5 tips for lawyers to level up on LinkedIn

The pandemic has changed how we network forever.

With face-to-face networking events cancelled, professionals moved online to fill the void. Many of them haven’t looked back.

In the ‘new normal’, your digital presence is more important than ever.

With 65 million decision makers and an increasingly engaged user base, LinkedIn is the best place for lawyers to connect with business professionals.

In this article, I’ll provide five tips explaining how lawyers can effectively use LinkedIn to win business.

What is LinkedIn, and why does it matter?

LinkedIn is a social media platform for professionals to connect and collaborate.

It’s the world’s largest professional network with over 700 million members.

It’s a powerful marketing tool because four out of five of those members drive business decisions. However, the real power of LinkedIn is leveraged through personal branding.

Personal branding is a form of marketing that promotes people rather than businesses.

On average, personal profiles have 10 times more followers and eight times more engagement than their company pages.

Personal branding is important for lawyers because it empowers you to build trust and win clients.

Contrary to popular belief, personal branding does not have to be difficult or time consuming. It is an effective way to raise your profile online and win new business.

In fact, with consumer habits quickly changing, it is key to securing long-term, sustainable business growth. Plus, it’s fun!

How to grow your personal brand on LinkedIn

Tip 1: optimise your profile

Your LinkedIn profile is your digital face.

It's often the first impression a prospect will have of you.

It’s your chance to capture their attention and convert them into a lead – you may not get a second one.

Optimising your profile merits an article of its own but here are some basic tips:

• upload a recent professional headshot. Showing your face builds trust. It also increases profile views 14 times over
• update your headline. It’s the text that is displayed underneath your name on your profile. Part of it also appears when you comment on a post. Prospects need to know what services you offer
• make the most of your banner image. You could use a company image or create your own using a tool like Canva

Over a third of LinkedIn users have changed their job, company or industry in the last four years. If you’re one of them, make sure that you’ve kept your profile up to date.

Tip 2: create content

Imagine you’re at a networking event. You bump into a stranger and before you’ve even said hello, they start to try to sell you something.

You’d probably feel a little uncomfortable and want to get away from them.

It’s no different on LinkedIn. Build rapport first. How can you build rapport? By creating content.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

• make the first line of your post attention-grabbing. When your post shows up in your followers’ feeds, they will only see the first few lines. Make them count. Make your reader want to click “see more”
• use hashtags, but not too many. Hashtags make your content easier to find for those who are interested in similar topics. Choose three to five relevant hashtags (these could be keywords from your text) and include them at the end. If you use too many hashtags, your post may look spammy
• if you’re including a link to an external site, do not put this in the main body of your post. LinkedIn seems to limit the reach of posts that are directing traffic away from the platform. Instead, comment on your own post with the link

When you post on LinkedIn you're asking for your reader’s time and attention. If you go straight in for a sale, they are likely to scroll on.

By adding value through creating content, you can build trust, grow your network and win business.

Tip 3: be real

People are fed up with perfect. Trust me. Social media is overflowing with unattainable, edited ideals. To stand out, you need to be different. What better way to be different than to be your unique self?

Being the real you is beneficial for multiple reasons.

It drives sales

Creating authentic content directly impacts the credibility of your brand. With 86% of consumers claiming that authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support, being real is directly linked to sales.

In a world of filtered selfies, glossy feeds and ‘positive vibes only’, being real stands out

If you feel comfortable doing so, showing vulnerability is a powerful way to connect with others. However, that doesn’t mean that you must feel vulnerable.

I've shared countless real stories on LinkedIn, but I never felt vulnerable posting them.

If you’re going to share something personal, check yourself first.

If you’re posting it because you want validation, it’s probably not the best thing to post.

After all, you could just as easily end up with abuse or radio silence rather than praise. If you can accept that and feel comfortable in your words, no matter the response, then you may be ready to share it.

It’s more fun

Being fake isn’t fun (or at least it is not for most people). You’ll have a lot more fun if you stay true to yourself and build real relationships

Showing up as the real you has multiple advantages. It reflects positively on your brand and helps you win new business.

Tip 4: be consistent

Since I started posting two years ago, I have posted almost every day.

It’s paid off. It brought six-figure business opportunities to the law firm where I was marketing manager. I’ve won an award and had high-profile press exposure because of my posts.

I’m now building a business, empowered by my connections. To get those kinds of results you need to be consistent and to be consistent you need to have a plan.

I create content strategies to help my clients. By mapping out their content in advance, I save them thousands of hours in thinking time, procrastination and scrolling.

All they have to do is answer the content prompts and click post.

This removes the stress of having to come up with content on the spot.

Tip 5: enjoy it!

If personal branding becomes a chore, you are likely to give it up.

By using a strategy to make personal branding time-effective and stress-free, you will find it enjoyable and therefore are more likely to stick at it.

As the nature of networking changes, your digital presence has never been more important.

LinkedIn is the best place for lawyers to raise their profiles and grow their networks. By following the above five tips, you can level up your LinkedIn to effectively win new business.