Social Media Dashboards for Gathering Client Intelligence
Companies stand to benefit tremendously from proper utilization of social media. This was a key inference from a study that McKinsey and Company, a sector consulting firm, conducted a few years ago.
In-house counsel would do well by their client to arm themselves with tools such as social media dashboards. A dashboard can help to quickly gather information about clients and potential new hires.
Know Yourself, Know Your Prey
These days, in-house attorneys are using LinkedIn and law blogs to find new staff. This trend has increasingly become the legal standard since 2010, like it or not. Companies must learn to adapt.
According to Greentarget and Zeughauser Group, a 2015 survey indicates that in-house respondents are reading attorney-authored blogs equally as much as blogs written by journalists. Your client is also using the social media airwaves to see how the firm is doing in the eyes of the public and consumers. This is the "know yourself" part.
The Internet Never Sleeps
We live in a world that is awake 24/7, so managing your client's goodwill is never going to be easy. However, there are tools are to make it easier.
Even still, businesses employ social media departments for the sole purpose of managing online image and handling damage control. We are, after all, living in the world of fake Yelp reviews. In fact, there is a danger that vindictive (and unethical) attorneys will intentionally attempt to sabotage your company from under you with poor reviews. You must vigilantly watch for this nonsense.
A social media department is expensive. You should consider suggesting that your company budget for such a team as it looks like this is now a requisite for companies as they expand their online presence.
Arming Yourself: Social Media Dashboard Tools
A social media dashboard links all social media accounts into a single interface. This is nice, but what is nicest is that it condenses all of your social media analytics into a single place. This saves you from the trouble of having to manually check each account.
3 Uses for Social Media Dashboards
- Self-Assessment: Analytics have been used in all sectors of business, but social media has made real time analytics a reality. Assess your client's performance against past quarters and competitors.
- Spying and Tracking: Your Dashboard will also track the activities of competing firms. Of course, they're checking your client out too.
- Scheduling and Collaboration: Dashboards are making it easier for previously disorganized social media accounts to communicate and collaborate.
There are about a handful of social media dashboards out there. Most of them are proprietary programs that require a fee. A cursory search on the Internet will provide you with many choices.
Related Resources:
- Social Media Dashboard Software for Law Firm Marketing (Lawfirms.com)
- Lawyers Can and Should Use Social Media (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
- Does This BigLaw Social Media Policy Go Too Far? (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
- Crafting a Social Media Policy for Your Workplace (FindLaw's In House)