Groundbreaking annual study ranks the performance of AmLaw 100 firms on performance, reach and engagement on social media platforms and thought leadership

Leading digital marketing agency Good2bSocial has released its third annual Social Media Law Firm Index, the only study of its kind that takes a comprehensive look at the top 100 law firms in the country (per The American Lawyer magazine’s AmLaw 100) and analyzes each firm’s adoption and use of best practices in social media marketing and thought leadership content.

In addition to measuring social media marketing performance, reach and engagement on specific platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, the 2016 Social Law Firm Index takes a particular look at how digital is being employed by firms to communicate and amplify thought leadership content.

Guy Alvarez, CEO of Good2bSocial, emphasizes, “A law firm’s most valuable resource—its intellectual assets—are also its most critical marketing assets. Content on social media platforms can be powerful business development tools for a firm, when used correctly – but simply including them in a digital arsenal without thoughtfully considering their value and best use renders them worthless. Social media marketing requires a strategy, training and adequate resources to effectively execute digital campaigns.”

Key Findings from the Study:

• Bigger Isn’t Always Better: While the largest firms continue to perform better in reach and overall social media performance, our analysis reveals a number of firms considerably smaller in size performing very well in engagement and thought leadership.
• Education v. Promotion: The firms that performed poorly in the study were those whose outbound communications were limited to press releases and other promotional content about themselves and their attorneys. These firms had the fewest followers and lowest engagement rates.
• Think Frequent: The study’s highest-ranking firms published value-added content on a frequent, consistent basis. Conversely, the firms with the lowest scores published content irregularly and intermittently. Establishing and adhering to an editorial calendar to plan and track future content can help firms adhere to a regular content distribution schedule.
• Some Lag Behind: While many of the AmLaw 100 firms have some degree of mastery and maturity in using social media to extend their reach and grow business, some firms appear to still reside in the Dark Ages. As leadership at clients and startups large and small grows younger, for millennials and others, social media is an accepted and expected communications channel.
• Video Infancy: Video is still a medium that has been slow to adoption by the AmLaw 100. Law firms are still in the experimental stage in learning the best applications for video in business development and brand-building efforts.

The Social Law Firm Index 2016 Best Performing Firms:

The Social Law Firm Index 2016 Overall Top Five Firms demonstrated the greatest comprehensive adoption, integration and use of social media to market and grow business via social channels. The firms topping our list include:

This year marks the inauguration of Good2bSocial’s Thought Leadership Index where firms were measured for representing their talent, acumen and skills in informative, accessible and impactful ways optimized for digital consumption. Polsinelli ranked first on the inaugural Thought Leadership Index, followed by K&L Gates and Latham & Watkins. The Social Law Firm Index 2016 also ranked firms based upon their Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook usage.

For the first time, the Social Law Firm Index 2016 utilizes The Good2bSocial Score™, an algorithm designed to measure the true impact of a law firm’s digital marketing footprint. Good2bSocial Score™and The Social Law Firm Index ranks are based upon a proprietary methodology developed to assess the effectiveness of each firm’s use of digital marketing and social media. The Good2bSocial Score™ ranges from zero to a perfect 100.

Download a copy of The 2016 Social Media Law Firm Index 2016
http://good2bsocial.com/thesociallawfirm

About Good2bSocial

Good2bSocial is the leading digital marketing agency for law firms, lawyers and companies in the legal industry. Comprised of experts in business development, marketing, advertising, social media, consulting, journalism, data analytics and knowledge management, they offer a full suite of digital marketing services including social media, pay-per-click, SEO, content marketing and digital strategy. Good2bSocial helps their clients to understand and leverage the power of digital marketing and social media to power and transform their marketing and business development strategies while delivering measurable and meaningful business results.