a family law attorney, you might post about topics such as divorce, child support, child custody, adoption law, mediation, etc. If you are a corporate lawyer, you might post content about corporate liability, contracts, investing, and the like.
Focus on your niche in order to attract people who are interested in your services. Otherwise, you risk coming across as a generalist, which will make it difficult to stand out from other law firms.
2. Post visually appealing, high-quality content
Instagram is a highly visual platform, prioritizing images and videos rather than text content. With this in mind, you’ll want to focus on creating visually appealing, high-quality content that catches the eye of your target audience.
This can include graphics, photos, videos, Reels, or Carousels. You can use tools like Canva to create custom graphics, hire a photographer to take photos, or use royalty-free images from sites like Unsplash. Just be sure to avoid copyrighted images or screenshots.
Educational content works particularly well for law firms. Share content that provides value to your followers, such as tips on navigating legal processes, information on changes in laws, and industry insights.
Instagram Reels allow you to create short, engaging videos to reach a wider audience. You can create educational Reels, funny Reels, or whatever you think will appeal to your users. Try it out and see what content performs the best!
3. Use relevant hashtags
Instagram hashtags are used to “tag” your content as it applies to certain topics/categories and reach users searching for those topics. As a lawyer, you should try to use hashtags that are relevant to your practice area. With will help increase the visibility of your content and attract potential clients on Instagram.
Here are some tips for researching hashtags:
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Start with relevant keywords: Think about the topics and themes that are relevant to your law firm, and use those keywords to search for hashtags that are commonly used in your industry.
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Check out your competition: Look at what hashtags other law firms are using in their posts and see if those hashtags are relevant to your firm's content.
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Use Instagram's search function: Instagram's search function allows you to search for hashtags and see related hashtags that may be relevant to your content. If you are a small firm, you will want to use hashtags that have under 20,000 results.
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Look for trending hashtags: Check out what hashtags are currently trending on Instagram and see if any of them are relevant to your firm's content. Use these in your posts and Reels.
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Use a hashtag generator tool: Tools like Toolzu and All Hashtags can help you discover relevant hashtags to use in your law firm's Instagram content.
4. Post content consistently
While “consistency” is a common buzzword when it comes to Instagram, being consistent on the app is a great way to grow your account.
However, there are no hard rules for when or how often you should post. Basically, the more consistent you are, the more your audience will see your content and trust your brand.
To start, I recommend posting once per day in order to get eyes on your content and start tracking performance. Over time, you will get a better sense of what content performs well and what your audience wants to see.
If Instagram posting feels like a chore, there are tons of tools you can use to automate your posting schedule. For example, Later is a social media management tool that allows you to schedule posts, plan your content, and track your performance on Instagram. Also, Hootsuite allows you to manage multiple Instagram accounts, schedule posts, and track your analytics all in one place.
Try to get into a consistent posting schedule that works for you. This is the best way to start seeing growth and measure the impact of your Instagram marketing strategy.
5. Track performance with Instagram Analytics
So, how do you measure the performance of your Instagram content?
Easy! Instagram’s built-in analytics tool allows you to track performance, monitor your engagement, see audience insights, and adjust your strategy to strive for success.
You can use Instagram Insights to understand your audience demographics, behavior, and interests, and understand what content they love the most.
Beyond that, third-party tools like Followerwonk and Iconosquare allow you to analyze your followers on Instagram, find influencers, track your competitors, monitor your engagement, and more.
Analytics will help you understand the success of your Instagram strategy and adjust your approach to start seeing better results.
6. Share client testimonials and case studies
Sharing client testimonials is a great way to build social proof and encourage potential clients to trust in your firm. You can share some of the amazing work you’ve done and positive results you have earned for your clients.
Client testimonials and case studies will help demonstrate your expertise and highlight the successful outcomes your firm produces for your clients. This content can be in the form of Instagram posts, graphics, Reels, Stories, videos, or interviews.
7. Leverage the power of Instagram Stories
When you have a public Instagram account, your content (including Stories) gets shared with a wider audience. Stories can be especially powerful when it comes to attracting new followers and increasing engagement.
Use Instagram Stories to share behind the scenes content, promote events, and advertise exclusive offers. You can even add things like gifs, tags, polls, Q&A forms, and more.
What’s more, you can re-share your own posts and videos as Stories on your account. This is a great way to get more views and engagement.
8. Use Instagram Live to engage your audience
Instagram Live is Instagram’s own live video option within the platform (similar to Facebook Live). This is where you can “go live” on video and share information with your audience in real time. Followers can comment, like, and share your live video, boosting your account’s visibility.
Use Instagram Live to connect with your audience, providing valuable insights and information. You can even go live with other industry experts in an interview format, download your live video, and re-share it to other platforms (like Facebook or as YouTube Shorts).
9. Collaborate with other businesses
New or small Instagram accounts often experience a slow grow stage. You might feel like you are posting a ton and not seeing good results. This can be a good time to leverage partnerships with other, larger accounts.
Consider collaborating with other businesses that are complementary to your practice area, like other legal professionals, bloggers, or consultants. These accounts can then re-share your content, expanding your reach and earning you new followers.
You can find these accounts by simply searching Instagram for other professionals or by reaching out to your existing connections who are active on Instagram. Then, work with them to create, re-share, and promote connect across your accounts. =
10. Respond to comments and messages
Posting your content on Instagram is only one part of the strategy. The other part is actively engaging with the people interacting with your content.
This means responding to user comments, replying to direct messages, commenting on other peoples’ posts, etc. This will ensure that your Instagram interactions are a two-way street, which can help boost your account.
Also, by commenting on posts from other industry professionals, you can get noticed by new followers. Be sure to keep it professional, be genuine, and strive to build real connections.
Best law firm Instagram accounts to follow
Looking for examples of law firms that are doing Instagram right?
In no particular order, here are some law firm Instagram accounts that have great branding, engaged followers, and a stellar content strategy:
