Establishing a Social Media Presence

I get asked all the time which social media channels professional service firms should be active in and why. Establishing a social media presence can be a little intimidating. Where should you start and why? Below is a list of the most popular sites and how you can use them to benefit your firm.

LinkedIn
Professional; need a firm profile and staff profiles, connected to firm.  Good for:

• Recruiting
• Business Development
• Connect with clients, prospects and referral sources
• Join groups in your niche/geography (position yourself as an expert)

Facebook
Informal; vehicle for connecting and sharing; need a Fan Page and get all staff connected.  Good for:

• Recruiting
• Posting reviews about the work place environment from staff
• Posting photos and video of fun work activities (i.e. Tax Season contests and games)

Twitter
Less formal; vehicle for connecting and sharing; need a firm account and encourage staff to create personal accounts.  Good for:

• Listening to conversations via Twitter search
• Sharing meaningful content that your prospects have created
• Re-Tweeting your prospects and other influencers
• Answering questions
• Starting conversations
• Creating a list of local press (reporters, tv, news, radio) for press releases

YouTube
Educational; create a firm YouTube Channel.  Good for:

• Posting video podcasts on relevant and timely information
• Posting video clips of seminars
• Posting video testimonials from clients

Flickr
Informal; post photos from firm events to share via other social media outlets.

Blog
Formal but conversational is best.  Good for:

• Positioning yourself as an expert in a niche
• Keeping fresh, timely and meaningful content online (as opposed to a static website)