Pinterest for Legal Marketing: To Pin or Not to Pin?

Pinterest, a virtual pin board, keeps rising in status of social media platforms. I’ve been following the buzz about Pinterest for months now, and it seems that the use of Pinterest in Legal Marketing is slowly gaining momentum. Marketers are using this growing social media platform to pin pictures of company events, client content and company website images. However, some legal marketers feel that it is still too early to tell if using Pinterest would be beneficial to their firm.

As a marketing professional at Marc J. Lane Wealth Group, I wanted to experience Pinterest for myself. I was hooked. I clearly wanted it for personal reasons rather than professional reasons so I had to snap myself back to reality. I checked out what kinds of things people were pinning and the different popular categories. Needless to say, there wasn’t a category for legal pins. There were, however, a few categories that hold some great marketing ideas.

I found that people are pinning more than just pictures. They are pinning charts, graphs, facts, statistics, videos and inspirational quotes. This definitely got my wheels turning. I came up with a few ideas, should you decide to go against the grain and add Pinterest to your legal marketing efforts.

1) Put together a short list of facts related to a main practice area. Taxation, for example, you could do 3 Things to Remember before Filing Your Taxes. Another example could be 5 Legal Reminders before Starting Your Small Business. Keep your list short. There were some images on Pinterest with so much content that it was barely legible. When putting together your image, make it look like it could be a poster; you want to attract their attention visually. Use attractive fonts and eye catching colors, and definitely add your website and company logo. Don’t make your logo dominate the page, but place it subtly in a corner just so people know where the information is coming from and where to go to get more.

2) Pin an image of a simple quote or statistic relevant to one of your practice areas. For example, “The average family pays over 38% of their total income to the IRS, which is more than the average family spends on food_1.” Maybe even add “Are you getting back your maximum refund?”

3) You could also pin graphs or charts of statistics, such as the percentage of people who search online for an attorney. Or the percentage of failing entrepreneurs who don’t seek legal advice.

4) You can also pin recommended books. Luckily for me, Marc J. Lane has written 34 books in his career so this would be a piece of cake for me from a marketing perspective. However, I would also add other books that he and the other attorneys in the firm recommend.

5) Pin videos. I’m not talking about commercials (unless they are really entertaining), I mean informational videos. This may require a bit more effort if your firm doesn’t already have any current videos. Keep it short. People are not likely to linger on for hours watching different videos, but you can save those for YouTube.

The point in doing this would be to simply share information while branding your firm. However, don’t forget that interaction is the key to successful networking in social media. Follow and interact with others that share interesting information. If you are joining Pinterest as an individual, rather than a company, make sure to add pins of your own personal interest. You may build a relationship with someone who follows you for your culinary interest, but may need an attorney to start their small business. Clients can come from anywhere, even Pinterest, so good luck legal marketers!

1) http://www.articlesbase.com/taxes-articles/15-interesting-facts-abo...

Tags: Marketing Blogs, Pinterest, media, online, social

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Comment by Catarina de Novais on August 30, 2012 at 5:55: Dear Eva,

I just read this article and I found it really "openminded". In fact, Pinterest it's just not about colors, make-up and tattoos. In a social era where people don't have plenty much time to do, to research, to read and when information comes into us, Pinterest is a fantastic way to get through our clients and potential ones.

Thank you for your tips - love your phrase "Clientes can come from anywhere, even Pinterest...".

Nice work!

Comment by Becky Daw on May 25, 2012 at 10:28: Thanks Eva, its a really exciting new service.

Comment by Eva Waegner on May 24, 2012 at 18:05: Richard, don't worry about the hijack. I was actually curious myself.

Becky, these look great and very professional.

Comment by Becky Daw on May 24, 2012 at 16:27: Hi Richard,

Here are a couple links that we have produced so far - this is a new offering and we are still in production stages with clients.

http://youtu.be/AQsdR8Lm--M -

http://youtu.be/FO6JzWbDU8I

Editor Comment by Richard Pettet on May 24, 2012 at 8:03: Hi Becky, do you have an example of an £800 1 minute video? Be keen to see exactly what to expect from the service. Cheers, Rich

Ps. Eva, sorry to hijack the post.

Comment by Eva Waegner on May 23, 2012 at 16:28: Thanks for the input, Becky! I love the use of video, and a 1 minute video is a great way to spark interest quickly and efficiently. Pinning videos wasn't even possible until recently, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more legal marketing ideas on Pinterest as well as other social media.

Comment by Becky Daw on May 22, 2012 at 11:46: Hi, working in a marketing agency that specialises in professional services firms this is really interesting. We have just introduced a platform that can handle our clients social media PR. Also with regards to videos these are becoming more and more popular in communicating online and helping with SEO. We now offer our clients the chance to make their own 1 minute video from £800. Pinterest is going to be one to watch within social media platforms.

Comment by Eva Waegner on May 17, 2012 at 15:59: Agreed... they'll come around :)

Editor Comment by Richard Pettet on May 17, 2012 at 15:29: Hi, don't get me wrong, i'm in total agreement with you that they should be doing it. I think a lot of it comes down to time. Many UK firms who I know well cite that reason, but they probably still devote hours to sending press releases round to journos who delete them straight away. We can but hope!

Comment by Eva Waegner on May 17, 2012 at 15:26: Thanks Rich... I realize that a number of firms are still not on board with social media, and Pinterest especially can be a sticky situation. And you’re right, law firms probably won’t add Pinterest to their agendas for a while. However, I also know that many firms are extremely forward-thinking with their marketing efforts. And I absolutely feel that there are options for the legal sector, though each firm just has to figure out what works best for them. I just thought I would throw out another option :)