Corporate America has embraced media monitoring. Public relations and marketing departments in most corporations and not-for-profit organizations monitor online news as well as social media. By capturing mentions of company and brand names, media monitoring can help head off emerging public relations crisis and guide the company to the most effective PR and marketing approaches. It also aids executive decision-making on corporate policies.
For law firms, media monitoring reveals when online news outlets mention their firms, attorneys, clients, specific court cases, and their legal expertise. Social media monitoring provides public feedback on the firm, its clients, its cases, and industry issues. Full-fledged media monitoring also provides the firm with public perception and sentiment on its branding.
What Law Firms Gain from Media Monitoring.
Through media listening, law firms can:
Protect and promote the firm’s reputation. When the law firm’s name or name of one of its attorneys is mentioned on a news website of social media platform, the firm can defend itself against criticism – or share comments that praise its attorneys and other positive mentions.
Gather competitive intelligence. A media monitoring tool can keep tabs on competitors. Law firms can learn how other law practices promote their services, what articles they publish, what conferences they attend, and other information. Maybe even more importantly, media monitoring can track mentions of adversaries in specific court cases.
Stay abreast of industry news. Media monitoring can identify court decisions, legislation, article and other legal news on specific types of cases relevant to the law practices or corporate clients. That will prevent attorneys from be surprised by a new bill or legal ruling.
Aid clients. Media monitoring helps attorneys stay informed about their clients’ business and potential legal problems impacting their business. For instance, attorneys can learn of potential patent and copyright infringements and blog posts that require “take down” demands.
Win cases. By searching online news and social media networks, attorneys can discredit witnesses, gather information about prospective jurors and track their activities. Lawyers can find trial evidence on individual profiles, internet forums and social media networks.
Get more business. People ask for recommendations for products and services on social media all the time. Legal services are no exception. “Yes, even lawyers ask for recommendations for lawyers from other lawyers on social networks. The truth is, despite the skepticism of many lawyers, people have been doing this now for years,” says Gyi Tsakalakis, co-founder of AttorneySync, a digital marketing agency for law firms. By listening for their industry keywords, law firms can respond to those requests and suggest their services.
Find important influencers. Integrated media monitoring can reveal the leading influencers in a law firm’s niche, including both influencers at traditional media outlets and social media influencers. Those influencers typically have large numbers of readers or followers and significant credibility. By winning their attention and support, firms can quickly increase awareness of their businesses, gain more respect and ultimately win more clients.
Measure marketing effectiveness. Media measurement can rate the effectiveness of a firm’s marketing and its position in the overall market by analyzing its share of voice and grading sentiment on a positive-to-neutral scale. Law firms can gauge the effectiveness of their public relations efforts and compare its value to advertising and owned media.
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