Instagram has 1 billion active users across the globe. Businesses, including law firms, over the world are taking advantage of the social media platform to leverage their business. Instagram offers law firms and other businesses a variety of marketing tools such as posts, stories, and advertisements to sell their services.

According to the platform, there are more than 25 million business profiles. Within this number, over 2 million are advertisers. Instagram boasts that “people come to Instagram to be inspired and discover things they care about, and that includes content from brands and businesses.” There is certainly truth to this statement as consumers are actively engaged with business accounts and their offerings. Consumers are definitely paying attention to what businesses are promoting as 80% follow a business profile and 200 million visit at least one business profile each day.

Luckily, it’s relatively simply to create an account for your firm or for your personal brand as an attorney. The first (and easiest step) is to download the app. Next, enter the contact information for your profile’s manager. Third, within your account settings, establish your account as a business profile. Lastly, starting posting and following users! See? Very, very simple.

On the other hand, maintaining the account by engaging your audience and followers, who are all potential clients and/or referral sources, can be challenging. However, success with engagement is achievable. As we’ve made clear, there are a lot of Instagrammers (including attorneys and firms with large followings), so you must be strategic so that you can cut through the noise.

  • Craft a funky bio. Your bio should be attention-grabbing to spark the interest of potential clients. Since you have extremely limited space to capture your audience’s attention, you must tailor your bio so it can be appealing as possible. The type of information usually contained in bios contain: a description of the firm, the firm’s slogan, or the firm’s website. Regardless of the information provided, it should illustrate the firm’s personality and urge the user to take action.

  • Create a theme. Hubspot refers to individual Instagram posts as “individual page[s] of your website.” Each and every post must be quality yet still be consistent with the overall theme of the profile. Tone and aesthetic should be consistent with your theme. The more consistent, the more authentic your audience.

  • Take quality pictures/videos and produce quality graphics. Instagram is visual-centric, so your content must be high-quality. Be mindful that you should post more than images of your services. Spice it up with graphics, memes, or other content. Don’t be afraid to record a tour of your office (whether you’re utilizing a FirmVO space or not) or take a picture on your way to court.

    In addition to quality visuals, captions are just as valuable. Frankly, captions are necessary. “Captions allow you to tell the story that makes the photo meaningful. Captions can make your followers think, laugh, and feel a connection to your brand.”

  • Use hashtags so users can locate your content. Users can either search for hashtags or click on hashtags that will reveal all posts associated with the term. Hashtags consist of letters and/or numbers, but not symbols or non-numerical characters. Use relative hashtags for your respective post and brand. Although Instagram permits up to 30 hashtags, don’t be overzealous. Since you would likely be targeting potential clients, the following hashtags may be helpful: #lawyer, #attorney, #lawfirm, #law, #legaladvice, etc.

  • Interact with fellow IG users. Your audience and followers want to feel valued. By engaging with these fellow users, they will feel valued. Replying to comments, liking posts, following certain accounts, running contests or giveaways, utilizing polls, or tagging followers, are all ways to engage other accounts. Your best bet is to e-mingle with other firms, other attorneys, and possible clients alike.

    While you’re busy mixing and mingling in the Instagram community, be mindful of who you’re interacting with. By establishing a relationship with an influencer, an attorney or law firm with a following and the power to influence their following, a firm can further spread their brand. You can establish a relationship by introducing yourself as well- qualified attorney or firm, mentioning them in your posts and stories, providing success stories from your clients, and more. To ensure a shout out from an influencer is effective as possible, make sure their audience aligns with your audience.

If you find yourself needing assistance, Instagram offers resources for businesses in need. The platform provides free training which consists of several courses regarding advertising on the app. Furthermore, Instagram has a business blog breaking the hottest news, updates, and best practices. If you need additional assistance, Instagram Partners are available to help. Partners, who are vetted by Instagram, are proven creative experts that are more than experienced with the platform.

If you’re looking for law firms that have a great Instagram presence, check out of 5 of the leading Instagramming firms here. Hopefully, this article along with Instagram’s resources will make your Instagram profile reach its full potential!

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Brittany Somerville

Law student by day and freelance marketer by night Brittany M. Somerville is a 3L at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas. She received her bachelor’s of science degree in Public Relations from Florida A&M University. While working full-time in workforce and community development, Brittany obtained her master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from West Virginia University. After passing the bar exam, she hopes to practice sports and entertainment law.