Law firms and professional consultants can use social signals to build key relationships, track cases and legislation, and monitor public perception.
NewsWhip’s technology spots the stories and events getting traction on social media – so it’s not surprising that it’s an essential tool for journalists and marketers.
A little known secret is that it is also used each day by professional services firms, such as law firms and management consultants. In this blog, we’ll explore why these professionals use Spike – and introduce four ways any law firm or consultant can leverage crowd signals to deepen their knowledge of clients and client industries.
1) Securing clients and building relationships
One of the interesting challenges in pitching clients is knowing their business and industry even better than they know it themselves. To really build this understanding, signals from the crowd can be tremendously useful.
Lawyers can use Spike to see which stories are getting traction around a prospective client, their competitors, their products, and their industry in general. Looking over a full month of data allows a law firm or consultant to know exactly how the prospective client is perceived, where they get media traction, and who the most influential writers are within their industry. With a little research, you can access more detail about the company’s reputation than their own marketing department.
If you wish to address specific issues for a client, you can zero in on these with Spike and discover which stories are getting traction. Controversies relating to product, regulatory changes, changes in technology, or competitor position can all be explored.
2) Keep internal IQ high/stay relevant to clients
Once you’ve secured a client for your firm, you want to maintain a strong relationship. Clients look to legal counsel and consultants as trusted, expert advisors, so it’s vital to be aware of any issues or developments which affect them – sometimes even before they are.
Crowd signals can be used to alert a firm to useful items such as, (i) legal items relevant for clients, (ii) those breaking news stories getting traction around a client or its products, and (iii) big news in client markets. Corporate and finance attorneys can use Spike alerts to monitor stories relating to M&A, global markets and investments, as well as staying informed about developments in financial regulation.
The key here is to create panels with well thought out, specific search terms, and turn on Spike Alerts. That way you’ll be hit with email alerts when there are any big developments.
This knowledge ensures the firm is informed about big developments, so when clients reach out with questions or concerns, the firm is well-positioned to respond.
3) Track changes in law, major cases, and industry developments
For companies doing business in many jurisdictions, it’s difficult to stay on top of legislative changes and court rulings. Fortunately, many such changes are reported on by specialist media and tend to generate considerable online reaction.
As a trusted legal or strategic advisor, Spike can help you stay on top of these changes. Spend some time thinking about the right search terms, set up panels with alerts, and trust NewsWhip’s crowd monitoring to push developments to you as they happen. NewsWhip Spike covers more than 30 major languages and tracks media and sharing activity in hundreds of jurisdictions.
If a noteworthy event happens, Spike’s “1-hour view” (that is, content which appeared in the last hour only) will surface the most relevant information. For more context, searching the same topic across 30 days will show how the story has developed over time. Clients aside, we recommend lawyers create panels monitoring cases similar to their own to ensure they stay abreast of new precedents, verdicts, and changes in the legal landscape.
4) Keep on top of your own firm’s public perception
Monitoring your firm’s reputation is important for a variety of reasons. Counsel and consultants might want to know how the firm is perceived vis-a-vis its competitors, especially if there are any areas of particular focus. Benchmarking is an integral part of growing a practice and ensuring the right message is imparted to influencers and potential clients. Using social signals, law firms can track reputation in particular areas, identify what media mentions competitors earn, and help focus a competitive media position.
In Spike, clicking on the “Creators” tab allows you to see the most popular authors on different topics. If you’re looking to expand into a new area, identifying prominent thought leaders can help open up useful contacts and prospective leads. In turn, your firm can enhance its preparation for presentations, tailor major announcements, and ensure it knows its area well.
Meanwhile, the “Influencers” tab allows you to see who is sharing stories about a particular topic on Twitter and earning retweets and endorsements for doing so. These are the people who really influence distribution.
These are just four examples of how law firms and consultants can benefit from incorporating crowd signals into their daily workflow. If you’d like to know more, our team would be delighted to organise a demo. Customised demos will highlight how your firm can use Spike in your daily workflow, and tailor it for your and clients’ needs. Contact us on contact[at]newswhip[dot]com.
